2023
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 1, 2023, 10:53 PM subject 044 – 0104
Dear Justin,
Poisson d’avril! Happy April, Fool! Today I took part in an action at an RBC branch downtown, over fifty of us entered the branch and occupied it for over a half hour until the cops showed up and asked us to leave. Many chants were chanted, and many fake interviews were given, as most of us were wearing Dave MacKay masks. There was a documentary film crew along with us from the meeting and training beforehand until the ending at a terrace on St. Denis, where the remaining 25 or 30 of us finally found a bar willing to serve us.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 3, 2023, 11:12 PM subject 045 – 0204
Dear Justin,
Had a really great Sunday, Jessica and I hung out all day, we didn’t do any of the planned housework, we went for a longish walk to o
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 3, 2023, 11:20 PM subject 046 – 0304
Dear Justin,
Sorry about the truncated letter from yesterday, as you know our Internet has been the shits lately. I just spent an hour on the phone with an eBox tech changing settings on the back end of the modem to see if it helps. It has become an ongoing thing. I also took Ericka in to get the all-season tires on, they weren’t able to re-attach the muffler but they did find that both front wheel ball joints needed to
be replaced and so that was $800, plus I had to leave her there all day, took the bus to the studio to get my steel ball hanging lampshade to install at Vox, finished the mini project at Artexte, then finished
the day at the CCA and took the metro back up to the garage to get the car. And then on the drive home actually got through to one of the RBC execs from the Stand.earth calling program, usually we get inboxes if lucky, but this guy answered and then proceeded to be all huffy and argumentative, he’s definitely been drinking the RBC kool-aid. Seems like they are digging their heels in even deeper into their own BS.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 6, 2023, 11:26 PM subject 047 – 0604
Dear Justin,
Well the RBC AGM is over, as expected they avoided speaking directly with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and blocked them from attending in the main room, even though they had the proxies to attend, Maybe Dave McKay is afraid to look them in their eyes, and try to worm his excuses to fit the lies he’s been told. Who tells Dave what to do? Certainly not you. Do you ever talk to those bankers? How about the Galen Westons, the big rich grocers? How about the Ted Rogers, the big rich telecom guys? Or all the oil barons? The miners and the loggers and then the army and the navy? Seems you talk to those folks a lot, and give them dollars in quantities during budget time. Let’s see, extractive industries, consumer goods, armies and police. Sounds about right. Anyway today we spent the day at Pierre François Ouellet’s gallery hanging over 100 photographs taken by Phyllis Lambert over the many years she has been alive. Oh, were you affected at all by the mini ice storm? Lots of folks without power including my garage, but they still managed to fix Ericka’s muffler, I’ll get her tomorrow. I’ve got the day off from CCA tomorrow but a bunch of things to do for Vox tomorrow. Plans. Always thinking ahead. Jess had DnD tonight so I spent the night reading Grapes (ever so relevant today what with issues of incarceration, migration, artificial borders and capitalism) and making supper, baking cookies and playing SDV.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 9, 2023, 11:16 PM subject 048 – 0904
Dear Justin,
Happy Easter. Did you set up an egg hunt for your kids? Mine went with their mom to Niagara Falls for the weekend. Jess and I had plans to hang out with a former hookup of hers, unicorn-style, but he got cold feet and cancelled. We decided to go to Club L the following night but I had bad intestinal cramps, I think from eating a hard-boiled egg that might have been in the fridge too long We went anyway, it was a themed cabane à sucre night with a performance by cirque intime which basically consisted of a scantily-clad clown pouring syrup over a hyper, diminutive trapeze artist wearing a thong. You should have seen how quick he scampered up the stairs for the showers. We saw a couple people we know from the arts community and we were in a quandary about how to address it. In the end they came up to us to say hi shortly after we had gone upstairs. It was going to be awkward any which way it was to happen, it felt especially weird to have that conversation with loud group sex happening directly behind us. In the end we weren’t really feeling like participating in public sex so we just came home. Oh, I finished reading the Grapes of Wrath. What an epic story, and what an ending. It feels so relevant to current issues around migrants, borders, religion, power, poverty, and of course capitalism. Fuck the banks, and abolish billionaires, the C-IRG, the RCMP, the police and the monarchy.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 12, 2023, 10:32 PM subject 059 – 1204
Dear Justin,
Aaaaaarg, do you ever feel just so run ragged by all the million little things that need to be done in the day? For instance: I received 2 early morning texts, one asking if Sol could go to a friend’s after school, the other from Seb at CCA asking if I could get some more of the metal display structure legs from the supplier on 13th ave, so I drove there after dropping Sol off at work, drove back to near JT metro, went to the CCA all day making stuff, back to get Sol, some groceries, make supper, re-wire some lighting cable for Rose’s new paper lampshade, prepare for the final Habs home game tomorrow and another appearance by #everydaygoalie and the #cowardlylion and fingers crossed at least a couple more people show but neither the lion nor I are very good at promo. And I’m just wondering how I’m going to get all around the city tomorrow to be at the Bell Centre before 6 with my gear and banners when I have to get Sol after school. Mama Mia!
