In honour of International Workers’ Day, around 3,500 demonstrators participated in the fifth annual May Day Anti-Capitalist demonstration yesterday afternoon.

The demonstration began at 4:30 p.m. near Champ-de-Mars metro before proceeding to march throughout the downtown area, and concluded in Square Émile-Gamelin around 8 p.m. – which is when the eighth night protest began.

When he spoke to The Daily at 10:30 p.m., Montreal police sergeant Laurent Gingras confirmed 107 arrests and reports of 2 injuries throughout the course of the demonstration.

The demonstration was organized by the Convergences des luttes anticapitaliste-Montréal (CLAC). In the organization’s press release posted later Tuesday, CLAC denounced the arrests and noted a record-turnout for the demonstration. Various contingents participated in the demonstration including a group of clowns, the Comité commémoratif des prisonniers politiques iraniens des années 80 and Comité montréalais de soutien au mouvement du 20 février.

The demonstration also included a Baby Bloc, a group of demonstrators with children. According to Myriam Tamèr, a UQAM masters student who brought her 18 month old baby to the demonstration, this is the second year a Baby Bloc took part in the demonstration.

“The main way to stay safe is to stay in a group together and to be visually present in the demonstration – that’s why we have the yellow balloons, to clearly identify us,” she said.

Tamèr said two groups organized the Baby Bloc this year : Parents contre la hausse and a mobilization committee of student parents from UQAM.

In the statement, CLAC spokesperson Mathieu Francoeur described the demonstration as a “chance to celebrate a legacy of confrontational, revolutionary, and explicitly anti-capitalist working-class culture.”

“This May Day, the CLAC wishes to reaffirm its solidarity with all the movements of resistance struggling against austerity measures here and across the world, and particularly with the extraordinary struggle of the Quebec student movement, which has been showing the world what a strong, united mass social movement looks like,” states the press release.

From Champ-de-Mars, demonstrators marched west on rue Notre-Dame, turning north onto St-Laurent and then west on René-Lévesque. A group of 40 riot police officers walked alongside the demonstration. The demonstration was declared illegal just after 6 p.m.

According to the SPVM, after the announcement was given for demonstrators to disperse, criminal acts continued to be committed. Demonstrators initially launched fireworks and flares, then paint bombs, and smoking or alight projectiles. Between 5:30 and 6 p.m., a citizen was injured after a paint bullet hit them in the head.

At the intersection of University and rue Ste-Catherine, police and demonstrators clashed. The Bank of Montreal’s windows were smashed, at least two demonstrators were arrested – one of whom was dragged for about 20 metres – and projectiles such as rocks and sticks were thrown at police.

Montreal resident John Ranger spoke to what he witnessed: “At that moment all hell broke loose.”

“The people who were friends of [those] who got dragged away, they were picking up rocks, bottles, anything they could, because what are you going to do? These people [the police] turn on innocent people for no reason – we are only walking,” he said.

Though Gingras said he was unable to confirm individual reasons behind the 32 arrests for criminal infractions that occurred, he confirmed that officers used plastic bullets, rubber ball grenades and 40mm bullets “to mark” demonstrators in order to “control those who violently attack police and attack citizens.”

One officer was injured due to “contamination by chemical irritants,” according to Gingras. “I don’t know if it was ours or something that was brought by demonstrators,” he added.

After riot police intervened, stating that unless demonstrators were on sidewalks they would be arrested with criminal charges. Demonstrators marched along sidewalks in nearby streets as police followed. On rue Jeanne-Mance, a car window was smashed and its rear door was dented.

The dispersion of the initial demonstration resulted in splintered groups forming. The demonstration set to reconvene en masse in Square Émile-Gamelin. The largest splinter group contained about 200 people.

Three McGill students marching in this group, spoke to the use of ‘concussion grenades.’

“They [the SPVM] threw them directly into the crowd, and one of them exploded about a foot from my own feet, and we could feel heat that wasn’t just the tear gas in them, but heat from the actual explosion from the bomb on our faces,” said one student, who wished to remain anonymous.

Around 7 p.m., 75 demonstrators were arrested under municipal regulations at rue Berri and Ontario. Gingras said that police gave demonstrators “time to disperse” after declaring the demonstration illegal, but “unfortunately, those people refused to do it [disperse], and that’s why they were encircled along Berri and Sherbrooke.”

Twenty minutes later, about 500 people gathered in the square, blocking Ste-Catherine just south of the square.

30 riot police previously gathered in the square walked among demonstrators before turning to charge diagonally through the crowd of demonstrators creating confusion and panic among demonstrators. The tactic ended in the arrest of one male demonstrator.

Other demonstrators pursued police north towards Maisonneuve, throwing projectiles. 100 officers established a line around the northeastern corner of the square blocking further advances.

The demonstration ended with about 300 demonstrators blocking rue Berri while police tried twice to clear the street. Half an hour later, after telling demonstrators they would spend the night in jail if they did not clear the street, a line of about 35 bike police stood along the western edge of the sidewalk with another 40 officers stood across Berri.

Police arrested three demonstrators who were part of the line of demonstrators facing officers with bikes. Two of the three demonstrators had been prominent in leading demonstrators back into the street the first and second time demonstrators re-occupied the street. Gingras said he did not have information on the context of the three arrests.

In a previous version of this article CLAC was misidentified as a coalition. The Daily regrets the error.

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A mass arrest of between 50 and 75 demonstrators occurred at noon with demonstrators being kettled by police at the top of a stairway in an alley off of Saint-Antoine. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) later confirmed that 90 protesters were arrests – 89 for illegal assembly and one for obstruction of justice.

The demonstration started around the Palais de congrès along de Bleury and Saint-Antoine at 10 a.m. Riot police began pushing demonstrators off the sidewalks alongside the building at 11 a.m., confining the demonstration to Place Jean Paul Riopelle.

According to SPVM media relations agent Daniel Lacoursière, one 24 year-old male was arrested during the intervention at 11:15 a.m.

The 300 person demonstration splintered around 11:30 a.m. with 200 beginning to march through streets while 100 demonstrators remained in Place Jean Paul Riopelle. As the 200-strong march approached Square Victoria along Saint-Jacques, the police declared the demonstration illegal.

