North Shore Counter-Info
Cracks in the Limestone
Some Actions in Kingston 2010–2013
Introduction
The intention of this publication is to compile selections of actions, communiques, and newspaper reports over the past three years in Kingston (Cataraqui), which occupies unceded Algonquin (Anishinaabe) and Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) territory.
It is not a comprehensive history of any one group or political movement. The events all share an ‘offensive’ character, meaning they seek to disrupt the social peace, either attacking enemies directly or giving people a sense that something is going on. I chose actions that inspired me as an anarchist, meaning they target things seen as obstacles to an anti-authoritarian society (i.e. oppression and domination). Many of the actions were not performed by anarchists and some of them were not claimed by anyone. It should go without saying that offensive activity is no more important than any other work anarchists do, such as support work, capacity-building, and popular education.
This zine picks up after the G20 Summit in Toronto in June 2010. This is as good a starting point as any; the police infiltration and repression of regional anarchist networks in particular sent a lot of us back to the drawing board.
The actions included have been arbitrarily divided into four categories: Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Colonial, Police/Prisons, and Radical Queer. Most actions overlap, and in fact were intended to connect, multiple struggles. This system was only chosen as a convenient way to organize information. It should be understand that systems of oppression and domination are very much intertwined, and rarely does political activity fit neatly into one category or another; if it does, it’s probably of less interest and value to anarchists.
Keep fighting, Keep building...
i. Anti-Capitalist
October 29, 2010 — Halloween-themed Critical Mass bike ride disrupts traffic downtown as a “festive, leisurely and confident assertion of cyclists right to the road.”
January 19, 2011 — Conservative Party fundraiser at Queen’s University with John Baird is protested by various groups. One entrance is U-locked and some people bang on the windows.
April 1, 2011 — Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (KCAP) marches through downtown Kingston to call for the restoration of the Special Diet Allowance.
April 29, 2011 — Stephen Harper campaign stop in Kingston’s west end is met by ~100 protesters who briefly disrupt the campaign bus. Two arrests.
May 1, 2011 — Various groups including KCAP, Solidarity For Palestinian Human Rights, End The Prison Industrial Complex and PSAC Local 901 come together for a free barbeque and anti-capitalist march on May Day (International Workers’ Day). The march ends in Market Square with a speech about the Haymarket events of Chicago in 1886, and fireworks are shot over the square.
October 15, 2011 — The Occupy movement is launched in Kingston with a march up Princess St and the establishment of an occupiers camp in Confederation Park that would last two months. Another Occupy Kingston march snakes through Kingston’s streets on October 25.
December 6, 2011 — City Council votes to evict Occupy Kingston. The occupiers voluntarily evacuate the encampment.
May 30, 2012 — A group gathers in Skeleton Park to kick off weekly ‘Casseroles Nights’ to show support for the Quebec student movement. Marchers take to the streets banging pots.
December 3, 2012 — From The Kingston Whig Standard:
Kingston Police are looking for a suspect who has been sealing up locks of local businesses. According to a news release from the police ... a man ... applied an adhesive spray or resin onto the door locks of the TD Canada Trust at 94 Princess St., the CIBC at 256 Bagot St., and the Indigo Bookstore at 259 Princess St. As a result, the locks were sealed and made inoperable, requiring businesses to hire a locksmith.
December 20, 2012 — From Anarchist News:
On Dec 20th, an unknown force attacked the future home of a staggering new downtown Kingston condominium ... spray paint and paint bombs were used, successfully disabling excavating and construction equipment. The paint read “Gentrify this, motherfucker” before being promptly and quietly covered up by the City of Kingston. The paint bombs have been effective in disabling and damaging the equipment targeted, and construction has halted for almost a week. Keep fighting, you are not alone.
March 24, 2013 — From The Kingston Whig Standard:
Graffiti littered the exterior of a century-old building in Kingston Saturday just hours before a new private high school was set to open its doors to the public ... [messages] included “Rich kids not welcome” and “Prep school yuppies.” ... “By the time it’s all done,” Doornekamp added, “we’ll be into $8,000 (to fix the damages)”.
