Montreal Police action enters the realm of the absurd: Police seize panda mascot head

[RobinX]

The following CBC News article illustrates the depths of absurdity that Montreal Police have now gone to in enforcing Montreal city bylaw P-6, which seeks to put limits on the right to protest by requiring that a protest route be provided in advance, prohibiting the wearing of masks, and other such restrictions:

• CBS News: Montreal protest mascot Anarchopanda’s head seized by police

If you read the comments on the CBC story you will see that there are a lot of people who feel that this police action is totally ridiculous and that the police have now gone too far. A lot of the comments on the story are worth repeating. Here are some of them:

The point behind the mask "law" is so protesters can be identified if they do something wrong.

This "Panda" does not meet those standards. He is clearly visible at all times, he cannot move quickly due to the costume itself, and they already know who the person is.

He is a philosophy professor. Thinking critically is his job; he is a well paid and well educated (obviously) professional.

Why are they so afraid of him?

Give the head back, this is called Freedom of Expression and the last time I checked, its protected by the Canadian Constitution.

I put my life on the line overseas for Canada and our freedom, I bet these police haven't because they obviously don't understand the concept of freedom and Freedom of Expression.

This is what our soldiers are fighting overseas for now folks. Think about it.

Let's hope that there is widespread condemnation of this police action, so that the police back down, and that there is pressure on the PQ Government to change their hypocritical position in support of municipal bylaw P-6, which is just as bad as Charest's Law 78, which the PQ opposed!

 

[EagerBeaver]

I can tell you as someone who was in Montreal during the height of the Iraq War Protests in February 2003 that those were the most disorganized protests I have ever seen in my life, in terms of the police regulating it. The result was that it took 2 hours for me to get from the south side of the Pont Champlain Bridge to Le Sheraton on Rene Levesque. 2 Hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was due to protesters meandering through traffic on Rene Levesque, as if it did not exist. Absolute chaos.

I have seen hundreds of protests in New York City which is 10 times the size of Montreal and never saw such a half assed police organization of a protest. The Montreal police department cannot allow protesters to take over and disrupt the normal flow of traffic as they did on that occasion. It was the most fucked up thing I have ever seen. The validity of the protest was besides the point.

 

[Net Profit Margin]

I have seen hundreds of protests in New York City which is 10 times the size of Montreal

A bit hyperbolic, aren't we?

 

[Like_It_Hot]

Like the guy pretending he has a 12 inches dick. But in fact never realised the ruler he was using was graduated in centimeters only... :lol:

 

[E. F. Hutton]

I say, if they are blocking traffic. Take them all in. Panda head or not.

 

[RobinX]

Police return panda head: Opposition to table motion to repeal bylaw P-6

There have been further developments in this story. First of all, the police have backed down and have returned the panda head:

Journal de Québec: Anarchopanda retrouvera sa tête

In order to save face, the police claim that they only confiscated the head in order to take pictures of it:

Le SPVM avait confisqué ladite pièce de costume pour la photographier et la répertorier comme élément de preuve.

The Montreal Police had siezed that part of the costume to take pictures of it and catalogue it as evidence

Apparently, the police seem to be saying that their photographers do not have the necessary skill required to photograph the head while it was moving among the crowd and therefore needed to take the head with them to get it right!

Secondly, there is now a chance that the P-6 bylaw will overturned since the opposition at city hall plans to table a motion on April 22 to repeal the bylaw:

The Link: Opposition to bylaw P-6 has now reached the mayor’s office

Opposition to the bylaw is now growing, and hopefully the parties succeed in overturning it. Stay tuned

 

[EagerBeaver]

In order to save face, the police claim that they only confiscated the head in order to take pictures of it. Apparently, the police seem to be saying that their photographers do not have the necessary skill require to photograph the head while it was moving among the crowd and therefore needed to take the head with them to get it right!

In court you need to establish chain of custody with respect to the evidence, which cannot be established unless you have custody. If you do not have legal custody of the evidence, there is no evidence. That is the law of evidence in most US jurisdictions.

 

[Trenus]

illustrates the depths of absurdity that Montreal Police have now gone to in enforcing Montreal city bylaw P-6, which seeks to put limits on the right to protest by requiring that a protest route be provided in advance, prohibiting the wearing of masks, and other such restrictions:

And so what's wrong with this law? I don't get you.

What about the rights of other people. If you want to protest, it's OK. Just submit a route and you can protest.