A short time later, riot police lined up at the north end of the Square Victoria on Avenue Viger and charged demonstrators. Demonstrators turned right onto Saint-Antoine and faced another line of riot police blocking the road in front of Place Jean Paul Riopelle.

A group of the demonstrators ran up a staircase leading into the Centre CDP Capital, which was closed for the day. Police followed and blocked access to the stairway.

One demonstrator was escorted out of the kettle visibly upset about 5 minutes later. Three demonstrators from a surrounding alleyway were arrested by police and escorted up the stairway 10 minutes afterwards.

An hour later three STM buses arrived on the scene to transport the arrested demonstrators. A crowd of about 60 formed on Saint-Antoine in solidarity with those arrested, chanting “Libérez nos camarades.”

The Plan Nord, the provincial government’s 25-year redevelopment plan for Quebec’s north, aims to stimulate investment in the region’s forestry, mining, hydroelectricity, tourism, and bio-food sectors, and is expected to create, on average, 20,000 jobs a year and bring in $80 billion in investments.

The Salon was a two-day recruitment fair for those interested in working on Plan Nord projects. The Plan has been criticized over fears the redevelopment will cause widespread environmental degradation in Quebec’s north.

Throughout the demonstration, a large group gathered in Place Jean Paul Riopelle to express their objection to Plan Nord, arguing the projects would destroy the region’s environment and displace indigenous communities.

The demonstration was organized by the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois, a resistance organization which, according to its website, considers Quebec independence necessary for the survival and development of the Québécois nation.

According to an RRQ member on the scene, RRQ president Patrick Bourgeois and national director Carlo Mosti were among those arrested. “They’re not people who would throw rocks. They’re not violent people,” he said in French, in reference to the RRQ members arrested.

Yesterday, the first day of the Salon, a demonstration also occurred initially both inside the Palais de congrès and outside. Projectiles were thrown by demonstrators and, as of Saturday morning, police state that 18 arrests were made, 2 citizens and 4 police officers were injured. Damage to media vehicles and surrounding buildings was reported.

When speaking to The Daily at 12:30 p.m. Lacoursière said that the Salon was no longer allowing people to enter due to the large turnout that morning. Around 1:30 p.m., the SPVM announced outside the Palais de congrès that the Salon had been cancelled for the day.

One man, who said he’d been waiting 45 minutes to get inside the Palais that afternoon, expressed his frustration at the disruption.

“I have a family to feed,” he said in French. “When there are opportunities like this in Quebec, I need to be able to take advantage of them.”

One woman spoke to the crowd of demonstrators, addressing the violence of the previous day. “We can see here the chaos when people do not have respect. And when we come here and we must show people how to carry ourselves with respect,” said the woman.

Jean-François Garneau, who attended the demonstration with his wife and son, said he wasn’t concerned about bringing his family to the protest after Friday’s events.

“[The violence] is a diversionary tactic from what’s caused this conflict,” said Garneau in French.

Garneau added that he thinks the recent demonstrations – part of the unlimited general strike protesting tuition increases which began over two months ago – need to become more peaceful.

“We won’t achieve what we want by doing it the way we were doing,” he said. “You have the right to vote and the right to protest, so you just exercise it correctly.”

— with files from Henry Gass and Nicolas Quiazoa

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Some demonstrators held candles. “It’s a vigil that we’re doing for the people who were arrested during the demonstration against Plan Nord which took a bad, bad turn,” said one demonstrator who spoke anonymously.

The demonstrator said that one of their friends had been arrested earlier in the day. “It’s for that that I’m here ­– to not forget the police brutality,” he added.

The march zigzagged through downtown Montreal, notably passing in front of Palais des Congrès, the site of the day’s action. Up to 16 police vehicles followed the demonstration.

Intervention from the riot squad was limited to after demonstrators attempted to do a “U-turn” on Maisonneuve. No physical confrontation occurred, though one demonstrator received a ticket of $150 for peeing underneath a bridge near the south Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) operational centre. The protest dispersed around 9:20 p.m.

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The Task Force was convened in Fall 2009 and the final report was released on February 21, 2011.

According to the final report, the Task Force’s goal was to “assess our strengths and weaknesses in achieving excellence, inclusiveness and community contributions and to formulate concrete strategies for improvement.”

The Task Force made three recommendations in its final report. The first was for the University to make “a firm commitment to the recruitment, retention and professional development of a diverse and excellent [group of staff and students].”

Masi spoke to the possibility of expanding the office of Associate Provost (Policies, Procedures and Equity) Lydia White, as well as the creation of a University fact-base to respond to issues concerning equity. He said that collecting data was “part of the problem.”

“We don’t have a good statistical database – a lot relies on self-identification,” he said. “We don’t have good information about ourselves, and it’s difficult to get people to conform.”

SSMU President Maggie Knight addressed Masi’s point in an interview with The Daily after Senate.

“If people aren’t ready to self-identify, why is that? […] If that’s a problem, doesn’t that point to something systemic? Let’s be willing to acknowledge that we’re not perfect and that we need to do work,” she said.

The Task Force’s second recommendation was that the “definition of excellence at McGill shall be broadened” in order to reflect McGill’s “distinctive mission,” and indicators to measure progress. According to Masi, this has in part been accomplished by Senate. Prior to his presentation, Senate approved the creation of the McGill University Award for Equity & Community Building.

The award is a student-led initiative brought to Senate with the Joint Board Senate Committee on Equity’s unanimous endorsement. The award aims to “enhance McGill’s commitment to equity by recognizing outstanding achievements” on the part of staff and students. Senate unanimously approved the award’s creation.

The report’s final recommendation was for the University to affirm its historical “service to society” and expand its commitment to “positive engagement with – and impact on – external communities.”

Knight asked how the University would avoid the appearance of “tokenistic” engagement with external communities.

“I reject the hypothesis of your questions,” Masi responded. “We don’t have the intention of doing anything that won’t have a large impact.”

Music Senator Emil Briones asked whether an over-arching equity policy would be drafted as a result of the Task Force.

