Unions will keep fighting court battle over Quebec City pre-election posters

A judge will not grant an injunction for a group of unions whose posters were torn down by the City of Quebec.

The unions are urging Quebecers to vote for the Parti Quebecois (PQ) or Quebec Solidaire, especially in the central Quebec City riding of Taschereau. The PQ has held that seat for 20 years, but it’s expected to be a tight race now that MNA Agnès Maltais is retiring.

Global News’ Raquel Fletcher spoke with one of the union leaders, Marc Ranger, the Quebec regional director for the Canadian Public Service Union (SCFP), who said it will continue fighting the issue in court, even after the election.

Raquel Fletcher: Why were you disappointed by this decision?

Marc Ranger: Because we are not allowed to have our posters during the election, the real election (campaign). So there’s a problem with this decision and we need to challenge it. So we’ll see what’s the best way to challenge it, but during that time we’re going to find any way to be visible, to continue to express our opinion.

READ MORE: Union puts up billboards after election posters torn down in Quebec City

RF: We’re in Old Quebec right now. It’s really hard to miss the message that you’re trying to get across with this huge poster behind you. So did the judge have a reason to say this isn’t urgent, that there are other ways of getting your point across?

MR: The other ways are very expensive. The most effective way are those posters … because in a city like Montreal we have maybe 500 of these posters. Not one of them was removed, not one of them was vandalized. But Quebec City, it’s like it’s another Charter of Rights, where you’re not allowed to do so, so we need to show the city that we have the same rights as anywhere else in the province.

READ MORE: ‘It’s our job to mobilize our troops’: Quebec unions gear up for election battle as top two parties seen as ‘anti-worker’

RF: What do you say to your own members who maybe support the Liberal party or the CAQ? 

MR: They have the right, but as a union, as an organization, we have been under attack for the past four years — pensions, they cut the indexing of the retirees. Those were our members that were cut. Healthcare, everywhere, education, so our members were under attack. With François Legault, they want to privatize state corporations, so our members will also be under attack.

So it’s our duty to make sure that we defend the working conditions of our members. And this, during a political campaign, that’s the best time to show that we will not stay quiet, that we will speak loud and clear. It’s a democracy and we have the right to challenge them.

RF: The city took your posters down, but you’ve caught up in this highly-publicized legal battle. Have you gotten more attention to your message because of that? 

MR: Probably, it was not the goal, but you’re right. The fact that … we were challenged, of course, it’s an issue now and everyone is talking about it, so it’s a way to achieve what we want. But at the same time, we have some rights and we don’t want to have to fight every time we want to in the public space.