On March 8, 2019, Nzo Hodges posted a video to Facebook depicting two STM agents repeatedly and violently striking a man next to the Villa-Maria metro tracks. The two-minute video shows the man, whose identity remains unknown, being wrestled to the ground and hit with batons by the two officers. He repeatedly yells in French that “it hurts” and begs the officers to “stop hitting [him], please” as he lies on his back with his hands protecting his head. While he is in this prone position near the tracks, the officers begin hitting him again with their batons just as the train arrives. The officers’ blows push him extremely close to the train, and the man’s head is only prevented from colliding with the arriving metro due to his struggling and maneuvering around the officers’ strikes. The video ends as the man struggles to free himself and escape, leaving his jacket and backpack behind.

While the STM claims that the officers approached the man because he was bothering other passengers, witness Samantha Gold, who was riding the metro next to him, says that “nothing about his conduct or posturing on the metro drew any attention” from other passengers. She says that she first noticed him when she saw the two officers approach him “with purpose,” and then begin to question him “somewhat aggressively.” She says that she felt that the man was “unfairly targeted” and that the STM agents were “too quick to [use] violence.” Similarly, Hodges, who posted the video, says that the man “wasn’t being aggressive – they were being aggressive with him.” He says that he started recording after he saw the passenger being “abruptly thrown against the concrete wall and onto the ground.”

However, STM spokesperson Philippe Dery stated that “everything was done by the book” and that the passenger “inconvenienced other passengers” – directly contradicting both what witnesses and the video depict of the event. Dery added that “the level of force is always in relation to the level of cooperation with the person being approached,” despite the fact that the officers are shown repeatedly striking a man who is nonviolently and non threateningly lying on the ground, repeating that he is hurt, and asking not to be hit. Furthermore, despite the fact that the man’s identity is unknown, he seems to be racialized while the two officers appear to be white: this is yet another example of the larger pattern of police violently targeting people of colour.

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The coalition is demanding immediate action from the provincial government. In their letter they cite numerous complaints regarding the women’s standard of living in Leclerc. These conditions include recurring infestations of mice and bedbugs, as well as dirty and unsafe drinking water. The people within Leclerc have been instructed to let the water, which comes out brown, run for ten minutes before using it. Additionally, the prison is understaffed. As a result, time at the prison’s library and gym, as well as time outdoors, have been greatly reduced. Christmas and Mother’s Day visits were also unexpectedly cancelled. The letter also points to larger systemic issues within the carceral system, such as “humiliating strip searches, abusive guards, and limited access to psychological help or medical needs.”

Louise Henry, who was incarcerated at Leclerc for six months in 2017-2018, detailed the conditions in the institution. She spoke of the “filth, complete indifference, and human degradation” present at the institution. According to Henry, the prison has pipes leaking sludge, clogged toilets, and maggot-infested drains, the bathrooms thick with fruit flies, and the vents blocked by rust and dust. She described the faulty heating and cracks in the walls of the cells; cells are consequently so cold that women have to sleep with their winter coats on. On the Leclerc Institution’s Facebook page, Sandra Latour, who is serving an intermittent sentence at Leclerc stated that, in her experience, the correctional officers have “no respect for the inmates” and that “their first motivations are to show us that they hold the power in their hands instead of helping us re-enter into society.”

Lucie Lemonde, a lawyer, activist, and UQAM professor who is a member of the coalition, highlighted that the women within Leclerc are there due to what she describes as “‘survival crimes’ related to poverty: small thefts or drug-possession charges.” Lemonde insists that “we can find different solutions than sending them there.”

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History

Settler

Indigenous justice practices were disrupted, attacked, and displaced by the invasion of settlers and settler notions of law. Colonial ideas of “policing” came along with French and European colonizers, and, according to European models, a watchman system was established in 1651 in Quebec City. In 1840, Montreal established its police force, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was created in 1873. The RCMP based its organizational model upon French traditions, as it was based more on military organization and strong leadership than on traditional policing.

The history of the introduction of settler ideas of justice and policing is intertwined not only with colonialism and violence against Indigenous populations, but also with the protection of capital and private property. Montreal’s history of policing goes back to the creation in 1663 of a volunteer militia made up of 120 men, which was charged with protecting farmland outside the walls of Ville-Marie rather than policing crimes within the settlement. For the next century, Montreal was policed by civilian militias, whose main goal was to protect the stores of the city’s growing merchant businesses. After the establishment of the City of Montréal in 1843, neighbourhood police, known as quarteniers, were created to keep watch over city districts. The Montreal Police Department was founded in 1865, expanding and specializing its duties as the city’s population increased. While earlier iterations of police forces in Montreal had been limited to watchmen duties and “chasing thieves,” the police force grew to include special sections including an Antisubversive Squad, Traffic Section, Major Offences Section, and a bafflingly-named “Morality Squad” (ironically, but not particularly surprisingly, four cops on Montreal’s Morality Squad were arrested in 2016 on accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury).  The Service de police de la communauté urbaine de Montréal was established in 1972, and consolidated all policing forces on the island of Montreal into one. This island-wide police force changed its name to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in 2002.

