Gord Downie is Dead.
Gord Downie is Dead.
Why I agreed to do an interview with the CBC
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw
The Torch - Be yours to hold it high.
- John McRae, In Flanders Fields
Great news! The CBC wants to give me some free airtime!
Those of you who read The CBC wants to know if I`m a Terrorist will know that a CBC reporter reached out to me with some interview questions relating to sabotage against oil and gas infrastructure in Northern B.C.
If you want to bring yourself up to speed (and have a laugh while you`re at it), I suggest reading my previous post. You can check it out here:
Basically, they asked me point blank if I was involved in a bunch of high-profile attacks on property belonging to the RCMP and to the Coastal Gaslink corporation and their contractors. Pretty hilarious. They didn`t even offer me any money! Maybe they didn`t know that I could be making 100k if I was treachery-minded. Do you think they´d give me the money if I snitched on myself?
I mean, they did pay convicted serial killer Clifford Olson a hundred grand for information that didn´t incriminate anyone but himself, but he probably had more dirt on the Port Coquitlam RCMP than I do.
It´s really pretty fucking ridiculous that they´re still after me. They already put me on trial twice, and failed to obtain a conviction because they couldn´t get their star witness to testify against me. And now they´re so clueless that they´re investigating me two years after I left the fucking country. Ridiculous.
Anytime, to bring everyone up to speed, there´s been a bunch of acts of sabotage against pipeline infrastructure and police vehicles in Northern B.C. I´ll include a few pictures and videos here, but I encourage folks to check out The CBC Wants to Know if I´m a Terrorist for full context.
And yeah, they really are offering a bunch of money. According to CTV:
A group representing British Columbia’s construction industry has partnered with Crime Stoppers to offer a $100,000 reward for information leading to criminal charges in connection with attacks and vandalism at a Northern B.C. worksite.
Witnesses say approximately 20 people dressed in camouflage with their faces covered attacked employees and did $20 million worth of damage to equipment at the Coastal GasLink site near Houston in February.
While there were multiple witnesses – several of whom recorded video of the attacks as they hid in their vehicles – so far no one has been charged.
Anyway, this CBC guy wrote me over a month ago, saying:
The one year anniversary of the attack on the CGL worksite is next week:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/coastal-gaslink-suspect-video-1.6360949
Police suspect some of those involved were from outside the local community and may have ties to the anarchist movement in Canada.
In October several RCMP vehicles were torched in the region and someone claimed responsibility on an anarchist website.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/smithers-bc-rcmp-vehicles-burned-fire-1.6630421
Those tactics obviously represent a shift in this conflict.
So, I am trying to get an understanding of why they would be used and who would use them.
Of the people who were arrested up there a few have backgrounds that suggest they've been involved in direct action before and subscribe to anarchist ideas.
You appear to be one of those people.
I have no idea who was involved in those incidents in BC but that is my starting point, trying to reach those people.
Short of talking to someone who was directly involved, my hope is that you would be able to provide insight into these sort of tactics given your history in BC, at the Trump rally in Minnesota and the Enbridge action in Quebec.
To be clear, I don't do much reporting these days. I only work on special projects. My full time gig with CBC is as host of the local TV newscasts in Calgary. So, I don't have print/text examples of my work to link to. However, if it makes a difference here's a link to our latest newscasts: https://www.cbc.ca/player/news/canada/calgary
And here are some of the questions I have:
1.Were you involved in the two direct actions I referenced above?
2.If you weren't, are you able to put me in touch with who was?
3.If you were or were not...can you explain why those sort of tactics would be used?
4.In what ways would those tactics help achieve the stated goals of the Wet'suwet'en who oppose the project and have been non-violent to date?
5.Is the anarchist movement an organized movement in Canada or is it more accurate to characterize in another way? If so, how?
6.Do you know if there "anarchists" directly involved in on the ground action in Wet'suwet'en terriroty?
7.Do you think the violent tactics will continue and even after the pipeline is built?
Please consider these questions in good faith.
I have no agenda in portraying anyone in any particular light.
Like all CBC journalists I am driven by factual reporting.
Hope you're enjoying Mexico.
Rob
Anyway, I saw the opportunity to get something that I wanted from the CBC, which was some court documents that I lent to CBC reporter Jorge Barrera when he was working on a story about my trial. I was told that the story he was working on was going to air on the national news, but then things flared up again and I guess my story didn´t fit their narrative. Anyway, I had lent Barrera a stack of court documents detailing some of my many activism-related arrests. I guess I thought maybe it would be good to preserve for the historical record or whatever. I´d probably just lose them. But after the story got axed, I wanted my documents back. So I told Rob:
Awesome. Ill wait for the documents before replying. That will give you some time to read those articles I sent you.
