Anti-Capitalists Converge In Montreal To Resist Anti-Protest Law
At a press conference on Tuesday, Montreal Anti-capitalist Convergence (CLAC) spokespeople stood alongside representatives from some of the 62 organizations that have signed its declaration to oppose P-6, a municipal bylaw that institutes fines for protesters wearing masks or other face coverings and declaring all protests illegal if their route is not pre-approved by the police. The organizations each took their turn to express why they were opposed to the law.
While P-6 has been in effect since 2001, the municipal government amended the by-law last spring in the midst of the student strike. It began to draw particular attention after the annual anti-police brutality protest on March 15, when the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) used the recently amended by-law to shut down and encircle the protest within minutes, slapping all participants with $637 ticket. Since the SPVM began enforcing the ticketing provision of P-6, several hundred people have been kettled and fined under the bylaw.
An activist from Solidarity Across Borders spoke about why it is important for people to be able to protest peacefully without fear of being processed and ticketed by the police, particularly for those people who live precariously in Canada.
“There are plenty of reasons not to give your itinerary [to the police], and there are plenty of reasons to want to wear a mask, one of which is solidarity with people who can’t take to the streets because of their lack of status,” the activist said.
Since the amendment of P-6, the bylaw and other activist movements have become inextricably intertwined. April 22 is not just the anniversary of one of the largest protests in the history of Québec’s student movement, with hundreds of thousands of protesters marching province-wide in honor of Earth Day as well as against the Liberal government’s proposed tuition hike, in 2012. It is also the day that Montreal’s municipal council was slated to hear a motion from Projet Montréal to repeal P-6, before the vote was postponed to the next day because of the number of other items on the council’s agenda.
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the municipal council returned from a break and opened up to questions from the public. As the public question session approached, around 700 demonstrators had already gathered outside City Hall to protest P-6. SPVM officers moved together to block off the entrance to everyone except people who were chosen by a lottery to be able to ask questions.
The crowd moved in on the officers, chanting, drumming, and bull horning just inches from their formation. After several minutes of noisemaking, police reinforcements arrived to push the protesters back and allow the people who had won had reserved their seats in the City Hall gallery.
“City Hall is supposed to be the house of the people,” said Norris in French at the meeting, “and tonight people who wanted to ask questions at this council were blocked entry by the police force. Is this something the municipal council will address?”
Harout Chitillian, the city council chair, responded that the council would “look into it.”