MONTREAL – Quebec’s provincial government passed an emergency law Friday that sets restrictions on demonstrations and shuts some universities as the government seeks to end three months of demonstrations against tuition hikes.
The law risks inciting students who called it an act of war.
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The law passed 68-48. Among the controversial provisions is one that calls for police to be informed eight hours before a protest and told the route of any demonstration that includes 10 or more people. Critics called it an affront to civil rights.
Protests were planned in Quebec’s largest city, Montreal, later Friday to condemn the vote, which students and supporters say limits their ability to demonstrate their disapproval of the fee hikes.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Montreal on Thursday night as the government introduced the bill to quell the most sustained student protests in Canadian history. But there was none of the violence that erupted Wednesday when windows were smashed, more than 120 people were arrested and police and protesters were injured.
On Friday, the city of Montreal passed a bylaw restricting protesters from wearing masks during demonstrations that includes fines between $500 and $3,000. The city also said demonstrators will have to provide details of their itineraries beforehand.
Officials have said they believe protesters wearing masks have been causing the most trouble.
“Our cities can no longer become targets,” Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said. “It’s time to reclaim our streets, our neighborhoods, our cities.”
Rights groups also have protested that bylaw, calling it a restriction on their democratic right to demonstrate.
Quebec Premier Jean Charest said the proposed provincial legislation would not roll back the tuition hikes of $254 per year over seven years. Rather, it would temporarily halt the spring semester at schools paralyzed by walkouts and push up the summer holidays. Classes would resume earlier in August.
The law imposes harsh fines on protesters who block students from attending classes. Proposed fines range from $7,000 to $35,000 for a student leader and between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations if someone is prevented from entering an educational institution.
The Quebec Bar Association said it had serious concerns about the law and said the scale of the restraints on fundamental freedom wasn’t justified.
Opposition Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois called it “one of the darkest days of Quebec democracy.”
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