“You can cut down all of the flowers but you cannot stop the spring” — poster circulating around the strike

THE LAWS
On Friday, May 18th, 2012, two new laws came into effect in Montréal. Their purpose is to stifle the anti-capitalist revolt that has emerged from the student strike that began in this province fifteen weeks ago, to restore order and clear the way for the implementation of austerity measures in this territory.

The first is a municipal by-law. It aims to discourage people from wearing masks at demonstrations by threatening them with fines from $1000 to $5000. It comes as the federal government is contemplating a law, to be implemented across the whole territory of the Canadian State, that would punish those who conceal their identities “while participating in a riot” with a maximum of ten years in prison.

The second is the provincial government’s Special Law which demands that all public manifestations of popular dissent submit themselves to fastidious control by the State. Any demonstration, anywhere in Québec, must submit a start time and a complete route to the local police at least eight hours in advance; if it does not, it is illegal. The route can also be changed at any time by the police. There can be no demonstrations on the grounds of academic institutions or even within fifty metres of them. Any leader, spokesperson or rank-holding member of a student association that blocks access to classes, or counsels others to do so, will be subjected to a fine ranging between $7000 and $35,000. (mehr …)