Activism
In June 2005 Engler made national headlines after interrupting a press conference being held by then Canadian minister of foreign affairs, Pierre Pettigrew. Engler walked up to the stage, emptying the contents of a bottle of cranberry juice onto Pettigrew's arms, saying, "Pettigrew lies, Haitians die." The act was meant to symbolize the blood on the hands of the Canadian state due to its involvement in the planning of the coup (see: The Ottawa Initiative on Haiti) which ousted Jean Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected president of Haiti, from office and into exile. Engler also highlighted Canada's subsequent participation in the United Nations occupation of Haiti and the training of the Haitian national police by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which has resulted in an ongoing campaign of murder, imprisonment, and political repression targeted against supporters of the Lavalas party and opponents of the unelected interim government headed by Florida resident Gerard Latortue.
Engler served as Vice President of the Concordia Student Union where he was removed from office. A student tribunal found Engler guilty of "vexatious conduct" in the aftermath of a riot on September 9, 2002, when Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was aborted by demonstrators. Engler later tried to overturn his suspension; however, he was denied by a student hearing panel and Board of Governors. The university's decision was upheld by a Quebec tribunal.
Yves Engler has signed, together with 500 artists, the call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the state of Israel for Israeli Apartheid against Palestinians.
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