Living in Interesting Times

I heard the clanging coming from up the street at 8:00 PM on Saturday night. At first it was just a couple of people here and there banging pots and pans. By 8:30, it was a full-fledged demonstration in front of our house in NDG (a residential neighbourhood in Montreal that is about a 10 min drive from downtown).

The “casseroles”, or pots and pan protests, have been going on for about a week now, and have spread to many communities in Montreal and many cities and towns outside of it. The demonstrations originally began several months ago as a student protest against tuition hikes. But since the government of Quebec imposed Bill 78, an emergency law that was passed on May 18 to limit freedom of assembly without prior police approval, the protest has broadened to the general population and now is largely a protest against this law.

Reports of violence this past weekend were fewer than last weekend, and what I observed in our neighbourhood was very peaceful, as people came together with their friends, family, and children.

Here is a brief summary of what's been happening in Quebec.