As more formal policing organizations grew, they relied upon both “fostering voluntary compliance with the desired order” and “forcibly insisting on it.” Today, public police forces in Montreal are “armed paramilitary services charged with the general responsibility of social control.”

As protectors of a status quo within society, police play as an important role in reinforcing social, political, and economic norms, often through “implicit or overt threat of force,” which is the “ultimate coercive resource available to police.” The function and structure of Canada’s police forces have also been strongly shaped by a focus on police surveillance of the population and intelligence gathering, as the grid system of patrol was designed to create the most effective and wide-reaching net of police surveillance possible.

Now

Policing in First
Nations and Inuit Communities

Modern-day policing within Indigenous communities is based largely on settler/colonial conceptions of policing. For example, the Kahnawake community is policed by the Kahnawake Peacekeepers.They are trained like RCMP officers, the only difference being that at the end of training they do not swear allegiance to the queen. Communities that adhere to these methods of policing are severely underfunded. As a result, they have no freedom or funds to explore alternatives to settler policing. Often though, police “support” is sent from nearby stations in order to “handle” issues within Indigenous communities. This “support” is often in the form of settler police reinforcement and often times the police do not even speak the community’s language. However, other communities have decided to form different modes of “policing” within their communities according to their long-standing traditions and conceptions of justice. The Bear Clan Patrol in Winnipeg, for example, uses nonviolent techniques of to help ensure the safety of their Winnipeg’s North End. Other communities, such as the city of Chiliwack, provide units from the RCMP like The Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment First Nations Policing Section to police reserves. This organization extends its services to a variety of communities in British Columbia and serves to provide culturally sensitive approaches to policing, such as restorative justice.

As of November 15, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale has announced that the Canadian government will allot $88.6 million over the period of seven years to focus on making the work environment of First Nations and Inuit police officers as safer. However, providing funds for more police officers will not help Indigenous communities. The police will always remain an oppressive force, especially within Indigenous communities. Adam Olsen, Green Party MLA of the Saanich North and the Islands’ electoral district, says that providing money for more police officers does not solve the issue of distrust First Nations people have in the police. Olsen, who is a part of Tsartlip First Nation, states, “when we are talking about the restoration of Indigenous languages, what we are talking about is investing in our culture of people. You can’t replace that with the addition of more police officers.” Although many people see the increased funding as an improvement, it still keeps police in power: as former Indigenous police officer Lloyd Alcon states, “we want to cut those ties of having to keep relying on everybody and actually build.” Indigenous communities should not have to constantly rely on outside help to define and police their nation; only autonomy and the allowance of alternative solutions to police can help.

Bear Clan Patrol
“Reclaiming Our Streets”

The Bear Clan Patrol is a volunteer safety group. Initially operating in the mid-1990s, the Bear Clan Patrol was resurrected after the death of Tina Fontaine in 2014. The group operated in Winnipeg’s North End, a neighbourhood with one of the highest densities of urban Indigenous populations in Canada. The group was re-formed almost immediately after news of Fontaine’s death; as co-founder James Favel told Vice in 2017, “people were crying out for direct action, boots on the ground, no more cops—to do something.”

Volunteers walk through the neighbourhoods, splitting into groups to cover ground and changing their route nightly. They respond to the needs of the people they encounter and give out donations. If someone is visibly intoxicated, they make sure that the person can get somewhere safe. They also help diffuse and de-escalate situations. Increasingly, they respond to drug overdoses. To respond to the latter, many Bear Clan Patrol members were trained to administer naloxone, a drug which can reverse overdoses, and volunteers carry kits on them. Bear Clan Patrol members are also trained in first-aid. However, when the situation is severe, the Bear Clan Patrol calls on paramedics.

The Bear Clan Patrol works, in part, by having established relationships with people in their neighbourhood and by building public trust. By knowing members of the community and by building ties over several years, the Bear Clan Patrol is able to help protect its community without dealing with the police.

The Bear Clan Patrol offers a clear alternative to policing. It shows how communities can build networks to protect themselves, without relying on the police. This autonomy is particularly important for Indigenous communities, who historically have been and who continue to be antagonized by police. The Bear Clan Patrol’s model has spread across the country: similar groups have formed in Regina, Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Toronto.

Future

MAP OF POLICE SHOOTINGS MONTREAL 2003-2018
Blue indicates injury. Red indicates death.