In response, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum spoke to a trend at McGill of creating policy and then forgetting it. “What this Task Force should really engage in is changing practice,” she said.

Currently, McGill’s policies pertaining to equity are found in the Charter of Students’ Rights and Responsibilities, Employment Equity Policy, and the Policy on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Prohibited by Law.

According to Knight, an overarching equity policy would serve to “[set] out the values” of the University. She pointed to the equity policies already in place within SSMU, PGSS and with some faculties such as Engineering, Music, and Management.

SSMU VP University Affairs Emily Clare, who has worked with three different versions of SSMU’s equity policy, spoke to the benefits of such a policy. “It is very beneficial because it really makes it clear that we have a clear stance on things. It clearly lays out informal and formal mechanisms,” she said.

“If you have good policy which is outlined with a clear set of values you can build a community of trust around that policy,” she continued.

In Senate, Clare read a statement she prepared on racism at McGill.

“To be perfectly frank, I have seen so many of [my] peers, colleagues, even staff and faculty, feeling so disempowered within McGill that they don’t feel they have anyone to go to, that they can’t speak up, that they’re silenced constantly,” she said in a later interview with The Daily.

PGSS VP (University & Academic Affairs) Lily Han called McGill’s lack of an office dedicated to equity issues a “glaring gap.” She pointed to equity offices at other Canadian universities such as the University of Western Ontario, the University of British Columbia, Queen’s University, and the University of Toronto.

“Right now, it seems to me that there’s a bit of a disconnect between what we hear from various students and what they’re experiencing – and to a lesser degree from staff – versus what the relevant people in the administration are aware of,” said Knight.

Associate Provost (Policies, Procedures and Equity) Lydia White said she would take the issues raised back to the Joint Board Senate Committee on Equity, and spend the next academic year working to address them.

The final response from the University administration to the Task Force will be presented in Fall 2012 and afterwards will be implemented.

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The areas blocked included the driveway near the Trottier Engineering building, Milton Gates, Roddick Gates, and the driveway on McTavish between the Redpath and Islamic Studies building. With the exception of the driveway leading to McTavish, all blockades permitted pedestrians to enter and exit.

Vehicles that attempted to drive onto campus at any of the four junctures were re-directed. McGill Security Services agents were on the scene, and police assembled nearby.

According to Director of Media Relations Doug Sweet, some exams scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. were delayed.

“We needed to make sure that everyone had adequate time to get where they needed to go if they had to take an alternative route because they were being blocked at McTavish or were being blocked at Roddick for a time,” he explained. “I hope it doesn’t happen every day.”

Sweet said some exams held on the downtown campus were delayed up to 30 minutes. “But everybody had adequate time to finish – there was no crunch at the end,” he added.

Demonstrators blockading the McTavish and Roddick Gates locked the driveway gates. At the Milton Gates, three benches were moved to form a barricade in front of the demonstrators. Security Services stopped demonstrators from moving one of the three benches, and returned it to its original location.

By 9 a.m. the blockades had disbanded and demonstrators gathered in front of the James Administration building. After about 10 minutes, demonstrators marched off campus to Sherbrooke and down St. Laurent, with the march dispersing outside of the Palais de justice building by 10 a.m.

Student demonstrators gathered initially in front of Place du Canada this morning at 7 a.m. before marching to McGill campus. Pamphlets handed out at the blockades explained the action’s aims.

“It is not against the students of McGill that we are taking action, but against the institution. Block the deliveries to block the profits!” the statements read.

“The story of McGill is one of elitism, exclusion, and pillaging,” it continued. The statement referenced shock techniques described by author Naomi Klein, McGill’s research in thermobaric weapons, the University’s mining department, and asbestos.

The University’s demonstration blog was updated at 8:24 a.m. stating that three gates on campus had been blocked.

“If someone attempts to block your access to the campus, please do not get into a confrontation, but seek an alternate route into the campus,” the blog post read. An MRO with the same message was sent out by Associate Vice-Principal (University Services) Jim Nicell at 8:49 a.m.

The blog post confirmed that police were “in the vicinity.” Three police vehicles and two officers with motorcycles were on McTavish. Police stationed on McGill College and University are off-campus.

Once off-campus, 60 demonstrators marching towards the Palais de justice were accompanied by nine police vehicles, an ambulance, and at least four officers with motorcycles.

Outside the Palais de justice, demonstrators took turns reading a statement to other demonstrators concerning subjects such as police brutality and the Montreal media. About 35 demonstrators blocked traffic on Notre-Dame Est, the street in front of the Palais, for about 10 minutes before being pushed off the street by officers with batons.

18 officers formed a line along the street while traffic reopened along the street. The demonstration dwindled with groups of demonstrators leaving. It dispersed completely by around 10 a.m. when police left the scene and about 15 remaining demonstrators prepared to depart.

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The students handed out pamphlets outlining the goal of the action – called ‘Block the flow: cette fois-ci mettons-les chaos!’ – throughout the duration of the blockade. The action was intended to block access to the head office of the National Bank of Canada, housed at 600 de la Gauchetière.

“Our presence here rests on much more than the struggle for accessible education. The objective? To disrupt the flows of capital that govern too much of our society while continually impeding equity and social justice,” the pamphlet states.

According to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, one male protestor, aged 23, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the police intervention, and one student had a sprained ankle after falling while running from police.

SPVM media relations agent Daniel Lacoursière told media later that a woman inside the National Bank had fainted and hit her head, however, paramedics from Urgence Santé were unable to reach her due to students blocking the doors.

“That’s why we had to remove quickly the persons in front [of the National Bank],” he said.

The action is part of the third week of economic disruptions protesting tuition hikes, called for by CLASSE, the temporary coalition of the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ).

A political science student from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), who would not give his name and participated in the blockade, said a mix of university and CEGEP students organized the action autonomously.

Groups of between ten and thirty students stood with their arms linked at all entrances allowing people within the building to exit and refusing entrance to everyone.

Isolated altercations occurred when people attempted to push through students. According to eyewitness account, one altercation occurred between a man and a female student blocking the main entrance to 700 de la Gauchetière.

