Quebec’s solution to student unrest: make it costly for troublemakers

MONTREAL – Multiple events Friday pointed to an emerging strategy in Quebec for dealing with unruly protesters: fiscal strangulation.

Three separate developments – one at the provincial legislature, one at Montreal’s city hall, and one in a courtroom – all pointed to punishing financial penalties for possible troublemakers, even suspected ones.

Like the controversial special law set to be adopted in the legislature, a new Montreal anti-mask bylaw carries stiff fines for certain protesters.

Anyone wearing a mask “without a valid excuse” during a protest can now be fined between $500 and $3,000. Mayor Gerald Tremblay says the measure gives police the tools they have lacked during recent vandalism-plagued demonstrations.

“I have faith in our police force, which has been ensuring our security under very difficult circumstances,” Tremblay told a news conference.

“Why hide behind a mask or conceal the itinerary of a protest?”

The ban goes into effect tomorrow in a city that has seen hundreds of arrests, numerous smashed windows and several clashes between protesters and police.

Stiff fiscal discipline was also inflicted upon students suspected of setting off smoke bombs that paralyzed the Montreal subway system on May 10.

Roxanne Belisle, 23, Vanessa L’Ecuyer, 22 and Genevieve Vaillancourt, 25 were released Friday on condition they each pay $3,000 bail and get their parents to promise to pay $7,000 if any of them break their many bail conditions. A fourth suspect remains in custody.

Meanwhile, the Quebec legislature continued its debate on a controversial bill aimed at restoring order in schools.

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The legislation is based on three main pillars: a pause in the current school calendar at affected institutions; steep fines for anyone who tries blocking access to a school; and a limit on where, how, and for how long people can protest in Quebec.

The law would only apply for a year. But that hasn’t assuaged the chorus of critics who have emerged since it was tabled late Thursday.

The legislation provides for fines of between $1,000 and $5,000 for any individual who prevents someone from entering an educational institution. Penalties climb to between $7,000 and $35,000 for a student leader and to between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations.

Bill 78 also lays out strict regulations governing student demonstrations, including having to give eight hours’ notice for details such as the itinerary, the duration and the time at which they are being held. Under the legislation, police can order the protest moved to a different spot.

Even encouraging someone to protest at a school – tacitly or otherwise – is punishable.

Amid a torrent of criticism, a portion of the bill was amended today to increase the number of people allowed to participate in an organized gathering from 10 to 25.

Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, less than a week in her new position, raised more than a few eyebrows by mentioning that tweets from the social network website Twitter could also be considered as encouragement to protest.

When asked to clarify, she said she would leave it up the police’s discretion to deem what was within the limits of the law. It remains unknown whether “re-tweeting” a potentially illegal message could also land others in hot water.

In a statement made Friday morning, the Quebec Bar Association expresseded serious concerns about the bill, calling it excessive. While there other complaints from within the legal community, the sentiment was not unanimous and some reacted more favourably to the bill.

But the most audible reaction was negative, ranging from ridicule to downright fury.

Predictably, a coalition of unions and student assocations shared its anger Friday, describing Quebec as a “totalitarian state.”

“This law is guided by the aggressiveness, anger and revenge of the Liberal Party,” said the president of the FTQ, Michel Arsenault.

Less predictably, the legislation was also being mocked or attacked by those less associated with the cause of striking students.

A chamber of commerce in Gatineau, Que., released a tongue-in-cheek description of its logistical plans for an upcoming event that featured an “assembly of more than 10 people.” It concluded with a joke, asking police to inform them how many agents would be present so they could prepare the appropriate number of hors d’oeuvres.

A populist TV host better known for ranting against student protests was suddenly supportive, to a certain extent: “I’m stuck in an insane asylum, and the guards are as crazy as the patients. Help!!!” tweeted Richard Martineau, a host on the LCN network.

A vote is expected shortly.

If passed, the bill would pause the current academic session for striking students and have it resume in August.

Bill 78 is expected to pass, given the governing Liberals’ slim majority in the 125-seat national assembly.

At the heart of the crisis is the government’s plan to hike tuition fees over several years. The fees will increase more than 75 per cent. While that would still leave Quebec with some of the lowest rates in the country, students have cast the dispute as a clash of principles.