Protesters clashed with riot police at Montreal’s Palais des congrès for a second day as a job symposium for Quebec’s northern plan was held inside under guard.
Dozens of members of the Réseau de résistance du Québecois joined aboriginal groups and students for the planned protest.
They faced off with riot squads in full armour stationed around the downtown conference centre.
Police arrested 90 people after declaring the protest illegal midday.
Officers blocked the convention centre’s entrance, as hundreds of job seekers waited outside.
Inside the building, about 100 businesses set up kiosks under police watch, for the second day in a row.
A protest outside the convention centre Friday erupted into violence with police using tear gas and sound grenades on rock-throwing protesters. Seventeen people were arrested.
Tuition protests turn violent in Montreal as students clash with police
Postmedia News, April 20
Montreal – Scores of people were arrested Friday as Montreal students continued their 10-week-long protest against a planned $325-a-year tuition fee hike.
Students demonstrated outside a job fair for Quebec’s Plan Nord ”” a major initiative to develop the province’s north ”” and at least one student was reported injured after clashes with riot police, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
TV images showed protesters throwing water and projectiles at police. Riot squad officers responded by charging the assembled crowd with batons, hitting people in the legs and other areas.
”œThis Plan Nord project is really a plan of piracy, of misappropriation of public funds,” says a statement by CLASSE, the largest anti-hike student group, on its website.
The Plan Nord Salon, where Premier Jean Charest was to speak, gathers companies and community organizations from Quebec’s north involved in the $80-billion, 25-year project to develop the region’s natural resources.
Riots erupt in Montreal over tuition hikes
Russia Today, April 20
Molotov cocktails launched in Montreal protests following legal crackdown
The Globe And Mail, May 18/19
Molotov cocktails were tossed during a large protest designed as an act of defiance Friday against a legal crackdown by the Quebec government.
At least one explosive device was lobbed over a downtown intersection, sailing through the air before it crashed into the street in front of police.
It erupted in flames and a puff of smoke. A Canadian Press photographer reported seeing at least two such objects thrown and there were other reports of multiple devices being tossed at that spot on the edge of Chinatown.
Police responded to being pelted with projectiles by firing rubber bullets, noise bombs and tear gas into the crowd. One person was arrested for assaulting an officer.
“Criminal acts were committed,†the police said in its Twitter feed. “(The protest) has been declared illegal. We asked people to disperse immediately.â€
The Canadian Press, Benjamin Shingler, May 21
Montreal – Quebec’s largest student group has vowed to defy the Quebec government’s new emergency law, calling for a summer of protests and acts of civil disobedience.
C.L.A.S.S.E., the more radical of the province’s three main student associations, declared Monday it would continue to encourage protests even if it meant it would lead to harsh financial penalties under the province’s Bill 87.
“The special law won’t kill the student movement,†spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said at a news conference on Monday.
“The fundamental rights under threat today need to be defended.â€
The student group called for protests at least until classes, which were suspended under the legislation, resume in August. It also launched an appeal for financial assistance for a legal challenge against Bill 78 and to help pay for any fines incurred under the new legislation.
While a recent poll suggested the majority of Quebecers were in favour of the law, the government continues to face stiff opposition from those who argue it’s an affront on civil liberties.
A massive demonstration is planned for Tuesday afternoon to mark 100 days since the first group of students walked out of class. A coalition of 140 community groups and unions encouraged people to join the demonstration to denounce the tuition increases and the legislation.