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 13, 2023, 10:22 PM subject 050 – 1304
Dear Justin,
What a day! We jumped headlong right into summer. Typical morning lunch prep and breakfasts, drove to Vox after dropping Sol off at school, picked up the goalie gear, went to CCA for the day, at noon had to skip lunch and metro to Artexte and back – the mask repair I made on Tuesday had fallen off – then back to CCA to finish a plywood box, then drove to pick up Sol, picked up new flyers I had printed off at Copie Express, then down to the Bell Centre for the anti-RBC action tonight. Now my body is sore. Rolling around on the pavement and stopping pucks from toddlers, kids and young hotshots is taking a toll. There was a giant SPVM truck, some sort of Mobile Command Centre, just idling and showing off what pointless useless wasteful things the cops do with taxpayer money – buy a Paw Patrol super truck. Anyway we had a decent turnout, 2 long banners and new flyers and on a day when it was announced that RBC spent more on fossil fuels in 2022 than any other bank IN THE WORLD. Dave McKay must be so proud. Are you proud? Can you do something about this? You should. Of course, you should also read the goddam MOU on the gov of Canada website about respecting Wet’suwet’en autonomy and just shut CGL down, instead of letting the colonial courts grant industry injunctions to be enforced by the paramilitary C-IRG force. Anyway you know my position on it, do you ever get tired of your position?
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 16, 2023, 9:07 PM subject 052 – 1604
Dear Justin,
Sometimes the weekends are just too darn short. Yesterday morning my Ex came to collect the kids, Jess went to a workshop and then we met up in the afternoon at Parc Lafontaine, and then meandered up along St. Denis and Mont-Royal thrifting – I found another pair of Levis for $15 very similar to the pair I paid $115 for at Jeans Jeans Jeans last week. Also bought a new backpack made from recycled plastics, and a new pair of Converse lo-cuts. We bought oysters but they were so big they were very difficult to crack open. We broke a good knife on them. It took and hour and a half to go through the ten of them. It was a chill night at home, then today was a work around the house day. Cleaned up all the cat shit from the backyard, gathered up old leaves and branches and took them to the Eco Centre, while there I found a great big wood box that we will turn into a Free Box for the front of the house, then I wired up new lights, fixed Rose’s hanging light in her room, organized a bit, cleaned up my bike getting it ready for the season, we walked to the vegan bakery, I put up some #quitRBC stickers up at the branch on Chambord, Jess made us some Ramen for supper, I watched a bit of Arrival, and continued prepping Rose’s room for a new paint job. And just like that, the weekend is over.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 21, 2023, 10:58 PM subject 053 – 2104
Dear Justin,
What a week! Sorry I didn’t write much. Just got sucked into the work routine, didn’t have the kids but always seemed to be too tired or doing other things. Like on one evening I helped Jess dye her hair. And what’s the point, right? Me venting into the wind. Anyway today was a fun-filled day, the weather is back to warmer temperatures, I’m busy at work and also made a cover for the free box today, then met
the kids at the metro, we went to see the Super Mario movie, which was insipid and annoying and had less of a plot than any one of the actual Super Mario games, in fact it really felt like watching a video game, but at the same time it wasn’t actually as bad as I expected it to be. There were laughs to be had. Both Rose and I enjoyed the little blue flame character who was pining for death, it was refreshing to see a cartoon character so lovingly embrace the dark void. Speaking of dark voids, should I go straight to bed, or should I play some SDV? let’s see what the Universe Splitter has to say: Looks like I’m going to bed. Just going to throw the laundry in the dryer and brush my teeth first.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 22, 2023, 11:35 PM subject 054 – 2204
Dear Justin,
Happy Earth Day. I was going to go to the big march and rally but got sidetracked a bit, our fridge door fell off and I had to find some way of rigging it up again. Sol helped me to put the lid on the Free Box,
