Andrea Langlois et al - Islands of Resistance - Pirate Radio in Canada

Amplifying Resistance • 111
and who went on to continue their participation in media activism.
There is nothing like participation in a relevant, high activity pirate
protest to engender a passion for the potential of radio. Lastly, Radio
Taktic literally rocked the WTO with countless in-depth discussions
and information about the negative consequences of neoliberal globalization.
At the end of the protests, some of those involved in the
project were so inspired that they planned to keep the station running
into the future. These aspirations were not fully realized, but Radio
Taktic continued throughout that summer.
The last major mobilisation for Radio Taktic was a live broadcast
from a simulated Palestinian refugee camp set up in the empty lot
next to the alternative bookstore. This creative display was made up
of several tents. One displayed profiles of two refugee brothers — one
accepted by Canada, the other rejected — a second displayed audio/
video productions of the stories of Palestinian refugees, including
interviews with Palestinian refugees living in Montréal who were
threatened with deportation back to camps, and another had a map of
Palestine. The radio programming highlighted the goals of protestors
who set up the interactive display featuring life in refugee tents. The
emphasis of Radio Taktic during this symbolic protest was to focus on
content about Palestinian refugees, encourage listeners to come to the
“camp,” and interview the organizers on site.
Although Radio Taktic was a temporary pirate radio project, the lessons
it has to teach activists are many. Free radio can be used to disseminate
information about protest actions to a whole community, be
a part of creative resistance, and, simultaneously, serve the needs of
those participating in the protests. Radio Taktic’s reach was impressive,
not only broadcasting locally, but also bringing the news of the
mobilisation to other cities in Canada and other parts of the world via
the internet. The decision to use web streaming during the anti-WTO
protests is an important lesson of how to occupy the airwaves while
maintaining a safe space and an accessible studio. Even if the station
was not targeted by police in Montréal, taking steps to ensure that
activists would not be directly linked to the illegal action of occupying
the airwaves was an important precaution.
In other cities where there have been mass protests against the WTO,
Republican National Convention or the Group of Eight (G8), such as
in Genoa, London or New York, media centres supporting the actions
have been targeted by police. In the case of Radio Alice, operating in