May 1, 2012 — From The Media Co op:
May Day in Kingston was awesome this year! More than 100 people came out for a fun barbecue with awesome dance music at noon. The sun came out just as we lit up the bbq! At 1pm we took to the streets for a spirited march through downtown Kingston with stops for speeches from various grassroots groups about their ongoing struggles against colonialism, poverty and environmental destruction. Clearly the police hate fun, because they tried all along to shut us down, and issued a few tickets (for a noise violation, apparently, and blocking traffic). All in all, though, it was a fun and successful International Workers Day. The march was organized by a group of anarchists ... for the first time in recent memory, folks showed up who had heard about the event via this kind of non-Internet outreach and joined our “usual suspects” to celebrate anti-capitalist resistance and eat some free food. We’re left feeling inspired and stoked to organize more fun, open, social events like this in Kingston ... [the police] didn’t stop us from taking the streets with a spirit of playfulness as well as righteous rage.
ii. Anti-Colonial
December 26, 2012 — Idle No More Kingston organizes a round dance at the Cataraqui Town Centre, disrupting Boxing Day.
December 30, 2012 — Three dozen Mohawks from Tyendinaga block the CN main line between Toronto and Montreal for several hours in support of the Idle No More movement.
January 4, 2013 — The CN crossing at Wyman’s Road is shut down by Mohawks at Tyendinaga for the second time in a week.
January 6, 2013 — From Anarchist News:
Last night, we damaged the windows and signage at Waste Management Corporation’s ‘community outreach’ storefront in Napanee, using glass etching solution and paint bombs. Waste Management operated the Richmond Landfill north of Napanee, leaking through the bedrock and poisoning the Bay of Quinte watershed ... We took this small action as non-native anarchists inspired by the struggle for land and freedom by the Tyendinaga Mohawks specifically, and grassroots aspects of the Idle No More movement ... Towards an increasingly militant and uncompromising struggle against colonization, capitalism and the Canadian state.
January 11, 2013 — From The Kingston Whig Standard:
A prominent statue of Canada’s first prime minister was vandalized in what appeared to be a politically-motivated act. On Friday, dozens of people gathered at the statue in City Park to mark the 198th birthday of Sir John A. Macdonald — just hours after spray paint was removed from the monument by city-contracted workers. Some time overnight, vandals wrote phrases such as, “This is stolen land,” “Murderer,” “Colonizer,” “Sir John A. Killer” and “F--- Canada,” across the statue. Red paint was also splattered on the monument.
January 17, 2013 — The CN and CP lines on Shannonville Road Wyman’s Road are shut down by Mohawks at Tyendinaga in solidarity with Idle No More.
January 21, 2013 — From The Kingston Whig Standard:
Sir John A. Macdonald has come under attack again ... plaques in front of two of Sir John A.‘s former residences were ... splattered with red paint. On the sidewalk near one of the plaques, the word “murderer” was spray-painted.
January 28, 2013 — Idle No More’s Global Day of Action hits Kingston. A march snakes through downtown, blocking traffic on Princess Street. A banner is dropped over the Kingston sign on highway 401 reading: “Decolonize Katarokwi.”
April 5, 2013 — Residents receive notices claiming there has been a rupture on Enbridge’s pipeline 9 north of Kingston. The notice points to a fake website with edited images of oil spills.
April 21, 2013 — Idle No More organizes a ‘spill-in’ at Market Square. Demonstrators wear black to simulate an oil spill and speeches are held in the square regarding the Line 9 reversal.
July 16, 2013 — Idle No More, EPIC, KCAP and Quinte Area Citizens for Accountability march to family court to protest the Childrens Aid Society and the 60s Scoop.
July 25, 2013 — From Anarchist News:
...with a busy market day around us and the sun shining down, a group of anarchists disrupted the flow of people and commerce by turning the water of the Market Square fountain black. A sign beside the fountain read: “Oil and water don’t mix; On July 25th, the Kalamazoo River ran black; If Line 9 goes through, the Cat River will too; Stop Enbridge, Stop Line 9” ... the water ran black for half an hour before the fountain was drained ... Fuck Enbridge. Fuck Line 9. Fuck the state for their profit from and complicity with this disaster waiting to happen...
