Louder than words
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Anti-globalization activist Dave Bernans reaches for the Summit
by NOEMI LOPINTO
When 31-year-old Dave Bernans was arrested twice in the past year, ran in the federal election against Paul Martin in Ville-Emard, helped busloads of anti-globalization activists make it to Seattle in November 1999, he was only following family tradition. Mom was an anti-nuke activist, a union organizer, a feminist and a single mother. "I've seen the good that came from her work," says Bernans. "I take inspiration from her."
Bernans, along with his official agent Jessica LaJambe, are currently fighting charges in court for disrupting the peace in a May 1 demonstration in Westmount. He claims the protest never really got off the ground at all. "We got off the buses and were immediately chased by police into people's yards. We never even had a chance to protest." He also made news in November for camping outside of Paul Martin's campaign headquarters for three days in an effort to convince the indifferent minister to participate in a debate in his riding. "I challenged him every chance I got," says Bernans. "But I got no response." Local filmmaker Magnus Isaacson also filmed Bernan's campaign for an upcoming documentary.
Bernans is planning a conference at Concordia this month on the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), focusing on globalization in the Americas. And he is already looking forward to being arrested in April at the meeting of the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. "They're setting up a four-kilometre-wide military-occupied zone. They're emptying an entire prison for protesters to stay in," he says. Bernans' book, lengthily entitled Con U Inc: Privatization, Marketization and Globalization at Concordia University (and Beyond) will also be coming out next year. "We have to stand up for what we believe in," says Bernans "It's our basic duty as citizens to protect each other."
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