Canadian police arrested more than 100 protesters in Montreal Tuesday night, four days after the Quebec government passed a controversial new law that restricts protests, the National Post reports.
Bill 78 requires leaders of demonstrations with more than 50 people to give police an itinerary with at least eight hours notice. A protest only becomes legal if police approve the itinerary. Failure to comply can result in fines ranging from $25,000 to $125,000 for a student group or union and $7,000 to $35,000 for a student.
A non-profit legal group, Juripop Legal Clinic, is providing lawyers to the student associations to challenge Bill 78 and plans file a motion to the Quebec Superior Court by the end of the week, the Montreal Gazette reports.
The Quebec government passed the emergency law Friday in an effort to control massive student protests that have continued since February. Students have been protesting their government’s decision to raise tuition 75 percent by 2017, and decided to protest Bill 78 specifically when it was passed Friday.
Montreal constitutional lawyer Julius Grey told the Montreal Gazette “there’s no doubt” that Bill 78 violates fundamental freedoms in the Canadian constitution, including the freedoms of association and expression.
“You could set that law as an exam question in a university and say: ‘Discuss all the ways it could be contested,’ and you could probably write for two hours on it,” Grey told the Montreal Gazette Tuesday.
The Montreal Police department said it had not made any arrests under Bill 78 as of late Wednesday morning.
Montreal police instead arrested protesters citing criminal acts and new bylaws passed by Montreal’s city council prohibiting protesters from wearing masks, according to a police spokesperson.
“They didn’t share the route, demonstrators were wearing masks and projectiles were thrown at police officers,” the Montreal Police spokesperson tweeted Tuesday night around 10 p.m.
Police spokesperson Ian Lafrenière also told the Montreal Gazette, “when people are getting there with Molotov cocktails, when they’re getting there and trying to break windows [and] trying to take the weapons from police officers, we just apply the Criminal Code.”
Lafrenière said that police will “use a lot of judgement” when applying the new laws because they “don’t want to cause a bigger commotion.”
Tuesday marked the hundredth day of Quebec’s student protests.
More than 300 people were arrested Sunday night and 20 people injured, including 11 police officers. Two police officers were injured Tuesday night, according to the National Post.
