For months, the threat of a federal election resulting in a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre has been looming over Canadians. The date for an election has yet to be announced, but Montreal organizers are already planning to take to the streets to denounce Poilievre’s “corporate agenda” in a protest on February 27.
“I think that the threat of Poilievre presents a wake-up call,” said Stefan Christoff, a Montreal community organizer involved in planning the protest. “As community organizers, as activists, as people who believe in transformative progressive change, we need to find ways to build across movements.”
The protest is being organized by the Courage Coalition, a group dedicated to building connections between different movements, of which Christoff is a member.
The idea for the protest came about in August at an assembly that brought together community organizers from different backgrounds. Speakers included Nakuset of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, Dolores Chew of the South Asian Women’s Community Centre, Anaïs Zeledon Montenegro of Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transexuel(le)s du Québec (ASTT(e)Q), Stella Montreal executive director Sandra Wesley, and anti-racist activist Ehab Lotayef. They discussed what they and their communities had experienced under Stephen Harper’s previous conservative government.
Later in January, the group held another assembly where Mostafa Henaway of the Immigrant Workers’ Centre spoke about how a Conservative government would exacerbate existing racist anti-immigrant sentiment and policies. What ultimately united these struggles, according to Christoff, was that “all of them were talking about how another Conservative government would be very devastating for the communities that they serve.”
The speakers are all involved in frontline community work, trying to address issues affecting various marginalized communities such as Indigenous people, queer and trans people, sex workers, and migrants on a daily basis. For Christoff, opposition to Poilievre should be rooted in the work that community organizers are already engaged in, going deeper than “simply putting up a banner and making a signal.” He wants to build awareness about how this community work is connected to the broader federal policy landscape of so-called Canada.
In recent history, Poilievre has opposed environmental protection regulations and called for expanding the oil and gas industry; engaged in racist scapegoating of migrants; associated with residential school denialists; and opposed gender-affirming care for trans youth. He has continuously expressed support for Israel, even as the state has been widely accused of committing a genocide against Palestinians. The Courage Coalition website argues that “he uses Trump-style scapegoating tactics to cover for a corporate power grab that will slash social services, trash our hope for a liveable climate, and make the few absurdly rich at everyone else’s expense.”
At the time of writing, a Pierre Poilievre government no longer seems inevitable. Recent polls have shown the Liberals closing in on the Conservatives’ lead, especially if Mark Carney is chosen to lead the party. Nevertheless, Christoff emphasizes that it’s important to organize against injustice, no matter who is in power.
“The rising extreme right was really enabled by a lot of the systemic injustice that was allowed to pass under the Liberal government here or the Democratic government in the US,” he added. He also warned that many people become demobilized under Liberal governments.
The goal of the February 27 protest is to connect people organizing for different causes such as climate justice, migrant justice, labour organizing, and Palestine solidarity to discuss how to organize across movements and find points of common struggle.
The organizers aren’t expecting a massive action, but they hope that bringing these groups together will start a conversation about building a movement against Poilievre and supporting those targeted by his policies. They understand that movement-building is a long-term process, which is why they’re not waiting for Poilievre to be elected to have these discussions. Ultimately, Christoff argues that getting organized is essential because any progressive change that ever happened came about because governments were responding to public pressure.
“The small group committee that’s organizing this action in Montreal in February 2025 doesn’t have answers about how that should happen, but at least we want to ask the question of how it could happen and open some political space to start talking about it,” said Christoff.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