A separate altercation occurred at the Viger metro entrance to the National Bank. After attempting to push past students linking arms, a man grabbed the back of a helmet worn by a female student. He pulled down on her head before releasing his grip as the student screamed.

“That is not necessary,” said another student addressing the man. The man spoke with a different student for around 15 minutes after the incident.

“It’s a political action,” said one student who would not give his name. “It’s a question of politics but they want to make it personal: ‘I want to enter.’”

A man who attempted to enter the building addressed the students. “This is not how democracy functions,” he said in French.

At 8:30 a.m., the manager of the building read a statement in French over an SPVM loudspeaker stating that the blockage would no longer be tolerated. A police commandant also read a statement in French immediately afterwards asking people to move away from the building’s entrances.

According to Lacoursière, since the buildings were located on private property, once the owner states they no longer tolerate an action, the police take over by giving out eviction notices and removing demonstrators.

The initial warning was not given in English. When asked why the first warning was not translated into English, Lacoursière said in French that “if a demonstrator speaks only English – we’re in Quebec. The official language we use is French.”

“The people who were there knew what was happening. The people who I spoke with and engaged with spoke French. If you are a unilingual Anglophone you can turn and ask, ‘What did he say?’” he continued in French.

A second warning, announced in both languages, declared the action to be illegal at 8:40 a.m. Around 250 spectators had gathered outside the buildings, and police asked the crowd to move away from the entrance.

Police on bicycles approached students at the bank’s main entrance from two sides, however, students resisted police efforts to surround and disperse them. Some students remained at the entrance while others surrounded police officers.

At 8:42, about thirty riot police appeared. To cheers from some onlookers and boos from fellow students, students were sprayed with CS gas and pushed westward on de la Gauchetière. Riot police then charged the street, first to the west and then back eastward. The demonstration was almost entirely dispersed by 9:10 a.m.

National Bank employee Marc André Wolf, spoke to The Daily while waiting to enter the building after students were dispersed.

“We understand the mindset,” he said in French. “I work for the bank, but that’s not to say that I’m the bank. There’s two different things. What the bank does with loans, bursaries, whatever  – they don’t concern me. I’m here to work [and] pay my rent.”

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Concordia’s campus-community television station, CUTV, had a team of three journalists to live stream Wednesday’s demonstrations, beginning at 7:30 in the morning. CUTV has been broadcasting live from many demonstrations throughout the course of the unlimited general strike protesting tuition increases.

One of the CUTV reporters present on Wednesday morning, Sabine Friesinger, said that CUTV filmed the arrests due to actions on the part of police.

“[Police] were really beating people into a circle basically – so with clubs and batons, and the shields pushing on people – really brutalizing for no reason because, at that point, the crowd had already dispersed and so we were filming that kind of police action,” she said.

While demonstrators were being kettled, Marouf – program director and CUTV’s cameraperson for the live broadcast – was surrounded by police and his video equipment seized.

“They grabbed the equipment and they arrested him,” said Friesinger. She explained that, after she and CUTV’s tech person insisted, the equipment was returned, and the live stream recommenced. CUTV has released the footage leading up to Marouf’s arrest.

Marouf has been charged with hindering police action. He was held separately from other demonstrators who were arrested and, according to CUTV manager Laura Kneale, CUTV’s lawyer had difficulty getting in touch with him.

Friesinger felt that the police “clearly targeted” CUTV’s camera.

“I think they really today targeted the fact that we were showing images live of police actions, what kind of actions they were doing. They clearly knew because we were identified in the crowd, we have a sign up saying CUTV live, and they really, I think, wanted to shut that down,” she said.

Kneale said that no CUTV reporter has been arrested before today.

On Wednesday Kneale said CUTV would likely “put in a formal complaint with the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM)’s déontologie.” The Code of ethics of Quebec police officers is commonly referred to as the SPVM’s déontologie, meaning “professional ethics” in French.

The station is holding a press conference Thursday morning to formally announce what measures it will take.

Marouf was unavailable for comment.

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Throughout the morning three people sustained injuries, one of which was a McGill student.

The McGill student, who wished to remain anonymous, was transported to Notre-Dame hospital and treated for a fractured right forearm. The student will undergo surgery tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. as a result of the injury.

“They have to do surgery, otherwise my elbow will lock up forever. It’s not the sort of fracture that can just be set,” he said. “They said I should be good after three months of physiotherapy.”

The student said he was hit by a police officer’s shield. “This officer threw me down onto the ground from my back […] and I used my arms and elbows to stop my face from hitting the ground,” he said.

“As I was on the ground, I couldn’t get up, so the riot police was kicking me in my back, thigh and my butt. I eventually found a way to roll myself over and get up, and I ran to join other students who were then kettled,” he continued. After twenty minutes in the kettle, he asked police to see a medic. Multiple sources confirmed that the process of arresting demonstrators took approximately two hours.

“They took my information, they told me I would receive in the mail a ticket for mischief, but I haven’t gotten that yet,” he said.

The student told The Daily that, after seeing his X-rays, the doctor treating him informed him that she would file a report for police brutality so “that report will be pulled up and used as evidence.”

“She, of her own volition, came in and gave me a big speech about how she’s going to file this thing, and she told me the process that I should go through so that I can hopefully get justice,” he said.

The student intends to file a grievance against the police under the Code of ethics of Québec police officers, commonly referred to as the SPVM’s déontologie, meaning “professional ethics” in French.

As a part of the ongoing call for economic disruptions by the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE), the temporary coalition formed by the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), students assembled for two actions.

One action had about 100 people, and gathered in Square Victoria at 7:30 a.m. Demonstrators from the 7:30 a.m. action entered the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel for a brief period of time.  A second, smaller group gathered in Phillips Square at 8 a.m.

Police declared both demonstrations illegal around 8:30 this morning. The SPVM tweeted that two announcements for demonstrators to disperse had been given “after mischief occurred” in the Fairmont hotel.

Reports from demonstrators who gathered for the 8 a.m. action were unclear on the grounds for which police announced that the demonstration was illegal.

“We chanted two or three chants […] I have no idea why, I guess maybe they associated us with the other protest, because we hadn’t done anything yet. We blocked a street, but besides that nothing had happened,” said one McGill student who wished to remain anonymous and was present at the 8 a.m. action.