Thanks for reaching out to Jorge for me. Much appreciated. He knows where to drop them off. Its literally on his way home from work. Hes probably driven by the spot hundreds of times since I politely asked him to return those documents. But I guess it hasnt been a priority for him. Or maybe hes absent-minded.
Thanks for lighting a fire under his ass! We´re off to a good start!
Anton
So awhile later I wrote Rob, saying:
Hey!
I have yet to receive word that my brother has received those documents. Perhaps your attention is elsewhere - I know how the news cycle is - but I thought that I´d send you a nice, friendly reminder than I am expecting those documents by the end of the week. Perhaps you saw my latest blog post and took it personally that I sort of called members of the press a gang of cruel faggots and intellectual prostitutes to boot, but please allow me to clarify that I am still very much willing to answer your questions.
Though I imagine that you, as a CBC employee, do not expect people to take you at your word, I would like to remind you that you did assure me that those documents would be returned this week. You weren´t lying to me, Rob, were you? I really hope not, Rob, because the truth is that I´ve got a bit of an anger problem, and I really don´t like being lied to. Someday, if we really get to know each other, Rob, maybe you´ll understand why.
But, anyway, I like to relax on my weekends, as I´m sure you do too, and it will be hard for me to relax if my blood is boiling at the outrageous disrespect that the CBC has shown me over the past few years.
Man, there´s no reason for this to be something that you need to trouble your pretty little head about. This isn´t about you and me. Or at least it doesn´t need to be. But I feel like you´ve got a responsibility to ensure that my brother gets those documents by the end of the week, because you gave me your word that´s exactly what would happen. Call me old-fashioned, but I hold people to their word. A man is a man if he can stand by his word, right? And if your word´s no good, you´re no good, right? Or has working for the CBC erased any memory of what your mommy and daddy taught you? It´s fucking pathetic. You´re all a fucking disgrace.
Pardon me.
I suppose I am assuming that you were raised right.
Were you?
Anyway, you told me that Jorge would return those documents by the end of the week, and there´s only one day left in the week. I know this isn´t really your problem, but could you please do me a favour and let me know when I can expect those documents.
Meanwhile, I sent Jorge a message saying:
Hey Buddy,
Where are my documents? I want them back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.
I´m a clown and I make people laugh. So perhaps you consider my wishes
less important than those of other people, who are respectable in the
eyes of the system or something. But guess what? People who don´t piss
me off generally fare better in life than people who do. I´ve been very,
very patient with you, and I´m not a patient person. Give my fucking
documents back, Jorge. I´m through fucking around.
Sincerely,
crow
Then, on March 11th, I get another email from Rob politely asking if I had received the documents from Jorge yet. I replied:
Rob,
Great to hear from you!
Short answer: Nope. No word from Jorge. Maybe he´s absent-minded... Either that or he´s a liar, but that doesn´t really add up, because it doesn´t make sense that the CBC, with its high journalistic standards, would employ a known liar.
I´ve been getting good mileage out of telling people like you guys asked me for information worth 100k and you can´t even do me a little favour.
Do you not think I know lawyers who I can get to apply pressure? This was a test. Is Jorge too lazy to use a photocopier or what?
The RCMP are offering a way better deal than you guys are:
It´s a bummer, because I was planning to write a hilarious piece which might actually provide some useful context.
Obviously I´m not going to volunteer any information that would incriminate myself or any other land defender, so I´ll let you be the judge of whether you want to bend to the will of a suspected eco-terrorist. No hard feelings if you get cold feet.
But honestly, my schedule´s filling up. I´m a very impatient person. Ask anyone.
If you guys want my take, I´ll give it to you free of charge, and it may or may not be useful to the RCMP, but it will definitely be entertaining. I guess it´s your call whether you want to give me a soapbox or not.
Am I really your best lead? That´s pretty fucking pathetic. You know I´m messing with you, right?
But whatever, I´ll offer my two cents if you want. But c´mon. You gotta work with me a little bit here.
Anton
P.S. Are you guys going to do follow up stories on all the churchs that were burned as part of your Shame Day psy-op?
I also sent another email, in which I wrote:
I`m a ¨ye is ye and nay is nay¨ kind of person, so I won´t answer your questions if you don´t give me what I want, or else you might think I´m the kind of man who contradicts himself. But I really do want to answer your questions, so I´ll send you something I already wrote, okay?
Here you go:
Right-wingers like to accuse anarchists of being outside agitators, and pretend that anarchists are maniupulating indigenous land defenders, but really what anarchist have been doing for years is supporting the indigenous factions whose politics are resonant with theirs. And I will defend this practice up and down. What else are you going to do? Ally yourself with a group because of their ethnicity irrespective of their political goal? How does that make any sense? Collaboration between anarchists and indigenous sovereigntists makes sense between our goals overlap in important ways.