[special_issue slug=”police2018″ element=”footer”]

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Among the topics on the conference agenda included discussing the manufacture and design of secure cell components, the use of technology in correctional facilities, and assessing ethical risks in the Canadian correctional system. In opposition to this conference, a protest was held on Sunday October 21 at around 3 p.m. on Peel Street in front of the Marriot hosting the conference. Approximately 50 demonstrators were present for the protest, organized by various anti-prison and solidarity groups. The gathering elicited the presence of around 100 cops, many with tear guns at the ready, according to Tessa Mascia, who attended the event. Dozens of cops made up a motor brigade, while others blocked every entrance on the block, giving the appearance of “being ready for a war,” according to Mascia. Protesters held banners and listened to speeches, ultimately taking to the streets to chant slogans and hold an impromptu dance party that blocked the busy street. “Considering people are rotting their whole lives in jail, people are getting killed by the state every day,” said Mascia, “this spontaneous show of solidarity was the least we could do.”

Mascia cited the importance of getting involved with prison abolitionist movements, calling prisons “the ultimate personification of the true sentiments of the bourgeois state,” and a tool in “maintaining the status quo of a society.” When asked about the personal significance of this kind of event, Mascia asserted that prisons are “one of the biggest injustices of our time.” She argued that “it is the duty of every good person to fight, with whatever means necessary, against prisons,” and that “fighting against the criminal injustice system is just one step, one important avenue of resistance among many.” She fights, she says, “out of respect for all those who came before me, for the people currently incarcerated.” Another protester, who wished to remain anonymous, shared similar sentiments in their statement, saying that “there is no such thing as ‘humane imprisonment’ or ‘nice prisons.’” They argued that “we cannot settle for prison reform. The prison system does not help protect anyone.” Both they and Mascia highlighted their belief that prisons do not work, as prisons fail to address the systemic problems underlying offenses, instead replacing social services with the imprisonment of those who have mental health or addiction issues. Furthermore, the anonymous protester claims that, “the prison system has been proven to not work as it does not rehabilitate individuals and only produces a cycle of re-offenses and intergenerational trauma.” They also cited the glaring fact that a the disproportionate number of those incarcerated who are working class, BIPOC, and queer people.They argue that instead of supporting a prison-industrial complex, “our communities can create non-oppressive alternatives to replace such a system.” The protester asked an important question: “Were the lives of these people considered during this conference for prison conditions?”

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Minimum Wage

While all seven candidates agreed that Quebec’s $12/hour minimum wage is insufficient, Liberal candidate Jennifer Maccarone, Coalition a l`Avenir Quebec (CAQ) candidate Michelle Morin, and Conservative Mikey Lauzon were advocating no increase in minimum wage. Instead, these candidates believed that the benefits of balancing the budget, the dangers this might pose for small businesses, and the relative merit of cutting taxes, were more important than raising minimum wage, respectively. On the other hand, candidates from the Parti Quebecois (PQ), CAQ, Quebec Solidaire (QS), Green Party, and NDP all advocated raising the minimum wage to $15/hour as a way of providing a living wage and stimulating the economy. These candidates also acknowledged the importance of supporting small businesses through this process. The NDP’s Nicholas Lawson went even further with his promise for a guaranteed minimum income of $1000/month.

Health and Dental Care

Liberal Maccarone and CAQ Morin advocated a dental care system of guaranteed free coverage for all those under 18 and for seniors, while both the Green Party’s Samuel Kuhn and NDP Lawson argued for universal dental care, and QS Ekaterina Piskunova cited her party’s plan for 60-80% dental coverage reimbursement for all adults, and free care for all children and seniors. However, neither the PQ’s J. Marion Benoit nor Conservative Lauzon had a direct response to the question of increasing dental coverage. Instead, Lauzon argued for more privatization of health care and more private insurance to increase competition in the market.

Participation

On increasing youth participation many candidates offered non-specific responses when asked how they would increase democratic participation by young people, and how they would best represent young voters. However, Maccarone and Lawson indicated that they would investigate the viability of online voting to make it more accessible, Kuhn and Lawson advocated instituting proportional representation, and Kuhn argued for lowering the voting age to 16.

International Tuition

When asked about the recent deregulation of tuition for international university students coming to Quebec, all candidates except for Maccarone and Lawson were opposed, citing the importance of inclusivity and the right to affordable education. Maccarone argued instead that universities should ultimately be the ones to make decisions about their tuitions. Lauzon insisted that all university tuitions should be deregulated in order to give more power to universities to adjust tuition to increase their market competitiveness. On the other hand, Morin, Piskunova, and Lawson all stressed their belief that education should be free and accessible to all Quebecers.