The McGill student who injured his arm had been part of the 8 a.m. action. He explained that the two demonstrations merged seemingly unintentionally.

“We were declared illegal, and we did not know why so we started turning around, we were very scared. There were a lot of police, and we see that there’s another huge march, and this was the other march [which met at 7:30 a.m.] that caused the damage in the hotel,” he said.

The 7:30 a.m. action had left Victoria Square marching north, and some demonstrators entered the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel and disrupted a room reportedly set for an event.

According to reports from students who entered the hotel and police reports, tables were overturned, a vase was broken, and display cabinets were tampered with. The SPVM tweeted as demonstrators entered and exited the hotel between 8:16 a.m. and 8:22 a.m.

According to SPVM media relations agent Daniel Lacoursière, an altercation occurred in which two security agents sustained injuries. He said that one of the two security agents were transported to hospital. Further information concerning the altercation was unavailable from SPVM media relations as of Wednesday night. A representative from the hotel was unavailable to speak with The Daily. No other details are known to The Daily.

“Things got out of hand at the hotel, but we didn’t know that at the time,” said the McGill student who would later sustain an injury. “So we meet up at about McGill College and Ste. Cats, start walking up north, and at Maisonneuve we’re blocked off by riot police so we entered the Eaton Centre.”

Demonstrators entered the metro and took the green line to metro Saint-Laurent. Upon exiting the metro, demonstrators were kettled on the side streets Charlotte and de Bullion, just south of Ste. Catherine.

According to Lacoursière, each time police announced that the demonstration was illegal participants left. “In the end they arrested the few people that were still there,” he said.

The demonstrators were transported in three STM buses to a police centre located at 7700 boulevard Langelier. One McGill student who was arrested reported that the majority of demonstrators were part of the 8 a.m. demonstration.

Of those arrested 68 were adults, 3 were minors, and at least 5 were McGill students. Demonstrators were given tickets for “having participated or being present at an assembly, march or demonstration that shows danger to the peace, security or order of the public domain.”

The ticket amounts to a fine of $146, and the SPVM has stated in a public message that, depending on their involvement, demonstrators could face other charges.

“There are plans to contest any tickets that were given and to contest the charges,” said one of the McGill students who were arrested. 

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The teach-in was organized by the Association des étudiant(e)s en langue et literature françaises inscrit(e)s aux etudes supérieures (ADELFIES), which represents graduate students in French language and literature at McGill.

ADELFIES is in its third week of participating in the unlimited general strike. The fourth vote on whether to review the strike mandate is set to occur on Friday.

The teach featured lectures from History professor James Krapfl and Éric Martin, the co-founder of l’Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-économiques (IRIS). French language and literature professor Alain Farah facilitated translation of the lectures, questions, and discussion.

Before the teach-in began, a letter, which was delivered to the McGill administration, was read out in French concerning the University’s MROs and handling of the student strike.

“The administration has produced a dangerous amalgamation of violence and demonstrating,” said the student, who read the statement in French. “The resistance against tuition hikes is systematically assimilated with a violent struggle while its participants are threatened on campus.”

Krapfl addressed students before beginning his lecture. “This is essentially a test for teachers. We’re seeing now in front of us what we have been doing for the past several years. You are showing us what you have learned and right now today I am impressed,” he said.

A tent and microphone were set up on the street. PGSS VP External Mariève Isabel was present for the teach-in. She said that PGSS assisted ADELFIES with some of the costs associated with the event and provided materials.

“It’s them who organized it, we’re just offering support,” she explained.

“There’s a lot of teachers here [from the group “Teachers contre la hausse”] I even saw retired teachers from the French language and literature department that are here today so that’s great,” she added.

One student who walked by the teach-in addressed participants. “Don’t you guys have class?” he asked.

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The demonstration is part of an ongoing series of actions throughout Montreal called for by the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE), which is one of three student bodies organizing the general unlimited strike against the $1,625 tuition hike scheduled to be implemented over the next five years. The strike is currently in its seventh week. 194,012 students are currently on strike.

Today’s demonstration, which demonstrators say started at Concordia, was organized by a small group, L’Order du Carré Rouge or the Order of the Red Square, which was created to organize similar demonstrations.

One of the Order’s founders, a student from Cégep de Saint-Laurent, said in French that the action was to show solidarity with students at Concordia and McGill. He said the intention was to enter McGill’s administration building, however, when doors were barred, demonstrators “improvised.”

According to another founder of the Order, a student from Cégep du Vieux Montréal, McGill was chosen as a site for the action because it symbolizes “a repressive movement against the student movement.

“To be inside McGill it is also a way to say to McGill [students] that we are with them,” he continued in French. “Presently, they do not have the means to direct actions within the movement themselves therefore they need our support and today we demonstrated that we’re here if they need it.”

He said that McGill students had asked demonstrators outside of the James building to pass by classes and “to make noise so as to let them know we’re here.”

A police officer outside the James building said police had followed the demonstration onto campus. Officers did not follow demonstrators through campus.

Demonstrators marched through the Arts, Leacock and Shatner buildings before marching to McLennan and Redpath libraries then the Desautels Faculty of Management building. McGill’s Security Services agents moved with the demonstration.

As students entered the Arts building, McGill Security’s Operations Administrator (Special Events) Kevin Byers told Operations Administrator Hugo Bourcier, “We’ll keep an eye; video, names.”

Throughout the Arts and Leacock buildings, demonstrators chanted “McGill on strike.” Associate Dean of Arts André Costopoulos appeared during this stage of the march for a period of time.

He said he was on his way to the Art History department, which voted to renew its strike mandate last night, where he later spoke with picketers.

“I just wanted to make sure that everybody’s safe, and the situation is under control. When I hear a lot of noise I go toward it and make sure that everything is ok. It’s part of my job,” he said.

Costopoulos serves as the Disciplinary Officer (DO) for the Faculty of Arts. When asked whether he was present in his capacity as DO and would investigate any McGill students taking part in the action he said that “unless they were engaged in clear immediate breaches of the Code, of course not, no.”

