MONTREAL – There were warnings Friday from Quebec’s legal community that the government’s strict legislation aimed at ending the student crisis goes too far.
One law professor even compared the controversial Bill 78 to the now-defunct War Measures Act. Other observers, meanwhile, supported the law as a way to bring calm to the unrest.
The emergency legislation lays out stern regulations governing demonstrations and contains provisions for heavy fines for students and their federations.
Lucie Lemonde, a law professor at Universite du Quebec a Montreal, said Friday that she was stunned by how far the bill reaches.
“It’s the worst law that I’ve ever seen, except for the War Measures Act,” said Lemonde, referring to the notorious law imposed in Quebec during the 1970 FLQ crisis.
“We knew something was coming, but I didn’t think they would use it to change the rules of the game in terms of the rights to demonstrate.”
The legislation, set to expire after a year, is designed to deal with an immediate problem.
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Tens of thousands of Quebec students have been on strike for more than three months to oppose the government’s plan to hike tuition fees. Some demonstrations have led to vandalism and violent exchanges with riot police, and some students have been blocked while attempting to return to class.
While Lemonde doesn’t support the tuition increases, she has found herself stuck in the middle of the occasionally aggressive dispute.
She was forced to cancel a class Wednesday when dozens of chanting, masked protesters stormed into her UQAM classroom.
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Lemonde said the school invasion, which made international headlines, shook her up.
Still, Lemonde said Bill 78 attacks an individual’s rights to freedom of expression, association and conscience.
Other experts also questioned the bill’s legality Friday.
The head of the provincial bar association said it violates constitutional rights. However, there were grumblings from some members of the bar that not all Quebec lawyers are quite that opposed to the law.
The bill did earn praise from some pro-business institutions.
Michel Leblanc, president and chief executive of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, welcomed the bill as a way to protect downtown businesses which say they are suffering because of the frequent demonstrations.
Leblanc noted that fewer people have been heading downtown to stores and restaurants since the protests started.
“The objective was to pause the troubles,” he said of the bill in an interview.
“It was important to find a way to calm the city.”
Leblanc also hopes the legislation will enable students who want to complete their semester to do so
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