Bill 97 sparks protest in Montreal: forests, sovereignty, and solidarity with Palestine

On September 1, hundreds gathered at Place Émilie-Gamelin in Montreal before marching through the city to denounce Bill 97, Quebec’s proposed forestry reform. The bill would reserve at least one-third of public forests for industrial use, a move critics say prioritizes corporate profit at the expense of the environment, Indigenous sovereignty, and traditional practices.

The demonstration was organized in solidarity with Indigenous land defenders who have been blocking forestry companies from accessing their territories for weeks. Speakers drew attention to Canada’s long-standing pattern of valuing resource extraction over people, framing Bill 97 as part of this broader legacy. The protest also intersected with a Palestine solidarity march held the same day, highlighting the shared struggles against land theft, dispossession, and colonial exploitation.

Members of the Front de résistance autochtone populaire (FRAP), a grassroots group opposing Bill 97, addressed the crowd. Xan Choquet, one of its members, emphasized the pride that comes from resisting: “By opposing Bill 97, whether by being here today, whether by standing on blockades, or whether from your homes, that is what you are also doing. And for that too, I feel immense pride. In Québec, the forests are our pride. But for the government, that mostly means dollar signs. They see the forests as a finite bank to exploit, to empty until there is nothing left.”

Organizers linked the defense of forests to broader fights for justice, calling on Montrealers to recognize how struggles for land and sovereignty are interconnected, from Indigenous territories in Quebec to Palestine. Their message was clear: resistance to Bill 97 is not just about protecting trees, but about defending communities, cultures, and futures from the destructive logic of resource extraction.