Quebec MNA Amir Khadir arrested at protest

[s_lone]

CBC News

Quebec MNA Amir Khadir arrested at protest - Montreal - CBC News

A Quebec politician was arrested Tuesday night during a protest over the province's student crisis and its contentious Bill 78.

Amir Khadir, the National Assembly member for the Montreal riding of Mercier, was handcuffed and placed on a bus with other detainees after police surrounded a group of demonstrators in Quebec City's Petit Champlain neighbourhood.

He was given a $494 ticket for violating Quebec's Highway Safety Code and was released that night along with his fellow arrestees, Khadir's spokesperson Christian Dubois said.


"The protest was declared illegal. People were walking calmly to the rhythm of the pots and pans," a statement on Khadir's Facebook page said. "Police corralled the demonstrators, they were handcuffed and placed on a bus.... Bizarrely, everyone was handcuffed for a Highway Safety Code infraction even though everything stayed peaceful."

There were about 100 demonstrators in all, Dubois said. About 50 of the demonstrators were surrounded and arrested.

Khadir's Facebook page said he was only doing what he does in Montreal "every night that he has the chance: that is, marching peacefully with other protesters."

"The freedom to protest is quite limited in Quebec," the statement said.

Khadir is the Québec Solidaire party's first and so far only MNA in the Quebec legislature. He was elected in 2008.

Quebec City and Montreal have seen regular public protests over the student crisis and Bill 78, the province's emergency legislation that sets strict rules for demonstrations.

In Montreal on Tuesday, the city's 43rd straight nightly march experienced no incidents as about 100 people took to the streets. The march headed west to downtown from its usual starting point at the Unviersity of Quebec in Montreal campus, then south and back east to Old Montreal.

A concurrent protest in Toronto in solidarity with the Quebec demonstrators had about 300 people clanging on pots and pans and wearing red squares, the symbol of the Quebec protest movement. Ontario university students pay the highest tuition fees in the country.

There have also been solidarity protests in Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Whitehorse, Calgary, Washington, New York, Paris and London.

Student leaders say that because a university or college education has replaced a high-school diploma as the baseline requirement for most new jobs, it should be kept affordable or even free. Despite that, the average undergraduate tuition countrywide has jumped 266 per cent since 1990, far outstripping inflation.

Quebec's Liberal government says it needs to raise revenues for its universities to maintain their quality of education and research.

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For those who are interested, you can hear Amir Khadir answering questions in English starting at 15:10 and 22:30

Point de presse d'Amir Khadir à la suite de son arrestation à Québec (6 juin 2012) - YouTube

 

[s_lone]

If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. – Thomas Jefferson

 

[Cliffy]

If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. – Thomas Jefferson

Unfortunately, most laws are unjust. But, after all, we must keep the bureaucratic law machine greased. I'm surprised all the usual Quebec haters have not piped up with usual nonsense.

 

[s_lone]

Unfortunately, most laws are unjust. But, after all, we must keep the bureaucratic law machine greased. I'm surprised all the usual Quebec haters have not piped up with usual nonsense.

To me the most significant moment in this video is around 16:10-16:20 where he says he's not at the service of the institution, he's at the service of the people who elected him. That is what true democracy ought to be about.

 

[Cliffy]

To me the most significant moment in this video is around 16:10-16:20 where he says he's not at the service of the institution, he's at the service of the people who elected him. That is what true democracy ought to be about.

Well, when we get democracy, let me know.

Not sure if you read this comment in another thread bu it is worth repeating: A friend of mine, a woman in her 60s, said to me the other day, the people of Quebec are standing up for all our rights. It is a shame the rest of Canada is too lazy or to complacent to stand up for theirs.

I hear some Ontario students are protesting in solidarity. At least someone is awake outside of Quebec.

 

[s_lone]

Well, when we get democracy, let me know.

Not sure if you read this comment in another thread bu it is worth repeating: A friend of mine, a woman in her 60s, said to me the other day, the people of Quebec are standing up for all our rights. It is a shame the rest of Canada is too lazy or to complacent to stand up for theirs.

I hear some Ontario students are protesting in solidarity. At least someone is awake outside of Quebec.

I wish the best of success to all students of Canada who are struggling for a fair access to education. I tend to see this issue as potentially dangerous for Canadian unity, but then it could go both ways... If by any chance a strong student movement for lower tuition fees took on in the rest of Canada, it could really give Canadian unity a much needed boost by uniting its youth. The federalist-separatist debate has sort of been stagnant in the last few years but the current mood of social upheaval gives me hope that perhaps we'll find creative ways to go beyond the dichotomy.

 

[Cliffy]

I wish the best of success to all students of Canada who are struggling for a fair access to education. I tend to see this issue as potentially dangerous for Canadian unity, but then it could go both ways... If by any chance a strong student movement for lower tuition fees took on in the rest of Canada, it could really give Canadian unity a much needed boost by uniting its youth. The federalist-separatist debate has sort of been stagnant in the last few years but the current mood of social upheaval gives me hope that perhaps we'll find creative ways to go beyond the dichotomy.

There are many here who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. They will belittle and denigrate any and all who they see as a threat to their comfort zone. But change is gonna come and they will get dragged along with it, kicking and screaming. The present system is bankrupt of money, ideas and the will to look at alternatives.