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The team of Café Aquin (UQAM) wants to collectively respond to the assault that two employees were victims of, one of whom who was more specifically targeted by a member of the Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire de Montréal (RCP). The assault took place this Tuesday, March 28, at 5:45 at Café Aquin.

Like many other people who care about solidarity and social justice, we’re compelled to act by the authoritarian direction of the RCP of Montreal, which has already been a problem for a while, and has been more present in the last months and weeks. On their site, you’ll find an example of an article that reports how four dissidents of the RCP were beaten and violently expelled from the Normand Béthune bookstore, the headquarters of the group. These dissidents were calling out the RCP Montreal for transphobia, anti-feminism, and authoritarianism.

It’s in this context that the events of Tuesday took place. Here’s a summary by two employees and three clients:

Around 5:30, this Tuesday March 28, two members of the RCP came to put their posters and distribute their fliers around and inside Café Aquin. Several minutes later, an employee who was on break told the two members that their posters and fliers aren’t welcome. Several moments later, the two members of the RCP reentered the café. One passed BEHIND the counter, into the area reserved for employees. He went towards the employee, who only critiqued them, in order to intimidate and threaten him, accompanied by shoving him. The employee told the aggressor to leave the space, telling him that it is his workplace and he’s not welcome. He was forced to add gestures to his words, for his own safety. After several moments, the employee, helped by another employee and several clients, managed to make them leave by bringing them to the exit. That is how the two members of the RCP left the café and Aquin pavilion.

The team at Café Aquin wants to unequivocally oppose the actions of these two members of the RCP (one active in the aggression, the other supporting it). The aggression of a worker AT his workplace is scandalous. All the more so given that these actions were committed by partisans of the Party that claims to defend the proletariat.

We’re sorry to all the clients who didn’t feel safe during the events. The Café Aquin is a space that wants to be safe, feminist, and solidaritous. For this reason, from today we are telling the two members of the RCP Montreal to no longer come to Café Aquin, and anyone who supports them to do the same.

Lastly, as the student café of UQAM, we equally hope that student associations who might support the RCP Montreal in whatever way (offering spaces, the printing of posters, etc.) reflect on their support for a Party whose practices and words are clearly contrary to their most basic mandates.

Sincerely and in solidarity,

The team at Café Aquin