[Indigsol] Minutes from General Meeting: June 17th

[Angela Schleihauf]

IPSMO Minutes
June 16*

*Next meeting: July 14th, 7pm at Exile (tbc) (Bank and Cooper, 2nd floor)
*
(Proposals, Decisions are in bold, as are the names of people who have taken
on a task)*

Agenda:
1. House Demo to Support Abousfian Abdelrazik
2. Peru: Debrief from Last Demo; Upcoming Demo; Press Conference
3. Need to address: Better support for Emma, and those who were arrested
4. Six Nations Report Back, Akwasasne Caravan
5. Ardoch
6. Next meeting


*1. House Demo to support Abousfian Abdelrazik*
Home Demo: Lawrence Canon
-8am at 116 Marcel-Chaput, after Canon goes, they will move to info picket
at Chemin d'Almer (turns into Tache)/St. Remo (near Champlain bridge- west
end. It is about a 20 minute bike ride from down town)
* *-there are cars going out
-all will be over by 11am in time for demonstration at Peruvian Embassy


*2. Peru *

2a) Debrief from Last Demo:
-things went well (about 30 people attended), especially considering the
short notice with organizing.
-there were some chants, new ones needed
-Robert Lovelace went to talk to the diplomat who came out, which was good

2b) Upcoming Demo
**Demo on Thursday, June 17th (tomorrow)**
Pervuvian Embassy at 11:30am

Things to do:
-let people know
-make up chants
-folding pamphlets (*Greg* will make pamphlet, and coordinate having them
folded)

2c) Press Conference
Ben Powless and Robert Lovelace are confirmed speakers, we're still waiting
to hear back from Council of Canadians to have someone speak to the free
trade side of things
A room has been booked on parliament hill
No outstanding things to do.


*3) Need to address: Better Support for Emma and those who were arrested *

Emma has been shouldering a lot of the responsibility for the legal cases of
those arrested in the 1st B.L. blockade IPSMO attended. This has only
contributed to the personal stress she feels due to a large workload and the
ongoing trauma of the experience. As a group, we haven't done a good job of
supporting everyone through this. The people in Montreal who were arrested
have not been supported well either.
There seems to be this expectation that the solidarity groups will work to
ensure that the people in Barriere Lake who have charges will have their
cases resolved properly, which includes supporting them in finding proper
lawyers, checking to make sure they know the court days, and having an
intermediary between the lawyer and the accused, but those facing charges
within our solidarity group haven't received support and are somehow also
expected to fulfill the other responsibilities as well. This pressure comes
from fellow members of the solidarity groups as well as members of the B.L.
community.
Criminalizing people can serve as a way to discourage activists from further
organizing and political activity, because it can cause feelings of
alienation and stress. Those charged have been feeling this way, but support
from members of IPSMO could help alleviate some of this.

Where things are at with the charges right now for Emma, Matt K and Matt
M-B:
Nissan Pierre is the new lawyer, the other was not helpful. The charges are
mischief and obstruction of justice and the that is being asked for is 3
months in jail. The individuals have a copy of the video footage which was
taken. Next court date is August 6th at 9:30am at the Court House in
Maniwaki, after having been pushed back numerous times.

*Proposal: Make a Legal Support Committee
Decision: yes, with complete consensus
*
Legal Support Committee:
Krishna, Franç**ois, Kim, Angela, others are welcome to join

The Committee will take on:
-being an intermediary between the lawyer and the group (*Angela*)
-help with rides to and from Maniwaki (*Franç**ois* can help with this when
he is in Ottawa)
-help to do research for the case (Dan Sawyer has experience with this, we
should talk to him about how to do legal support)
-getting in touch, and maintining contact with Montreal folks (Dave and
Kyra) and B.L. folks (Yvon, Debra ) to see how they are doing, where they
are at with the legal situation, whether there is anything we can do to
support them, and checking whether they have any specific legal questions. (
*Matt M-B* will send *Greg *e-mail contact info)
-financial support- explore possibility of fundraising event

Note: the committee has not met as a group yet, so the list above will be
addressed fully once that happens


*4. Six Nations Report Back
*-Matt M-B went to Toronto to meet with people about Six Nations, most
people who attended were from out of town
-July 1st the caravan arrives in Akwasasne
-Want to get support from settlers and indigenous communities
-Regional Days of Action- great to coordinate this with other communities,
but they may also happen independently
-CBSA (Canadian Boarder Service Agency) is suggested by No One is Illegal as
a good target for ations leading up to caravan
-we should support this because it falls within our regional mandate
(Akwasasne is closer than B.L. and about the same distance from Ottawa as
Ardoch)
-the Caravan is an Indigenous led project
*
Proposal: Support Caravan and Day of Action
Decision: Yes, complete consensus
*
1) Educational Event- b/w June 27th and 30th- *Krishna* will contact Umi to
see if we could hold a film/education/fundraising night there. Montreal may
have materials, there is one old film. A speaker from Akwesasne may be able
to come up.
2) Action- immediately prior to caravan?
Potential targets: CBSA? Ministry of Immigration?- *Emma* will check address
3) Rides to meet Caravan (Wednesday, July 2)

Needs:
-money to support the caravan's travels
-media support is necessary as well
-rides to get to Akwasasne (*Franç**ois* (?) Krishna can go, others may too)

*Matt M-B* will check with other group who is involved in organizing these
activities and will contact list to see if other IPSMO folks want to help.
So far Emma, Kim, Krishna, François are interested in helping put this
together.
*On Thursday, June 25th, there will be a meeting at Exile at 7pm to continue
organizing*.

*
5. Ardoch

*Fundraising Event: November 16th or 23rd
*Matt K* is Green Door contact person

Pray for the Land: Saturday, June 28th, in Maberly. *Matt M-B* is contacting
OPRIG about renting a van.

Ardoch resistence to FVC- (generally) first Sunday of every month. The next
one is July 20th
*David* plans to go.

Community meetings in Maberly are generally the third Sunday of the month.
It seems more appropriate that IPSMO attend the Ardoch meetings, though we
can do both.

Invitation to Powow: Labour Day weekend with Ardoch

Announcement: Article on Indigenous people being charged for blocking a
quarry in Pembrooke last summer. Stay tuned for the next newsletter to read
the full Citizen article.




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