http://www.marxist.com/illegal-demonstration-shakes-quebec-society.htm
An illegal demonstration of 250,000 shakes Quebec society<http://www.marxist.com/illegal-demonstration-shakes-quebec-society.htm> Written by Isa Al-Jaza'iri Wednesday, 23 May 2012 [image: Print]<http://www.marxist.com/illegal-demonstration-shakes-quebec-society/print.htm>[image: E-mail]<http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,86479d14afbff67302500036f682291802b7afb8/tmpl,component/> *Tuesday, May 22nd saw the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Over 250,000 youth and workers came out into the streets and openly defied the emergency law that requires police approval of protest routes 8 hours in advance. A widely publicized official route was broken, as the crowd turned away, following an unannounced path.* [image: 22 May crowd. Photo: Justin Ling]<http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/2012-05-22_crowd-Justin_Ling.jpg>Photo: Justin Ling <http://www.flickr.com/photos/66368850@N00/>The crowd was enormous, and easily broke the previous records set by the demonstrations on March 22 and April 22, proving that this movement was beginning to penetrate into wider layers of Quebecois society. Premiere Jean Charests gamble that the movement could be smashed with police batons and emergency powers had backfired, badly. Last week, Charest announced a law attacking the right to protest of students and workers, banning protests within 50 meters of colleges and universities, and instituting heavy fines for anyone who disrupts classes, thereby eliminating students right to strike. This law is comparable to previous laws ordering workers at Canada Post and Air Canada back to work and also removing their right to strike. [image: Placard against emergency law 78. Photo: Christian Aubry]<http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/2012-05-22_law_78-Christian_Aubry.jpg>Placard against emergency law 78. Photo: Christian Aubry<http://www.flickr.com/photos/amicalmant/>Unfortunately for the Quebec Premiere, enforcing this law is no easy task. For months, the movement has already made court injunctions null and void through mass action. It was inevitable that this law would provoke the same kind of non-compliance. Classe, the main student union organizing the strike, responded Monday at 3:30 with a press conference announcing that they were calling for civil disobedience and that their spokespersons were ready to go to jail for issuing such an appeal. The massive turnout yesterday showed how this law actually turned the situation around for the student movement. While the governments line of defending order had been gaining some ground in the previous period, after the smoke bombs on the metro carried out by a small group of individuals, this emergency law completely exposed the government. The tide turned very quickly, the government lost support in the latest polls, and the outcry turned into a massive sea of humanity yesterday. [image: May 22 demo. Photo: indratarben]<http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/2012-05-22_man_with_mask-indratarben.jpg>Photo: indratarben <http://www.flickr.com/photos/indratarben/>Charest will now be under pressure from two directions within his party. There will be those who argue that this demonstration must be met with fines, or else it will send the message that the law is meaningless. There will be others who argue that any attempt to fine Classe would be madness that can only further strengthen them and expose the undemocratic nature of the law. The Premiere is stuck. There is no easy way out. This is the moment to press the advantage and go on the offensive. This demonstration was a massive victory that destroyed the attempts to paint the movement as isolated, and the attempts to make it illegal. Now is the time, while the enemy is disoriented, to advance. Yesterday we saw thousands of workers join the demonstration. The unions mobilized their members to participate. [image: May 22, Montreal. Photo: Christian Aubry]<http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/2012-05-22_tamborine-Christian_Aubry.jpg>Photo: Christian Aubry <http://www.flickr.com/photos/amicalmant/>The STM [the public transit company in Montreal] workers union made a decision yesterday to no longer allow the public transport buses to be used to move riot police and their prisoners around Montreal. The nurses union compared the law to their back-to-work legislation in 1999. The teachers unions had their right to strike suspended in 2005. Current regulations ban solidarity strikes, political strikes, and picket lines in front of the entrances of the workplace. This struggle needs to be transformed into a larger struggle against all restrictions on the right to strike. Last week, the CSN [one of the trade union federations] public sector workers union voted unanimously at its congress to reaffirm the unions mandate for a social strike and call for a mass mobilization to defend its allies in society, in reference to the student movement. This is a clear step forward. Now this needs to be spread to all the unions which participated in the demonstration and all the unions which are touched by these kinds of undemocratic restrictions. [image: Banner of Classe, the student union. Photo: Justin Ling]<http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/2012-05-22_Classe_banner-Justin_Ling.jpg>Banner of Classe, the student union. Photo: Justin Ling<http://www.flickr.com/photos/66368850@N00/>The students need to capitalize on these opportunities, and go to the factories. It is urgent now to go to the workplaces, talk to the workers and ask them to hold general assemblies to discuss a 24-hour general strike. The students have raised the hopes of the working class, now is the time to ask for them to enter the struggle in an organized way. Together, the students and the workers can bring this government down. Charest, get out! Well find you a job in the north! Source: *Fightback*<http://www.marxist.com/weblinks/americas/fightback-canada.htm>(Canada) Videos *Time-lapse video of yesterday's demonstration:* *http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4mcDqPQG_vs*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4mcDqPQG_vs> *advertisement for the demonstration:* *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtY6S6TpyDw&feature=player_embedded*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtY6S6TpyDw&feature=player_embedded> Home <http://www.marxist.com/> » The Americas<http://www.marxist.com/americas/>» Canada <http://www.marxist.com/canada/> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
