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UPDATE: Council marches in ‘the single biggest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history’

An estimated 250,000 people marched in downtown Montreal today to protest tuition hikes, austerity measures, environmental destruction (including Plan Nord), and Bill 78.

By late afternoon, there were two marches. The Montreal Gazette reports, “One, organized by the federations representing Quebec college and university students and attended by contingents from the province’s labour movement, abided by the provisions of the law and provided a route. The other, overseen by CLASSE, an umbrella group of students associations, deliberately did not.”

“By 3:30 pm, a little more than 90 minutes after the marches began to snake their way through downtown Montreal, CLASSE, which would later estimate the crowd at about 250,000, described the march as ‘the single biggest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history’.”

Brent Patterson

Brent Patterson

The Council of Canadians stands in solidarity with the now fourteen-week long student strike and firmly opposes the draconian Bill 78.

On Friday, the Montreal Gazette reported, “The Council of Canadians denounced (Bill 78), calling it undemocratic, unconstitutional and repressive. ‘Just days after a stinging indictment of the widespread repression that took place in Toronto during the G20 (summit), the Charest government in Quebec seems intent on outdoing the largest violation of civil liberties in Canadian history with its introduction of Bill 78,’ it wrote in a statement calling on its members and supporters to sign the petition against the legislation.”

More soon.