Sunday, May 20, 2012

She said, 'We have to call 911.' And then she said, 'But wait, it's the police that are doing this.'

For reasons that seem incomprehensible to the Rest of Canada the violence in Quebec seems to be getting worse.

The recent law to quell violent unrest (a law likely constitutionally valid as being a reasonable limit on otherwise protected rights) has merely added fuel to the protests.

Presumably the unrest has deeper roots than a fairly minor tuition increase. But what are those roots? Anger at the failures in Quebec society? Generational anxiety? From the Rest of Canada it appears as an enigma wrapped in a mystery:

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/quebec-tuition-protests-make-waves-120520/20120520/?hub=MontrealHome

Montreal police came under criticism Sunday after a video was released showing them spraying bar patrons with pepper spray after a chair was tossed in their direction.

The video shows patrons on the patio at Le St-Bock and police in what appears to be a standoff. A chair is thrown at police and officers respond by firing off several rounds of pepper spray. The two sides clash briefly, and the patrons eventually disperse and take cover inside the bar.

Bar manager Nicolas Paquet said police also fired a crowd-dispersal powder at the patrons gathered on the patio.
...

"People were falling on each other running inside to get away from the pepper spray, breaking things, and then people left by the back exit," Guimond told The Canadian Press.

"My waitress said, 'We have to call 911.' And then she said, 'But wait, it's the police that are doing this.' That's when you realize there's a total loss of security."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Constitutionally valid? Maybe in Soviet Russia groups of 50 (originally 10) or more people have to register with the government to travel to or across public property.

The person who registers with the police becomes criminally liable for absolutely anything that happens that police choose to dislike. Every association of people present (doesn't even need to be the organizer) also becomes criminally liable. Hurray for collective punishment?

A simple twitter message encouraging peaceful protest for redress of grievances is now illegal in Quebec.

If "loi 78" is constitutional (without calling upon the horrid notwithstanding clause of course), then our constitution is far weaker than it should be.

Rick O'S said...

But tiny (relatively speaking) groups of miscreants are disrupting the safety and security of day to day life in a Canadian city. Do we have to wait for them to declare war? Or can we make a law that holds them accountable?

The organizers create the venue for the criminal element to act out. Then do not prevent the crime nor involve themselves in the apprehension of the perpetrators ... and , indeed by their very presence, impede the police from effectively capturing the criminals.

Ask yourself, if this protest was happening on my street, at my child's elementary school, right inside whatever place of business you work at or own, "which side of the line would I be on"? This might help you get a realistic perspective.

It is all well and good to teach this kind of thinking in a university but would that same professor not be one of the first to call for security or police if thse same defenders of civil liberties were to riot in his lecture hall?

You'll probably never know because it is unlikely that he would ever tell them something they wouldn't want to hear - like the truth.

Anonymous said...

"... For reasons that seem incomprehensible to the Rest of Canada"

Not so sure of that, Morton. Quebec is delusional about itself and the ROC.

I think most Canadians get that, by now.

Delusional people (and societies) don'y read the road signs real well.

Michael St. Paul's

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