Montréal Peacemakers Rally in Front of U.S. Embassy

Banners say, No to war, Save the earth; No to NATO; No to WWIII: NATO, Warmonger; and Let’s build the world we want!

By Cymry Gomery, Montréal for a World BEYOND War, January 31, 2022

Saturday January 22nd was a cold day in Montreal, but the sun was shining and downtown streets were nevertheless bustling with various masked and parka-clad locals out for a stroll. If these pedestrians were surprised to see a group of discreet protesters and colourful banners in front of the American Embassy on Sainte- Catherine Street, they did not show it.

The Montréal rally, one of several such gatherings in Canadian cities, was to protest Canada’s involvement in stoking tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Canada has been supplying troops, arms and training to the Ukrainian government, itself the product of a fascistic coup in 2014 and characterized by nationalism, xenophobia, and with Neo-Nazi affiliations.

The protest brought together several peace groups: Les artistes pour la paix; Le mouvement québecois pour la paix; The Marxist-Leninist party of Canada; and of course Montréal for a World BEYOND War, represented by yours truly, Christine Dandenault, and a new member, Garnet Colly.

The protesters handed out bilingual flyers from the Mouvement québecois pour la paix, which called for the government to stop selling arms and military equipment to Ukraine; to withdraw from NATO; to repatriate Canadian soldiers currently in the Ukraine; and to resume diplomatic talks with Russia. I used this occasion to hand out about 50 anti-fighter jets flyers as well, since a NATO war in Ukraine would be just the excuse the government has been waiting for to spend 19 billion dollars on climate- and people-killing F-35s.

If you missed the rally and still want to take action to stop a potential imperialist war in Ukraine, please sign the letter to Justin Trudeau, asking him to Stop arming Ukraine, end Operation UNIFIER and withdraw all Canadian Armed Forces from Eastern Europe.