The release below went out to media across Canada this morning. This defederation campaign is the latest in a series which have seen membership in the national student lobby group plummet as accusations of corruption and anti-democratic tactics multiply. 

In 2009 all Quebec members of the organization save for Dawson left the federation (or tried to, the CFS isn't a big fan of recognizing the results of defederation referendums, and the Concordia Student Union is still suing the Federation to force them to recognize the result of that vote) after CFS employees were implicated in several cases of electoral fraud (seeking to keep their allies in office) and even attempted bribery in relation to the CFS health plan.

Acclaimed British comedian Eddie Izzard is in Montreal this week to host a Gala at the Just For Laughs festival, and I was lucky enough to saw-off five minutes of his time to talk dick jokes, politics and his absolutely serious run at the mayoralty of London in 2020. 

Eddie Izzard: What was your name again?

Ethan Cox: Ethan Cox

Oh, I thought you said Ethan Hawke, I was confused...

I wish! He gets to be rich and famous and all I get are dick jokes …

That's true eh? Have you ever considered changing it to "Penises?"

From Cox to Penises eh?

 Yep, there you go, there's the comedy line! 

Cue the white smoke, we have a pope! Er, I mean a location, and a date. After two days of meetings that ranged from tense and acrimonious to joyful and celebratory, participants at the planning meeting for Canada's first ever People's Social Forum managed to arrive at a consensus. 

Held in Edmonton on the 2nd and 3rd of July, this planning meeting followed on the heels of the hugely successful first preparatory meeting which took place in Ottawa in January. While the attendance was around 50 people, short of the 150 who descended on Ottawa, key organizers from across the spectrum of social movements were there. 

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You can say many things about politics in la belle province, many of them unprintable, but that they are boring is not one of those things.

This wild week began with the pre-dawn arrest of Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum on Monday. While many Montrealers were shocked to see the mayor hauled off in handcuffs to face fourteen corruption-related charges, the only thing that shocked me was that it took so long.