“Everything was okay here. There was no violence. There was no pushing or shoving – it was just some people walking through the building. That’s fine. There’s no problem with that,” he added.

In Redpath, a verbal altercation occurred between two McGill students, who had been working in a study room on the first floor of Redpath, and several student demonstrators. The McGill students yelled “no” at demonstrators, who were chanting “wake up.”

Security agents who were present nearby restrained one of the McGill students and spoke with the McGill students as demonstrators left the library. Before demonstrators entered the Desautels building, one fire cracker was set off.

Demonstrators marched through different levels of the building pausing to chant on each floor and in the stairwells. Security blocked demonstrators from entering classrooms on the third floor.

The demonstrators exited Desautels at 11:40 a.m. The demonstration dwindled to 60 students who halted traffic and began to march west on Sherbrooke. At Roddick Gates, a police escort – with at least two police vehicles in front of demonstrators and two behind – accompanied the march until they reached the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) at rue Jeanne-Mance.

McGill’s demonstration blog was updated nine times throughout the course of the demonstration. At 10:20 a.m. the blog estimated 150 demonstrators participated.

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“Our campaign this year is not to obtain immediately the abolition of tuition fees; our strike today… is really in opposition to the tuition increases so our concrete goal this year is to win the tuition freeze,” said CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

About 191,676 Quebec students in CEGEP and university are currently on strike, as part of the province’s six-week-old general unlimited strike. About 84,000 students are represented by 45 student associations that are members of CLASSE. The strike is against a tuition hike of $1,625 over the next five years.

CLASSE’s position became public Friday, the day after the demonstration, La Grande Mascarade, occurred. One of the protest’s themes was the reclamation of the student movement from other student federations.

Mathieu Melançon, a student from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)  whose student association is a member of CLASSE, was present at Thursday’s demonstration. He described the student movement as divided. “The movement is divided but not only [a] useless fight, it’s because we have different ways of seeing what should be the [aim of the student movement],” he explained.

“If this struggle was only about $1,625 of a tuition hike it would be a true waste of energy, time and public space,” he added.

CLASSE is the temporary coalition of the Association pour la solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ) founded with the goal of “opening the structures of ASSÉ to non-member student associations so as to construct a large movement and so as to combat the tuition hike,” according to their website.

ASSÉ views education as a fundamental right. The association’s website states that “each member of society [has] the right to free public education, accessible, quality and secular, free from all forms of discrimination.”

The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) is one of two major student federations in the Quebec student movement. According to its website, its mission is “to represent, by an intermediate of its associations’ members, university students so as to study, promote, protect, and develop their interests as well as their academic, social, cultural and economic rights.” McGill’s Post-Graduate Students’ Society is a member of FEUQ.

FEUQ president Martine Desjardins spoke to CLASSE’s statement. “They [CLASSE] are sending the message that we are all united behind the same message right now,” she said.

She referred to all student associations agreeing on a tuition fee freeze as a “great thing.”

At Thursday’s demonstration, a new student federation, the Front or fédération des étudiant(e)s collégial ou universitaire révolté (FECUR), claimed that student federations FEUQ, and its collegial counterpart FECQ, did not represent them. Later in the demonstration a banner bearing all three student associations’ names was pelted with food.

Nadeau-Dubois spoke about the demonstration organized by FECUR. “I think it’s legitimate for people to express publicly their fear of losing control of their movement … As an organization we call for solidarity in the student movement with the other student organizations,” he said.

Desjardins spoke to concerns regarding FEUQ’s governance strategies and tactics.

“There’s a lot of people who are angry because in 2005 there was a roundtable, so they’re saying it’s going to be history repeating itself in this conflict, but everyday I’m trying to say that we can agree on something, and we’re working together,” she said.

In 2005, FEUQ went to the negotiation table without ASSÉ’s temporary coalition – known at the time as the Coalition de l’association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante élargie (CASSÉÉ) – because the minister of education had denounced their occupation tactics.

Nadeau-Dubois said he felt many people feared a repeat of 2005, “but I think that for the moment we are on the road of solidarity within the student movement. We hope that it’s going to stay like this.”

“We want to benefit from the mobilization of this strength to talk about free schooling to put the debate on the public face that free school is a choice … we think it would be possible for Quebec to do this choice, but our strike this year concretely is not to obtain free school,” he added.

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The first action was organized by the Société générale des étudiantes et étudiants du Collège de Maisonneuve, and most students arrived at the designated place and time without knowing what the action would be.

“To make sure that these demonstrations aren’t broken up before they occur, for example, it’s important to have some level of secrecy about what they are so that they can actually take place,” said Karel, a McGill student who wished to be identified by her first name.

She said that the reason she felt the strategy was working was due to the speech made by CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois at last Thursday’s provincial day of action.

“He made it clear that even though 200,000 people showed up at the demonstration, what the Ministry of Education is counting on is that the movement falls apart after that…but what we’re trying to show is that was not the end of the movement, that we’re going to continue,” she explained.

McGill students were told that the action was coded “green,” meaning it was a low-risk action – though noting the action was not “completely free of risk.”

Karel said she felt the coding system was important. “When you have [over 190,000] students on strike there’s a variety of opinions on what people feel comfortable doing, and it’s a way of involving everyone,” she said.

Police were present from the start. An officer asked students to tell police where they were going, offering to have police escort the action.

The students began marching through surrounding streets with one police car in front, one following. When the march reached the intersection of Crémazie and St. Denis, students began running.

They ran towards the Fédération des cégeps building located at the corner of Crémazie and Berri. Students blocked the four entrances to the building, and initially a reported dozen students occupied the building.

Flyers stating the students’ demands were handed out. “We are occupying the Fédération des cégeps – the organization in charge of the direction of Quebec CEGEPs – to protest the budgetary reductions in the college network,” the flyer read in French.

“Today, we ask that the Fédération des cégeps oppose the cuts in action and manage them in the interest of students and employees of the college network,” continued the flyer.

Two police officers approached one entrance to obtain confirmation that the occupants of the building were safe. The officers then returned to parked cars around the building perimeter.

Later, doors were opened and larger numbers of students entered and exited the building freely.