July 27, 2013 — From The Media Co op:
On July 27th, a group of activists, community members, and families met in Skeleton Park. Some of us doused ourselves in “oil,” while others filled up waterguns and prepared to battle the “bitumen zombies.” After a rousing speech delivered by the Bitumen Zombie Resistance League, the zombie horde ... began to stumble toward the Cataraqui River! The Resistance League put up a brave fight, and attempted to rouse sympathy for their cause along the way. They pursued the zombies through Kingston’s downtown, but were unable to prevent the zombies from attacking an innocent bystander outside of a Starbucks ... While the bitumen zombies staggered about, the Resistance League posted letters on the front doors of the banks, calling them out for their complicity ... The Leader of the Resistance fought valiantly as he was set upon by the hungry masses, but their taste for oil was too much for him to resist. The end of his speech was garbled as he turned into a zombie himself. Fight the tar sands! Fight Enbridge! Fight Line 9! Fight those forces that threaten our integrity, our landbase, our existence! Fight the Bitumen Zombies!!!!! Signed, Bitumen Zombie Resistance League...
iii. Police + Prisons
August 8–9, 2010 — Months of organizing by the “Save Our Prison Farms” coalition leads to a two-day blockade of trucks attempting to remove cattle from the prison farm at Frontenac Institution. The first day is a success, but on the second day protesters return to find concrete barricades and a massive police presence. There are 15 arrests and the cattle are removed.
October 22, 2010 — Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (KCAP) organizes march to police headquarters for National Anti Police Brutality Day, highlighting recent police actions at the Toronto G20 and Prison Farms blockade.
July 4, 2011 — Banner dropped over market square reading, “Collins Bay to Pelican Bay: Solidarity with Prisoners on Strike. Against Prisons.” A message posted online about the banner reads, “We express solidarity with prisoners in struggle, recognizing prison as a clear target of our resistance to capitalism and State power.”
November 2, 2011 — From Anarchist News:
Today’s action was a march against NORR Limited, an international architectural firm ... with an office in Kingston that took on the work of designing new maximum security units at Collins Bay and Millhaven for a combined $2.4 million dollars ... We arrived at the NORR Office, and it turns out that they were not expecting us. About a dozen people entered the foyer of the office, blaring music and yelling about prison construction as the bewildered office manager attempted to hold the interior door shut, architects gathered to peer at us through the glass walls, and one particularly upset employee frantically called police ... EPIC had prepared an open letter, which is essentially a demand that NORR publicly state that it will not bid on future prison contracts ... Tonight the possibility of an effective resistance movement feels stronger...
December 1, 2011 — From Anarchist News:
Last night we went to the Kingston office of NORR Limited, glued their locks shut and defaced the glass door with a corrosive solution. We did this because NORR designs prisons, and we are anarchists. This is not the first time that NORR and its property has been targeted, and it won’t be the last so long as their money comes from putting people in cages.
January 27, 2012 — From Anarchist News:
Architects at Norr Limited in downtown Kingston are going to be pooped today! These shitstains who profit off of prisons had a late-night delivery of assloads of poop to their front door. These dungheads are working with Canadian systems to expand and construct prisons in our city, and we are calling them out on their horse shit! We as abolitionist anarchists intend to make the business of prison profiteering an irritating and constipating endeavour. Crapatilist prison profiteers be warned! A shitstorm awaits you.
May 1, 2012 — Anarchists hold noise demo at Collins Bay to mark May Day (International Workers Day), screaming chants and shooting off fireworks outside the walls.
July 2012 — Billboard on Rideau Street for AWD Contractors, company doing excavation for new unit at Collins Bay, is paintbombed. Graffiti is left reading: AWD = Prison Profiteer.
August 10, 2012 — EPIC attempts to blockade prison construction at Collins Bay in solidarity with prisoners on strike to mark Prisoners Justice Day. A relatively small turnout is repelled by a large police presence. Other surprise actions organized that same day, including a slowdown and flyering of the LaSalle Causeway and a noise demo at the St. Lawrence Youth Association, a youth detention centre, are more successful.
November 15, 2012 — Ann Hansen, on life parole for her role in a 1980s underground anarchist group, releases a statement on her parole suspension for ‘unauthorized associations and political activity’ primarily because she had screened a video about Prisoners Justice Day ahead of an EPIC direct action training.