it fits nicely. I biked him up to hang out with his friend Boris for the afternoon. I did put up some posters for the decriminalize drugs campaign, but I’m mostly feeling a bit useless at the moment, like the activism is going nowhere, you and your ilk just keep saying the same things, claiming emissions are going down but not counting the emissions that will be burned from exporting oil and gas, still claiming that new oil and gas projects are somehow helping us to transition to a cleaner economy, whatever that is, and that economic growth continues, as if that is a good thing as well. Have you heard
of the Degrowth movement?
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 23, 2023, 11:02 PM subject 055 – 2304
Dear Justin,
It literally rained all day today, so a shopping we went, for rubber boots and rainjackets. Dropped off a late library book and picked up #27 One Piece for Sol. We went to Canadian Tire looking for Mega Nerf darts (Sol’s latest obsession – Nerf guns), then Marché Centrale for the other Canadian Tire for the rain gear and another shelf for Rose, and Rose and I also got shorts at l’Aubainerie. Picked up some groceries at Marché Royale Plus, then home to install shelves, and Sol and I went through his dresser and made a big giveaway bag of clothes he has outgrown – or never worn and never will. Then supper, Rose and I watched Toy Story 2, then bedtime, then baked cookies, then dishes, then signed up for Communauto again, and now to bed, tomorrow starts the final week of install at CCA.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 24, 2023, 10:30 PM subject 056 – 2404
Dear Justin,
Another Monday, another fistful of dollars – and day 5 of the PSAC strike, good for them, we should all be out on a general strike or marching and burning shit in the streets like in Paris but we are oh so complacent with our lot in life here in the comfy cozy neo-liberal west. I love to work, but I dislike having to do it for someone else, and having my hours counted, pay doled out so that I can pay in turn
to keep the lights on, to rent a roof over my head. UBI would be such a great thing. We could pay for it by taxing the rich and stopping subsidies to industries that intentionally harm the environment. Speaking of harm, guess what RBC is financing now? They are funding production of three of the artists in the upcoming Momenta biennial, including an artist who will be showing at Vox, which means I will have to be installing the work all the while fuming over the fact that that fuming over the fact that writing is hard and facts are hard and
my brain is tired and my energy feels low. Bedtime.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 25, 2023, 10:13 PM subject 057 – 2504
Dear Justin,
Another day, another fistful of dollars. Was working on milling and staining the custom frame for the big map piece, and we all gathered in the basement to drag the Jeff Wall up to the gallery in my custom skate. It worked like a charm, although we did need to tilt it, I think I made the width of the skate a bit too tight and it didn’t sit all the way down, so it was just a few hairs too high to pass the lowest doorframe. Anyway we got it up, now to build some solid cleats to hang it on the wall. Also we will need to rent a manual lift of some kid, it really is too heavy to lift. Sol and I biked to school this morning but it was too cold and I kept my bike with his and took the metro to work. Will possibly maybe do the same tomorrow as it looks to be another brisk morning, Tonight I had a 2-hour long zoom meeting with some of the Defund la Police coalition, I feel guilty because I haven’t put up as many of the Decriminalize Drugs posters as I would have liked, and a bunch that I did put up have been taken down. Also my Ex sent me a job call for a full time tech at the Mac, a position I would probably be perfect for, with a salary range between 48-92 thousand (why such a spread? makes no sense), I am toying with the idea of applying, follow Judith’s advice and make a pile of money so that in a few years…I’ll have more money? Enough to buy land and build? Probably will never have enough, and also do I want to rent out my services full-time? And then I feel guilty because even working part-time I can’t devout enough time to my activism (or art). Am I doing enough? Because I don’t feel like I am.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 26, 2023, 9:42 PM subject 058 – 2604
Dear Justin,
I’ve decided not to bake cookies tonight. There are 2 left which is enough for Rose and Sol’s lunches tomorrow. I just finished cleaning up the kitchen, and I just want to lie down and read a bit before bed.
