TIOHTIÀ:KE (Montreal), October 30, 2023 – Moments ago, voters in Montreal and across the country stormed the offices of 16 MPs in 12 cities from coast to coast (Victoria, Burnaby, Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Scarborough, Guelph, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal), calling on MPs to demand a ceasefire and end Canada’s complicity in Israeli apartheid. Demonstrations are also taking place outside many MPs’ offices, whose windows and buildings have been covered with placards.
WHEN: Indefinite simultaneous action that began at 13:00 on 30 October.
WHERE: – in MONTREAL
– Office of the Hon. Mélanie Joly,
225 Chabanel O.
Media contact: Zoyanne Côté, 438-530-4162 (spokespersons on site)
– Office of the Hon. David Lametti,
6023 Monk Blvd. Monk.
Media contact: Jon Mcphedran Waitzer, 438-827-4999
– Office of Rachel Bendayan, MNA,
302-154 Laurier Avenue W.
Media contact: Nora Butler, 438-764-2728
WHAT: Teams of 10 to 15 people are occupying the interior of the offices, joined by support demonstrators who have been called outside the buildings.
VISUALS: photos of the occupations accessible via #PalSolidaritySitIn and @PalSolidaritySitIn on social media.
Today’s actions in Burnaby, Edmonton, Guelph, Montreal, Scarborough, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg were organized independently by constituents in each MP’s riding in solidarity with the Palestinians.
For a complete list of sit-ins in MPs’ offices, including media contacts for each city, click here.
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) is the largest coordinating body for demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights in Canada.
PYM member Dalia Awad, who is not affiliated to today’s sit-ins, welcomed the actions, saying: “While Canadian politicians continue to turn a blind eye to the genocide committed in Gaza at the hands of Israel, we remain firm in our demands for an immediate ceasefire, an embargo on arms sales to Israel and an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. We know that we must not remain silent in the face of the atrocities committed against our people in Palestine and we will continue to hold our elected representatives to account until our demands are met.”
The spokespersons on site are Sarah Shamy, member of the Palestinian Youth Movement; Abir Samih, outraged citizen; Iman Korenic, outraged citizen.
