With a rebel yell...
Editor’s Note
It’s a good time to be thinking about resistance. The cover of yesterday’s Globe and Mail carried a large photo of an anti-G8 demonstrator, which both brought me back to my own past experiences with water cannons at international summits, and reminded me that people still protest at G8 summits. This makes me happy. In this post massprotest era, the last few demonstrations I’ve attended have been ragtag little things.
Of course, there are all kinds of ways to rebel. And while it never went away, protest seems to be coming back with some momentum. In researching this issue’s cover story on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), p. 18, I kept hearing it said that this will be the next big thing. When the SPP leaders meet this August in Montebello, there will certainly be a welcoming committee.
The last big demonstration I attended was in 2001, to oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas. It was one of the last mass anti-globalization protests before 9/11 put a chill on dissent, and it was one of the more depressing experiences I’ve had. Two days of tear gas, then leaving friends behind in prison—with seemingly nothing to show for it. The corporations felt insurmountable, the state all too willing to use force to buttress their aims. Leaving Quebec in April 2001, the struggle did not feel hopeful.
Fast-forward to 2007 and it’s now clear the despair was unfounded. The neo-liberal agenda wasn’t impenetrable. The FTAA, which would have seen NAFTA extended across 34 countries of the Western Hemisphere, has failed to move forward. Not only that, but several of the countries who at one time considered signing on to the agreement, have instead adopted alternative trade models.
Bolivia has proposed a People’s Trade Agreement that recognizes trade and investment as a means of development as opposed to an end in itself. Venezuela has the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, which links trade agreements with human rights. The country has traded oil for health care and literacy workers from Cuba, and cattle-raising knowledge from Argentina.
Venezuela made a choice to stop using its oil wealth to fuel the economies of developed nations. Considering most of Alberta’s oil heads straight south, and 90 percent of Atlantic Canada’s oil is imported from other countries, Canada would be wise to follow suit.
Often, when talking about social and political problems, the solutions are elusive or extremely complicated. Not so much in this case: “Hey government, stop giving all of our oil to the United States, you dumbasses.” Easy, see? The insanity of letting the free market dictate trade policy is clear, but so are the alternatives—provided people know to resist. Talking to those fighting the SPP, I repeatedly heard frustration over the lack of media attention the process is getting. That’s starting to turn around, but it’s a sad comment that it’s the NGOs and not the media that are trying to get to the bottom of this.
The SPP isn’t the only fight in this rebellion issue. For “Rising Up,” p. 24, guest editor Craig Saunders recruited three talented writers to remind us that there’s more to our history than just peace, order and good government. “Get Ready to Rumble” sees front-section editor Wendy Glauser teaming up with two other This contributors to show us a sample of movements that will define the future, p. 31.
Putting this issue together, I, of course, have had rebellion on the brain. And there are lots of them to think about. This past Sunday in Toronto, an abandoned house was taken over by the Women Against Poverty collective, with a tent city of supporters camped outside. Police shut the action down, but I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this. Anti-Olympic protests continue in Vancouver—buoyed by police masquerading as journalists. And by the time we hit newsstands, First Nations will have had a national day of action to protest poverty and neglected land claims. Power to all of them.
Jessica Johnston editor[at]thismagazine[dot]ca
