We’re writing you this letter as one anarchist collective to another, in the spirit of open, honest and constructive communication.

Having read the statements “On avance. On avance. On recule pas!” and “Warning (to John Zerzan)” on your website, as well as the call for a demo in front of the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (“On n'arrête pas le progrès!”) there are several points we would like to express.

Firstly, we’d like to remind you of some of the bookfair’s principles, namely:
1)The Anarchist Bookfair collective affirms and promotes values of mutual aid, direct democracy, anti-authoritarianism, autonomy and solidarity. We reiterate our opposition to capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, heterosexism, racism, colonialism, statism and all other forms of oppression; we will not accept anyone to participate in the Anarchist Bookfair that perpetuates or promotes these attitudes.

2)The Anarchist Bookfair collective will respect the autonomy of individuals, groups and booksellers that we invite to participate in the Anarchist Bookfair and related activities.

Also, as we mention in our accessibility statement, we commit to “making the event safe for and welcoming to children and their parents.”

Everyone who participates in the bookfair shares a collective responsibility for ensuring that these principles are respected, be they vendors, workshop presenters, or those who are simply attending the bookfair. For the collective’s part, we are committed to maintaining an atmosphere that reflects these principles – one where everyone can express themselves and can participate freely in a safe environment – both inside the CEDA building itself as well as outdoors on the grounds.

We respect your right to express your critique of John Zerzan (or anyone else) at the bookfair, and moreover we feel that debate and criticism are important elements of the bookfair. However, we expect that you do so in a way that doesn’t impede others from expressing themselves too, and which respects the aforementioned principles.

We wondered if, in calling for your demo in front of the main entrance of CEDA, you had considered that there are three other workshops, as well as children’s activities and an autonomous media room presentation happening at the same time as John Zerzan’s workshop. Remember that all of these activities are happening inside CEDA, and would be accessed using this same main entrance.

Secondly, it is also worth remembering certain dynamics that exist between the anarchist bookfair (or the Montreal anarchist community in general) and the police. Every year since the beginning of the anarchist bookfair, the Montreal police show up, and try and find any excuse to enter the premises. Up to now, with the help of bookfair-goers and the CEDA workers, we have always managed to make them leave without them gaining access to the bookfair to harass the participants.

In some past years, there have been protests organized by anarchist activists during the weekend of the bookfair (for example, the march on Westmount). Knowing the police’s tendency to target the bookfair, the organizers of these protests have always decided to start their demos at a place close to, but other than, CEDA – the location of the bookfair itself. We wondered if you had considered the possibility that you might be giving the police a pretext to the bookfair by calling for a demonstration in front of the main entrance of CEDA.

Again in the spirit of openness, we ask you to take these points into consideration.

Looking forward to a bookfair full of lively exchange and engaging debate,
the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair Collective