If you want to wear a mask because your goal is to make trouble, then YES, police should be able to identify you.

This is not about the right to protest. In this country, you can protest. Just protest in a way that does not disturb other people and if you wish to wear a mask as an excuse to make trouble, then law enforcement should have a right to know who you are.

The Law is simple. Just follow the rules by mapping out a route so authorities can find a better way to help traffic and to those persons who's only goal is to cause trouble, remove the mask so authorities know who you are.

What's wrong with that?

I don't get your point.

You can protest and do whatever you want as long as your goal is to the respect the rights of hard-working persons stuck in traffic dowtown and you don't hide behind some mask because your goal is to confront the authorities.

If you really believe in your cause and you follow the rules, then why have a mask?

I don't get it.

You have all the freedoms you want as long as your respectful of other people's rights and law enforcements can filter out the bad apples.

 

[snoodle]

The only thing that is absurd is these idiots with no life that won't stop protesting.

I say the police should beat them all down like dogs ! LOL

 

[RobinX]

And so what's wrong with this law?

The answer to your question is summed up well in the following recent letter to the Editor of the Gazette:

• Montreal Gazette: Letter - Bylaw P-6 stifles freedom of expression

.. free expression is only really free when it is not regulated, bureaucratized and constrained by the state. ( paraphrasing: just as journalists do not enjoy freedom of expression when they are required to submit an outline of their article to the police before publication)

The opinion of the Quebec Bar is similar:

... the obligation to disclose in advance “the exact location and route” of an event can be, in certain circumstances, a restriction too large upon freedom of peaceful assembly guaranteed by Articles 2c) of the Canadian Charter and 3 of the Quebec Charter.

The European Court of Human Rights has also made the same determination regarding simllar laws in Europe:

... For the Court, in circumstances where an immediate reaction to a political event could be justified, which takes the form of a peaceful protest, dispersing it on the sole ground that the obligation of prior notification has not been respected and without the participants having behaved in a manner contrary to the law constitutes a disproportionate restriction on freedom of peaceful assembly.

These quotes are from an excellent article on the subject by Josée Legault :

• Freedom of peaceful assembly: seeking political leadership

 

[Like_It_Hot]

The only thing that is absurd is these idiots with no life that won't stop protesting.

I say the police should beat them all down like dogs ! LOL

Snoodle, you missed a good opportunity to think before writing. Your father should have kick your ass when you were young... unless he didn't do enough. It's not funny to beat someone or dogs.

 

[Trenus]

At RobinX;
free expression is only really free when it is not regulated, bureaucratized and constrained by the state

But that's the point. It is not constrained by the state. You can protest all you want. Simply submit a route of the march and all the rights are balanced; the rights of the motorists and the rights of the protesters.

It is also not regulated. The right to protest (if you submit a route) will never be refused by any government authority.

The Quebec Bar and the European Court of Human Rights stretch the elastic. Without any rules to protest, then anarchy and chaos reign. Remember, this country was founded on the principle of "peace, order, and good government".

This means balancing the rights of all parties and ensuring that chaos does not reign.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The only thing that is absurd is these idiots with no life that won't stop protesting.

I say the police should beat them all down like dogs ! LOL

I have seen a few protests in Montreal but the Iraq War protests when traffic was disrupted for hours was the worst. Nobody wants to sit in traffic at a standstill for hours because of a protest. The student protests I saw last summer were mostly peaceful although the objective of the protests was to get a college education for free, even when students going to good grad schools in the USA have to pay $50,000 to $60,000 per year. Generally with education, you get what you pay for (although McGill is now being viewed as a real bargain for cash-strapped American students). So Montreal residents basically want to pay nothing so that their children can sit around in class and learn nothing. Then when they get out in the marketplace, good luck finding a job when they are competing against graduates of real schools charging real tuition for a real education.

 

[snoodle]

Snoodle, you missed a good opportunity to think before writing. Your father should have kick your ass when you were young... unless he didn't do enough. It's not funny to beat someone or dogs.

I would never hurt a dog lol its just an expression but these protesters do deserve to get the crap beat out of them.
I would send these spoiled lazy brats to afghanistan for a few years so maybe they can learn something about sacrifice

 

[voyageur11]

Lets see if i got this right. Since you paid for a real tuition for a real education .and with education you get what you paid for if you where to move to montreal you be a better lawyer than the 24000 lawyer register in quebec

 

[MTL Expos]

You let one panda get away with it and the next thing you will see are pandas everywhere causing havoc.