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Saturday, October 25, 2003
7 PM
Leacock 132
McGill University
Metro McGill
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ECONOMIC TERROR, DEEP DEMOCRACY
A Lecture by Naomi Klein

~ with video footage from Argentina's factory occupation movement ~

** All proceeds from this lecture will be contributed to the legal
defense funds of the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians and the Tent
City
Organizing Collective. **

This event is made possible through the support of Alternatives, QPIRG
McGill and QPIRG Concordia

==> About Naomi Klein

Born in Montreal, Naomi Klein is the award-winning author of the
international best-sellers, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies and
Fences and Windows: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Globalization
Debate. She is an internationally syndicated column for The Globe and
Mail, The Nation and The Guardian. For the past year, Naomi has been
living in Argentina working on a documentary about the rise of occupied
factories that has flourished in the wake of the popular uprisings of
December 19 and 20, 2001.

==> About the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians

The Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians has been organizing against
the deportation of non-status Algerians for the past two years. Their
struggle intensified in April, 2002, when Immigration Minister Denis
Coderre lifted the moratorium on deportations to Algeria, leaving over
1000 non-status Algerians facing removal to a country still torn by civil
conflict and brutal violence.

In October, 2002, their dynamic political struggle won a partial victory,
as Immigration Canada and Immigration Quebec announced the implementation
of a special Joint Procedure for the regularization of some non-status
Algerians. However, numerous individuals are excluded from that
regularization procedure, and so the Action Committee's has continued to
fight for justice.

On Thursday, May 29th, 10 non-status Algerians and 2 supporters from the
No One Is Illegal Campaign of Montreal occupied the waiting room of
Coderre's Ottawa Office. They were demanding a face-to-face meeting with
Minister and a just solution for individuals facing deportation to Algeria
because they are excluded from the regularization process put into place
by Canada and Quebec Immigration.

The police response to this occupation was brutal. At approximately 10:30
PM, members of the Ottawa Police Services tactical squad, in coordination
with the RCMP, charged the people occupying the waiting room. After
forcing them to the ground, the police beat and Tasered many of the men on
their necks, backs, torsos and genitals. One man was bashed in the head
with the butt of a Taser gun, leaving a large gash on his forehead.
Another man lost a tooth as a result of being punched in the face by a
police officer. Several people had Taser burns on the backs of their neck,
backs and arms. The 12 arrestees were arrested, charged with mischief
over $5,000, and released from jail the next day. They will undergo a
preliminary enquiry and a trial before a jury in Ottawa court in the
coming months.

==> About the Tent City Arrestees

Tent City was organized by members of the Comite des sans-emploi, CLAC
logement and Comite logement Ahuntsic-Cartierville, in order to denounce
gentrification and the ongoing housing crisis in Montreal. Tent City set
up in Lafontaine Park on July 5th, 2003. Supported by a demonstration of
over 400 people, those who participated in the action demanded decent
housing for everyone, an end to the criminalization of poverty and
homelessness, and the right to squat abandoned buildings.

At 12:30 AM on July 6th, the City of Montreal chose to enforce a by-law
that declares Montreal parks closed from 12PM to 6AM by deploying 150
police dressed in riot gear to clear the park. In a general assembly of
over 200 people, the majority of people chose to remain in the park and
defend Tent City. As riot police swept the park, they arrested 9 people,
who were charged with obstruction and unlawful assembly. Some were also
charged with breach of bail and breach of probation. All nine people
arrested were also given tickets for $138.00 for allegedly breaking the
park by-law. Seven arrestees will go to trial before a municipal court
judge in the coming year.

Admission: $15 / $10 students & unwaged
Tickets will be sold at the door from 5:30 PM.

Translation to French and Spanish.
Wheelchair accessible.

For more information: (514) 859-9022 or 25oc...@taktic.org