Or maybe play some SDV, we’ll see what the Universe Splitter says. Today at work I finished that oversize custom frame, gave it a second coat of stain and the assembly went well, my measurements were pretty much bang-on. Started making the cleats for the Jeff Wall, which we will probably hang tomorrow. The install feels very close to being finished. Listened to the Sandy and Nora podcast from yesterday, it’s always good but this one felt really energizing. Anyway the Universe Splitter says I am in the universe where I play some Stardew Valley so off to the farm I go.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 27, 2023, 11:21 PM subject 059 – 2704
Dear Justin,
I spent all day working on the cleats and blocks for the Jeff Wall photo. I had to re-cut the cleats a couple times because I kept inverting the angle. I built some boxes so we could prop the picture up a corner at a time, the thing must weigh 400 pounds. It’s hung, it’s centred, it’s level, my work there is pretty much done. Tonight I made supper, played chess with Sol (he beat me again in a roller-coaster match), we read a bit, I cleaned up the kitchen, made cashew milk and cookies, now I need to trim my beard. The hairs are sticking straight out, not good for kissing. The Unist’ot’en Camp is looking for volunteers to come up and help work on the healing centre. I’d like to go, but have to see if my Ex will take the kids an extra
week in June. If I had more time I would love to drive, either with Ramsay or a new camper van, and live in the van while there, but just getting there would take a minimum 5 days. Not the best use of time if I only have 2 weeks off in total.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
from chris lloyd to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Apr 30, 2023, 1:59 PM subject 060 – 3004
Dear Justin,
We hosted a very successful ’80s New Wave-themed housewarming party last night. People came! So many people! Mostly Jess’s friends – she had organized it, and I sent out harried invites to a small handful of my friends only days ago – but Aiana and Alex came, and it was so nice to re-connect with her. Haven’t seen her since her birthday back in November. As the crowd thinned the remaining guests partook in some in-house karaoke, singing loudly until almost 4am, which I hope didn’t keep upstairs neighbour Kevin awake. Before the party I met some folks I met through the last Defund the Police meeting to talk about
concrete actions we could take for the unhoused Indigenous population in Montreal, who are constantly under threat from the SPVM. We are trying to develop a plan of Shared housing, essentially people opening their homes to Unhoused folks. I’d do it but we literally have no
room. We’re also looking into the possibility of building or retrofitting existing properties but that is a significant investment, requiring donors, grants, reams of paperwork. Do I want to spend my increasingly limited free time filling out forms? Already have a registration form to fill out to go to Unist’ot’en, and a possible cover letter to write if I decide to apply for that MACM tech job, and then of course my taxes, looming as they do at this time of year.
Anyway it is a partially rainy Sunday, Jess is still in bed not feeling so well from our late night, and I have to jump Ericka’s battery, I neglected to fully close the truck the other day and the dome light drained the battery below starter levels. But my Communauto membership is active again, so once we decide what we are doing with Ramsay, maybe at least get him out of storage, we might sell her, maybe get a camper van? The future holds lots of possibilities, I think I need to start making some life decisions, steer my life in the direction of my values and beliefs.
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- ° Chris Lloyd
- ° 514 295-3048
- ° Dear PM
DEAR PM 