On Monday, March 13th, I received the following email from Rob:
Hi again Anton,
Jorge tells me he has returned your documents.
R
I checked with my brother, and it is true. The documents have been returned, meaning that I need to make good on my word. I wrote him back on March 29th, saying:
Yes, thank you! It's nice to have an anchorman in your corner, that was getting ridiculous! I've started working on a reply. I actually intend to be much less insulting this time around, now that you've done something for me. I'm a "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" kind of person, believe it or not…
So I was already working on something, but then he had to go and say this:
I have not.
I am aiming to file my story for early next week. If you have the time to answer those questions that would be great.
Thanks Anton
Nothing wrong with that message, is there? Very professional, friendly, and Canadian. Only trouble is that it kind of reminds me of having a job, except I´m not getting paid, and I know that they´re just going to distort my words to make me look like an outside agitator manipulating indigenous people because of my diabolical anarchist scheme to wreak havoc in the name of defending native land from foreign oil companies or whatever sinister ploy I´m tricking people into believing.
I was going to reply faster, but having a deadline sort of makes it harder for me to motivate myself, you know? Deadlines are great and everything, but they work better when there´s some cash waiting for you on the other side of things. I´m just being honest here.
Plus, I just broke up with my girlfriend, and I´m really sad right now. This might not important to you, but it is to me. Let me explain.
I´m an artist. My job is to feel my feelings fully, and then express them, which helps other people understand their feelings more. I agree with Nietzche that the point of art is to avoid dying by the truth. Art is indispensable to human society, and that´s why Canada is dying inside. Because you don´t respect art.
You fuckers thought art was non-essential, ferchrissake. That´s the very definition of a Philistine. Don´t you bastards know that art is what makes the truth bearable? Without art, no one will want to hear the truth, because the truth is fucking brutal. So without art, there will be a greater and greater drift away from truth until God eventually smites you. And you´re well on your way to a good smiting, let me assure you. You can lock me up if it makes you feel better, but it won´t change a damn thing in the grand scheme of things. You´re still getting smote.
I´m the only one who loves you enough to tell you the truth, Canada. And that´s fucking pathetic, because I hate you with a burning passion. Think about that. That´s the fucking truth. The truth is that you don´t want the truth, because you don´t want to look yourself in the mirror, because you´re ashamed of who you´ve become. And you should be. Gord Downie was being nice about it. But he´s dead now. Let that sink in.
Gord Downie is dead. Canada doesn´t have a national poet anymore, and probably never will have one again, because all decent people hate what Canada has become. And you sons of bitches want to lock my ass up for standing up to the foreign oil companies planning to take control of Canada´s Pacific Northwest? Do you guys not see the irony here? You remember the words to O Canada? Remember that part about ¨standing on guard for thee¨? Who exactly do you think that the ¨thee¨ is that sentence refers to? Was it the Chinese Communist Party, which owns Petrochina? Or was it Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsubishi, or Korea Gas? I would honestly be curious to hear an interpretation of Canada´s national anthem that supports your narrative, in which I´m the bad guy for standing up to giant foreign oil companies.
You know why there won´t be another Gord Downie? You fuckers don´t deserve to feel good. The job of a country´s poet laureate is to portray the soul of that nation. And ain´t no one asking the magic mirror who the fairest of them all is these days. Ain´t no one got the stomach for that. If Canada did have a national poet, that poor soul would probably be a very fucked-up, angry, hateful and negative person with a vendetta against people like you. Man, don´t you wish God loved you gutless bastards enough to send you someone to tell you what a bunch of disgraceful excuses for human beings you are?
Yeah, it´s really too bad that you don´t have a national poet, but you know what´s worse? You don´t even know you need one. You fucking Philistines probably think poetry´s for faggots. Ah well.
But, fuck, this is probably the closest thing to someone from asking me to diagnose the soul-sickness that Canada is so clearly suffering from. I might as well do my best to channel Gord Downie and tell these poor bastards what they need to hear. I mean, it´s not like I have anything better to do.
I mean, I was kind of hoping that pouring out my soul until someone started caring would pan out for me, but apparently Canadians these days are too busy hitting the pleasure button like rats in a Skinner box.
They don´t want the truth. But that´s cool. The truth is the one thing that you always count on. It´s what doesn´t go away when you stop believing it. The truth will always come back into style. Things just need to get wack enough first that everyone gets sick to death of deceit and lies.
That´s what Roy Buchanan was talking about when he wrote The Messiah Will Come Again. Maybe your anti-Christian bigotry will prevent you from understanding this message, but really, have a listen to this song and tell me it doesn´t speak to your soul.
And if afterwards, you still want to lock me up, whatever, do your worst. God´s on my side, and y´all getting smote.