Michel Lambert's blog

Make Montreal a Sanctuary City!

Michel Lambert — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:33:39 +0000

Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton have become "Sanctuary Cities." So have 37 cities in the United States. It's time for Montreal to join the movement.

The horrific crime that took six lives in Quebec City last Sunday night is a wake-up call for us all. No longer can we pretend that there is no Islamophobia in Quebec. Unfortunately, hate-mongering goes on daily. Sometimes in an open, heinous and criminal fashion, as witnessed at the Quebec City Mosque. Other times in a more hidden fashion, under the guise of a debate on face-coverings in public.

Peoples' Social Forum 2014 and beyond

Michel Lambert — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 15:37:17 +0000

Much has been said, for the most part very positive, about the incredible Peoples' Social Forum, which took place from August 21 to 24 in Ottawa. Naomi Klein's comment during her opening speech that the Forum was the most important meeting of social movements in Canada since the American Summit in April 2001 really resonated with me.

Forum social des peuples: l'histoire en marche

Michel Lambert — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:07:51 +0000

Le tout premier Forum social des peuples (FSP) se tiendra à Ottawa du 21 au 24 août prochain. Il s'agit d'une opportunité unique: un évènement qui se présente à la fois comme «historique» de par ses racines et fondamentalement «révolutionnaire» de par ses ambitions.

Construit sur un processus ouvert et inclusif depuis près de trois années, le FSP offre pour la toute première fois aux communautés autochtones, aux communautés du Québec et du Canada, aux organisations, groupes citoyens, écologistes, syndicaux, féministes, étudiants et bien d'autres l'opportunité de se rencontrer d'abord, de se comprendre ensuite et, bien sûr, de travailler ensemble pour changer cet État dans lequel nous vivons.

Save the environment, boot out Harper and change the world

Michel Lambert — Thu, 08 May 2014 18:10:28 +0000

The decision concerning the development of Northern Gateway's pipeline will be revealed sometime during the first week of June. It's safe to say that no one is waiting with bated breath. Everyone knows all too well that even if Stephen Harper would be the only Canadian supporting the project, it will go through -- despite having lost referendums and faced opposition from Indigenous peoples and Canadian citizens alike -- ignoring Canada's responsibilities and the negative impact that expanding the tar sands industry will have on climate change. A recent exchange with Barack Obama in regards to the Keystone XL pipeline sums it up: Harper "won't take no for an answer."

In front of pipelines, I will support the Mohawks

Michel Lambert — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:01:11 +0000

With hundreds of others, I participated on November 16 in an unprecedented mobilization in Kanehsatà:ke (Oka), Mohawk Territory. Twenty-three years after the terrible Oka crisis, Mohawks this time invited non-indigenous people to join the fight against the expansion of tar sands pipelines.

Forum Social des peuples : Les prochaines étapes

Michel Lambert — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:08:24 +0000

An English translation of this story will come.

La seconde Assemblée générale du Forum social des peuples qui s’est tenue les 2 et 3 juillet dernier à Edmonton s’est soldé par plusieurs importantes avancées, notamment la décision de tenir ce premier Forum « pancanadien » à Ottawa en août 2014. L’Assemblée s’est ainsi rangé dernière la proposition déposée conjointement par la Fédération des travailleurs-ses de l’Ontario et le « Ontario Common Front », une large coalition regroupant une centaine d’organisations syndicales et communautaires de cette province.

Why is public money paying for the right-wing hate and misinformation of Eric Duhaime?

Michel Lambert — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:38:20 +0000

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca.

Eric Duhaime and his hatred of anything close to the notion of common good is all over the place. On Sun News, Radio X, TVA, and several blogs, we see, hear or read him bashing community groups, women's associations, labour or students organizations.

After Rio: Building a genuine Quebec, Canada and First Nations alliance

Michel Lambert — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 20:36:54 +0000

On June 20, anticipating the failure of the United Nations Conference Rio+20, more than 50,000 people took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil conjointly with dozens of other demonstrations around the world. These mobilizations demanded from the governments and corporations involved in the official conference, that solutions immediately be put into place to counter climate change and the degradation of the terrestrial environment.

Rio+20: Proposing a utopia

Michel Lambert — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:21 +0000

The Earth Summit of the United Nations being held in Rio de Janeiro had yet to begin, and the specialists were already predicting a dire impasse over the issues of climate change and even setbacks on such central challenges as the human right to water and the protection of biodiversity. In parallel with this tragicomedy and a few weeks after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a dramatic appeal for the protection of natural resources, social and environmental movements have marshaled their forces in the heart of the People’s Summit to propose a vision of the world based on social and environmental justice.