Students occupied one half of the third floor of the building. Sticky notes and red squares were posted on the office walls, and the elevator doors were blocked. One note beside a drinking fountain read in French: “We’re thirsty for justice.”

Four Fédération employees blocked the doors to the other half of the third floor. Students and the employees were discussing the reasons behind the occupation. The employees declined The Daily’s request for an interview.

Many students occupying the building ran out at 1:15 p.m. after hearing reports of an imminent police intervention. A security agent stationed near the stairwell students accessed throughout the course of the occupation pushed a student out of the door. Amid shouts about ten students then re-entered the building.

Outside the building the number of students ebbed to about 150 by 1:30 p.m. Four paddy wagons drove by the building without stopping.

Jean-Pierre Lacoste and Laurent Lévesque, who work in the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) building across the street, walked over to shake hands with students.

“We think that, more than just the students’ demands, [there]’s a question of social justice,” said Lacoste.

At 3:00 p.m. police tear gassed students as they ran into the nearby Jarry metro station.

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According to White, most of the proposed changes are organizational. However, a proposed change to Section 5.10 of the original regulations was the focus of Senate’s discussion on White’s revision.

Section 5.10 stated that for academic staff to be granted tenure, “superior performance” in two of three categories is necessary. A “reasonable performance” in the third category is a minimum requirement.

The categories break down into teaching, research (professional and scholarly activities), and “other contributions to the University and scholarly communities.” White referred to the third category as “service.”

To be granted tenure under the revised set of regulations would mean earning a “superior performance” in the categories of teaching and research, and in the category of “service” professors could receive, at minimum, a “reasonable performance.”

After the meeting, White spoke to The Daily about the message behind the revision of the section.

“It’s more the message we are conveying about our expectations,” she explained.“McGill is a research-intensive, teaching-oriented University, and perhaps it’s not sending the right message to say that we would accept less than superior in those two important categories.”

Senators raised concerns regarding the section’s revision. In Senate, Medicine senator Edith Zorychta said the revision “devalues the collegial [service].”

Zorychta, a Pharmacology professor involved with the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT), said that a group within MAUT had examined the revision and, according to her, had “very serious concerns.” According to the Senate report, White had previously consulted with MAUT, Deans, and Teaching and Learning Services.

“It’s a major change and it has ramifications throughout the academic community,” said Zorychta. “It could send the message that since it’s no longer one of the three equally valid factors, it can easily be interpreted, and I think would be interpreted by many people, to mean that [service] is of lesser importance.”

Music senator Kyoko Hashimoto explained that, for Music, the category of research means performance, but she noted that many musicians later in their careers are unable to perform due to injuries. She gave the example of tendonitis among pianists.

“I’m afraid that if we change in this direction, that means it might be difficult to get the superior [level],” she said. She added that it could potentially amount to ageism in that context.

Several senators agreed with Arts senator John Galaty’s question: “Are we trying to fix something that’s not broken?”

White responded in Senate to his question, saying, “This is a consideration.”

She said that the number of current academic staff who have “reasonable performance” were “almost certainly lower than 10 per cent of the tenure cohort in each year,” and added that most tenured professors are superior in all three categories.

Speaking to The Daily after Senate, White said that the revision does not mean professors applying for tenure would not be expected to do service.

“I think it’s unfortunate that what people are interpreting this proposal as meaning that service is going to denigrate – that’s not the intention,” she said.

“It’s rather to enhance that we consider ourselves a top University in research and in teaching, and so why, in that case, shouldn’t we make that the expectation for junior professors?” she continued.

Post Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) VP Academic Lily Han described the revision as “contradictory,” referring to a discussion earlier in the meeting regarding recognizing student extracurricular activities in the admissions process.

“I think that if we want to promote students to get involved, and promote volunteerism, promote service to the University, it should be the same with faculty,” she said.

The revisions are to be brought back to Senate in April for the body’s approval. White stated she would incorporate the comments made in Senate into the revision process.

However, Arts senator Brendan Gillon expressed “misgivings” in Senate that, due to the time of the academic year, adequate reflection on the revision could occur before the next Senate. “I’d like to hear more arguments and more discussion,” he said after the meeting adjourned.

The post Changes proposed to tenure requirements appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Over Reading Week, SSMU VP Clubs and Services Carol Fraser received a call from Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson concerning a demonstration of vaginal fisting that had occurred a week before, as part of Queer McGill’s Rad Sex Week.

“He asked me who organized the event and I said, ‘It’s Queer McGill, but I don’t really know anything more than that,’” Fraser told The Daily. Fraser said she was aware of the fisting demonstration occurring, but added that the event “didn’t seem out of the ordinary to me.”

The live fisting demonstration is a regular part of Queer McGill’s (QM) Rad Sex Week, an annual week that started three years ago, and occurred the week of February 13 this year.

The first event of the week was a workshop called “Take Five: The Pleasures of Fisting” and was presented by Andrea Zanin, a sex blogger and kink historian. The workshop discusses the practice of vaginal fisting and, according to her website, covered anatomy, techniques, and safety tips.

The workshop Zanin gave at McGill included a live demonstration. The live demonstration was included in QM’s publicity of the workshop on Facebook.

In an interview with The Daily, Mendelson said that McGill’s Media Relations office picked up on the event via Google Alert, a web monitoring service that emails updates on relevant and recent Google search results based on a specified query.

“They [Media Relations] are alerted to articles that identify McGill,” he explained. The article identifying McGill in relation to the live fisting demonstration was published on Vice, a global youth media company that publishes print, event, music, online, television, and feature films.

“It involved a student group, so that’s why I heard about it,” he added.

According to Fraser, a meeting was set up between Mendelson, QM organizers of Rad Sex Week, SSMU President Maggie Knight, and herself.

Mendelson spoke to why he set up the meeting. “Sometimes when I read something in the media I like to speak to people who were involved just to find out what was going on,” he said. “It’s not unusual for me to follow up on events.”

Fraser said the content of the meeting had been agreed on by all parties present to be kept confidential, however, she confirmed that a part of the meeting’s discussion touched upon the live fisting demonstration.