(CSC) spent an hour and a half ... trying to intimidate me into giving them the names of anyone involved in EPIC or any other anti-prison activists ... I was not charged with any actual crime. The ROPE squad had arrived the day after I had screened a film about PJD at the [library] ... I owe my ‘freedom’ to all those who supported me throughout this episode of my life, and I just hope I can reciprocate through my solidarity and by continuing the joyous lifestyle of resistance!!
November 20, 2012 — During the Santa Claus parade, anarchists shoot off fireworks and drop a banner from the Grand Theatre reading “All I want for Christmas is a world without police, prisons, or armies.”
December 31, 2012 — From Anarchist News:
On a cold and snowy NYE in Napanee ON, about a dozen anarchists and friends gathered for a noise demo outside of Quinte Detention Centre under the cover of darkness. We ran through the snow and filled the air with anti-prison chants, wolf howls, and the joyous bang of fireworks to express our love and solidarity with those incarcerated at Quinte and rage at the existence of this prison and all prisons everywhere. We saw people through the windows, and we hope they saw and heard our fireworks and shouts. We fled into the night and escaped with not a cop in sight. Fuck cops//fuck prisons//happy NYE!
January 27, 2013 — From Anarchist News:
Some anarchists and friends drove up to a juvenile detention centre run by the Saint Lawrence Youth Association tonight. We made a bunch of noise and lit some fireworks for the entertainment of the young women inside ... It was fun, there were no cops and, being a youth centre, this place doesn’t have any guards patrolling its perimeter. Fuck prisons, fuck police, fuck this “youth association.”
April 5, 2013 — About 50 people gather at Kingston Penitentiary for an Idle No More demonstration as part of a national day of action for indigenous prisoners in the Canadian prison system.
July 7, 2013 — From Anarchist News:
Kingston anarchists dropped a banner over the highway in solidarity with hunger strikers and prisoners everywhere. There are 8 PIC institutions in our town and one fucking huge military base. Fuck prisons, fuck the state, fuck oppression in all its forms. We will never stop fighting.
August 10, 2013 — EPIC and Idle No More organize a vigil at Market Square to mark Prisoners Justice Day. Some participants choose to fast while others flyer and give out black squares, the same symbol used by Collins Bay prisoners to defy the ban on PJD activities by CSC.
October 7, 2013 — EPIC and friends flyer the intersection in front of Collins Bay in support of both federal prisoners on strike contesting cuts to inmate pay and immigrant prisoners on hunger strike protesting their conditions and indefinite detention.
November 22, 2013 — From Anarchist News:
This morning, as a small expression of solidarity with the strikers, we dropped this banner over the highway exit nearest the CORCAN headquarters/factory in the West End of Kingston; It reads, Prison Wages Are Sweatshop Wages -Support Prisoners On Strike. We want to fight for the end of both prisons and wage labour, but in the meantime we also stand in solidarity with prisoners fighting back against forces, governments and institutions that seek to keep them behind bars for longer in ever-worsening conditions.
iv. Radical Queer
July 8–10, 2011 — Queeriot 2011, a “radical convergence ... to bring queers together across lines of difference” is held in Kingston. On Saturday night, a roving dance party takes to the downtown streets, leaving a trail of graffiti (such as “faggot uprising”) and general moral panic. The group takes over Market Square, with some passersby joining in, and attempts to retake the streets again up Princess before being dispersed by police.
May 31, 2013 — Posters are put up attacking Kingston Pride from a radical queer perspective, reported by the Kingston Whig-Standard as being “anti-gay.” See previous page for example.
June 15, 2013 — A banner is dropped at the Kingston Pride parade reading “This parade is boring; Stonewall was a RIOT” with an image of an overturned police car on fire.
July 19, 2013 — A lesbian couple living in Kingston’s downtown receive death threats from a self-described “small but dedicated group of Kingston residents devoted to removing the scourge of homosexuality in our city.” A rally is held in Skeleton Park to denounce the hate letters. Posters are found throughout the neighbourhood warning: “HOMOPHOBES ARE NOT SAFE HERE! HOMOPHOBES, GET OUT AND STAY OUT!”
