A Commentary by Doug Draper
“Something’s happening here, What it is ain’t exactly clear, There’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I’ve got to beware.”
– from the old Sixties classic ‘For What It’s Worth’ by Buffalo Springfield.
It seemed like almost every time I turned on the television news this past week I was treated to images of police outfitted in riot gear, clashing with protesters in the streets.
Young people protesting in the streets of Quebec. Where are the rest of us?
‘Must be Syria’, I caught myself thinking. Nope. It was the streets of Montreal where, what started out about fifteen weeks ago as a student strike against proposed tuition fee hikes, has escalated into an all-out youth movement against a Jean Charest government in Quebec (and maybe against governments in general) that appears to be even unpopular than the Dalton McGuinty government in Ontario.I would turn on the news again and there was more footage of or police wearing Darth Vader masks and wielding clubs and shields in a crackdown on demonstrators at the G20 summit in Toronto two years ago this June. These scenes were being rebroadcast because of a report released late last week by the Office of Independent Police Review.
This report, like the one Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin produced in December of 2010, concluded what at least some of us who took the time to listen to citizen eyewitnesses rather than simply take the word of the authorities knew almost from the start – that the policing operation got so out of control, it resulted in one of the worst cases of civil liberty assaults in Canadian history, with the arrest and detention of more than 1,000 citizens, many of them jailed in makeshift cages a humane society for animals might condemn and where they were never read their rights over even allowed to call a lawyer until they were ultimately let go with no charges ever being filed against them. Then there was the reprehensible “kettling” of people, including people that were doing nothng more than shopping, like the herding together of dolphins for a slaughter in the streets of a City of Toronto we Canadians were once so proud to boast about as one of the world’s most civil metropolises.
As much of a stain as the G20 summit mess is on Canada’s reputation as a peaceful, freedom-loving democracy, it is the burning fire of protest in the streets of Quebec I want to get back to at the moment and a Draconian law, passed in haste in recent days by a desperate (likely not to get reelected) Charest government that, among other things, bars more than 50 people protesting in public space at a time unless they give the police a couple of days’ notice, and if anyone in the gathering deviates from the protest actions or messages they defined in their report to the police, they could face criminal charges.
Of course, there are those among us who will say; ‘Good. If these people don’t want to get in trouble with the government, then they should just stay home, close there curtains and hunker down to watch a hockey game, and basically shut up.’ I’ve heard that from many readers who dismissed my complaints in the past over the police actions at the G20 fiasco – and please, I’m not blaming the police. It is our federal and provincial governments that make their orders – and all I can say to them is read a classic history called ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’ by William Shirer, then come back and talk about how it is so much better to hide in your house rather than engage in any protest that we, in a democracy, should have every right to attend.
It has always mystified me that many of the same people who lash out against protesters are slamming the government themselves for dissolving their entitlements.
What we all ought to consider as we watch the situation play out in the streets of Quebec is that when it comes right down to it, we only have the right to assemble and speak our mind in this country if our exercising of them is not in conflict with the ideology of the government of the day. The moment it is, government will begin to take those rights ahead of ourselves.
Yes, there have been acts of violence and vandalism on the part of some of the demonstraters that are inexcusable. But most of these young people are reportedly demonstrating peacefully and are youth who see their opportunities for the same entitlements many of their elders, including the Baby Boomer generation had, to an affordable education, a decent paying job and a quality environment diminished by the actions of at least some of their elders.
If we don’t get that, then we may be in for more fire on the streets of this country.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post below. Remember that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
I got called out for referring to the actions of the police during the G20 in Toronto as Gestapo like but it seems our governments are basically “OWNED” by corporate monopolies and as such “THEY” control the police. The G20 was NOT the only instance of Gestapo action for “THE BATTLE FOR SEATTLE” rivaled the tactics of our beloved police in Toronto.
The Premier of Quebec was once a “PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE” talked into taking over the Liberal Leadership in Quebec a few years ago and if I am not mistaken a strong supporter of Harper thus his actions against the students in Quebec brings memories of the G20 to the fore. He passed oppressive and suppressive laws that looks like they came directly from the PMOs Office in Ottawa but He did not count on the tenacity of the young students and because of his actions and the tenacity of the youth of Quebec his career in politics looks very much in doubt. Vive pour les students.
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SAD SAD SAD It’s time to completely overhaul our political structure and get an accountable representation in our parliaments !!!!!
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Here’s come my “right-of-centre” comments ….
When protests start turning into vandalism sprees, it is time for the police to act – FULL FORCE! I don’t give a rats-ass about your “rights!” If you are damaging public or private property, you deserve to have your ass thrown in jail. No discussion.
The so-called “students” in Quebec already pay the lowest tuition in North America — and the new rates will still be the lowest in North America. They need to learn that there is a hard, cold world awaiting them if they ever manage to graduate!
As for Mr Snyder’s comments – yes!!! I agree. We must overhaul our political/voting system. Our political “parties” are not democratic. Our system is not democratic. We should start with a reform of our voting system in the hopes that it will kick the political parties in the ass and show them they are out of touch with Canadians.
I keep threatening to write an article on my ideas on voting reform — I guess I better get busy and send it in to see if Doug will publish it.
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Will, I haven’t been to the Montreal protests, but I bet 99.9% of the protestors are peaceful. These protestors are typically very intelligent, though corporate media might like to present them otherwise. Bill 78 is very much fascist-like, and the people of Canada should be protesting it. I’m very proud of these protestors. Unfortunately, the Black Bloc exists, as do over-zealous police tactics (kettling innocent people etc.). Most protestors realize what Chris Hedges has said: the Black Bloc is a cancer to Occupy (and, by extension, other popular movements). These popular protests are all about more equality in Canada, and less violence (i.e draconian, fascist laws, militarism, suppressed votes, disregard for people and the environment etc. Increased university fees are the tip of the iceberg.
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You likely won’t see this video on the corporate “news” chanels:
http://www.adbusters.org/abtv/99-quebec.html#.T74o5XefNHI.facebook
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Sorry guys, if you want to protest, go ahead – but if the black bloc crowd shows up … perhaps you should go home right away! As someone who spent half his working life as a journalist, I am very much aware of corporate media …. but that is why I read as many different news sources as possible in order to come to a balanced view. When it comes to vandalism for the sake of vandalism, the law should (MUST) come down hard! If you happen to be there, tough! The so-called “students” in Quebec will have to learn that life is hard — there is no free lunch! They seem like a bunch of self-centered little twits to me! You can defend them all you want — it doesn’t make all the vandalism right. Throw the little buggers in jail for a few months and see if they change their tune!
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I just watched the above referred link, Will. In this video, it appears to be the police that are doing the violence, not the protesters. Yet this video will never be shown in the corporate media because our government wants us to believe that the protesters are all involved in bloody riots, etc. I’ve been involved in numerous protests in my life in this country, and not a single one have I seen the mainstream participate in these acts of rioting. Or are you of the contention that people should avoid protesting, accept what our government is giving down our throats and just sit passively? I say no, there has to be an end to the Canadian way of taking it up the tailpipe and it is time that the populace fights back. Nothing worth accomplishing is not going to come without protest.
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