“I think it was more McGill just wanting to know what happened,” she said. “Last year the event took place in the SSMU building, this year it took place in Leacock [232], and McGill just wanted to ask organizers some questions.”

This is the first time the fisting demonstration was held in a McGill administered building, though, other events during Rad Sex Week have been held in McGill-administered buildings in the past. For the last two years, the fisting demonstration has occurred in the Shatner building.

One of the founding coordinators of the first Rad Sex Week in 2009, Adam Wheeler, said consideration of where to hold events – in the Shatner building administered by SSMU or campus buildings administered by McGill – was something he and the other organizers had “kept in mind.”

Wheeler highlighted the greater autonomy around room bookings, security needs and financial costs available in the Shatner building.

“There’s presumably more latitude in what goes on in SSMU, in [Shatner], because [Shatner] is controlled by SSMU, so they may have less constraints on what sort of activities they would deem appropriate,” said Mendelson, regarding the University and SSMU’s response to the live fisting demonstration.

“On the other hand, there have been talks that we’ve had in University space that the SSMU has deemed inappropriate for its space, so it works in both directions,” he added in reference to a 2009 Choose Life event, also hosted in Leacock 232.

QM Social Coordinator Lindsey Clark said that the week was scheduled to occur in campus buildings due to increased accessibility for booking event space, and to make it easier for students to attend those events.

“It was a mixture of consciousness and also just ease of event,” she said. “It partly was conscious that we were having it within the school environment because we feel it is an educational series, that it is important that that be a part of the ‘McGill education,’ but I think it was never fully a conscious choice.”

Wheeler did not recall issues with McGill during the week’s first year. Current QM co-administrator Francesca Buxton stated that, since its creation, Rad Sex Week has been a “fairly accepted thing” on campus.

Current QM executives involved in organizing Rad Sex Week refused to comment on the confidential meeting with Mendelson, however, Clark spoke to The Daily.

“We at Queer McGill feel that Rad Sex Week is very important for education and awareness of sex issues, and we really appreciate the support [the] McGill administration has given us in allowing us to have these kinds of events in University spaces,” she said.

Mendelson said he was unaware of the week’s history of the live fisting demonstration. “Just because something happens at the University doesn’t mean that everyone is fully aware of it,” he said.

When asked whether the live fisting demonstration would be handled differently by McGill in future, Mendelson said, “I can’t comment on a hypothetical [situation].”

Fraser spoke to her reaction coming out of the confidential meeting. “There was no conclusion to the conversation, but, no matter what happens, I’m going to continue to support students providing those kinds of services to other students,” she said, describing the live demonstration as “necessary” and an “education.”

“It’s really more about the relationship that we have with McGill, keeping things open, and asserting that students can, and should, have those kinds of events for students,” Fraser added, referring to live sex demonstrations.

Clark said that three of Rad Sex Week’s events included live demonstrations.

“It’s a lot easier to learn something, and learn how to do something in the safest way possible if someone is giving you a full education from what it is that’s happening, and the easiest way to learn a lot of the things that we’ve demonstrated, is to see them happen,” she said.

She added that live demonstrations could add to de-stigmatizing acts like vaginal fisting; firstly by holding the demonstration at all and secondly by showing it an open forum like a workshop.

Buxton added that “we [QM] think that it’s really important because sex – especially queer or kinky sex – is treated as dirty in the media, and so to create an environment where a lot of the stigma is taken out of it is really important to us.”

In an earlier version of this article Lindsey Clark was identified as QM’s Political Action Coordinator. She is in fact one of the social coordinators. The Daily regrets the error. 

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Four Nursing classes and three Social Work classes were moved from their original locations in Wilson Hall to different locations on campus due to student picket lines around the building.

Picket lines between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. consisted of other McGill students with reports of at least two Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) also taking part in the lines.

The Social Work Student Association (SWSA), representing undergraduate Social Work students, voted last Thursday to join the unlimited general strike. Graduate students from McGill’s School of Nursing are also on strike, as they are members of the Post Graduate Students’ Society, which began a three-day strike today. The two associations share the building, and confusion arose regarding what tactics which representative body voted to support.

SWSA did not vote for “hard picket lines,” in which entry to buildings would be blocked. Anne Blumenthal, Y2 Social Work student and member of SWSA’s mobilization committee, tweeted that the SWSA mobilization committee was not present on picket lines due to many SWSA students not being on campus. Undergraduate Social Work students generally have off-campus stage placements on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

According to a member of the Graduate Student Mobilization Group – who wished to remain anonymous – PGSS did not vote on tactics to be used in the strike. The member said that they have chosen to interpret the lack of direction of strike tactics as the “option for a strike to be enforced by whatever means necessary.”

The member said one of the reasons for the choice to use hard picket lines was based on the location of Wilson Hall near an entrance to campus. “People use the tactics they are comfortable using,” they said.

Tensions arose almost immediately between students and staff arriving at Wilson Hall and attempting to gain entry to the building, while picketing students tired to hold their lines. One Social Work student pushed his way into the building through the picket line while student picketers attempted to block his way.

People within the building held up picketers’ arms to allow gaps for people to get through the lines.

One staff member explained that her undergraduate Nursing class was working towards implementing their projects next week and were missing class time today to consult regarding projects such as elderly suicide prevention and cultural approaches to mental health resiliency. Undergraduate Nursing students are not on strike.

She added that three Japanese scholars had been scheduled to visit today to observe McGill’s approaches to teaching.

Some staff and students have been permitted to cross the picket lines due to appointments with patients inside, by showing that they are SWSA members. Some building staff was also allowed entry.

Associate Dean of Arts André Costopoulos was present for a brief period of time after seeing the picket lines from his office window. “I’m responsible for enforcing the Code of Student Responsibilities and the Charter of Student Rights,” he said.

“We have to respect one another’s rights. Right now we’re in a situation where one group is infringing students’ right, and I have to act,” Costopoulos added. “They can protest, there’s no problem with that, but their protest right now is causing an infringement of rights on others.”

Costopoulos told one student blocking an entranceway that she would be called up on disciplinary charges after refusing to let him enter the building.

At 10 a.m., nearly 30 students and staff who had attempted to enter the building stood or sat in groups around James Square.

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