Federalism

Each candidate responded to a question on federalism by assuring that they would always vote to remain within Canada, except for PQ candidate Benoit and QS candidate Piskunova. Benoit said that Quebec independence would allow the province more independence, arguing that federalism doesn’t work within the Quebec context, and Piskunova presented her sovereigntist position as an opportunity or tool to be able to make more independent and socially just decisions, such as writing a new Quebec constitution more focused on minority rights.

Multiculturalism and Immigration

The candidates were divided in their views on the role of multiculturalism and immigration . Maccarone, Benoit, and Lauzon stressed the need to accept immigrants into Quebec in order to address the growing labor shortage. Lauzon insisted that the most important criterion for immigration should be not what language an immigrant speaks, or indeed any other factor besides what economic benefit they will bring. Benoit stressed that 100 per cent of immigrants should speak French before being allowed to come to Quebec. Additionally, both Morin and Lawson also acknowledged the importance of being able to speak French in order to integrate into the province, but believe that providing free French classes to immigrants once they arrived would be beneficial. Piskunova, Kuhn, and Lawson agreed on the importance of welcoming immigrants and working with them to ensure successful integration once they arrive. A related question arose pertaining to the candidates’ opinion on Bill 62, which regulates who can wear religious symbols and garments, and where they can wear them, which many see as a controversial infringement upon religious freedoms (for example, civil servants are prohibited from wearing religious garments, as are people using public transportation). All candidates except for Maccarone and Lauzon opposed this Bill, saying that it is too subjective or inefficient, and needs revision. Maccarone and Lauzon, however, stressed the need for those representing the secular state to remain neutral.

Environmentalism

To a certain extent, each candidate pledged support for environmental causes. Lauzon’s proposal was for the creation of more pipelines as a more environmentally conscious way of transporting oil, and for the abolition of the carbon tax. Lawson, opposed pipelines and fossil fuel extraction, as did Piskunova. The Green Party’s Kuhn had little to present by way of environmental initiatives, while Lawson, Morin, and Maccarone supported the electrification of transportation, and Benoit proposed increasing urban agriculture.

There were similarities between Maccarone, Morin, and Lauzon in their repeated emphasis on economic policy over social policy, often in defense of present systems. For example, Maccarone defended the Liberal government’s austerity measures that affected McGill directly, weakening areas like its disability services and other social services, saying that balancing the Quebec budget must be accomplished. Similarly, Morin repeatedly stressed her focus of building a strong economy, and Lauzon presented himself as a candidate on the side of the customer, interested in lowering taxes and doing away with the Quebec Sales Tax. In contrast, Piskunova advocated long-term social and environmental change in the status quo, while Lawson characterized himself as both “idealistic and realistic,” interested in non-divisive change. Benoit’s focus often fell most strongly on issues of sovereignty and francization, while Kuhn’s main interest lay in the failure of the Quebec healthcare system under Liberal austerity measures.

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This discussion of the nature of our city’s public spaces is an important one. While we live in a city with an exceptionally vibrant public life that includes parks and festivals, it’s easy to forget that the concept of having public space is not a given, nor is it a constant. Montreal’s public areas are not immune to the problems that are plaguing urban centres across the world. Increasing privatization threatens the public spaces necessary for a vibrant civic life, which harms marginalized segments of the population first. Since its creation, the concept of ‘the public’ has been complicated by the reality of divisions within urban populations.

While we live in a city with an exceptionally vibrant public life that includes parks and festivals, it’s easy to forget that the concept of having public space is not a given, nor is it a constant.

The roots of the concept of a public sphere, in opposition to the private, can be traced to the era of the Renaissance. During this time, ideas of individual freedom and democracy began to grow. Public spaces, or commons, emerged as places where individuals could meet to debate public matters, usually in places like churches or town squares. Theorist Jürgen Habermas draws a link between the concept of the public sphere and the development of democracy. He points out that commons play an important role by providing a place for public appearance, conversation, and interaction that might otherwise be limited by governmental laws or corporate rules if occurring on private property. In other words, commons are places where the free conversation necessary to a democracy can occur.

However, despite the original liberal ideals of commons, by the 1850s, the growth of consumer capitalist culture began to exacerbate the gendered nature of the idea of public space. As male duties were increasingly categorized in terms of commercial, capitalist action in the public sphere, a binary division was established that clearly demarcated the male public realm from the female private, or domestic, one. The gendered divisions between public and private further expanded into other forms of socioeconomic exclusion as consumer culture flourished during the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.

The interaction between capitalism and cities has turned both urban space and social interactions into commodities, and called for people to reclaim their city as a “co-created space” separate from the effects of capitalism.

Philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre was an early critic of the negative effects of the commodification of public spaces and the social interactions made possible by them. Lefebvre argued that the growing inequalities in cities meant that public spaces were becoming detached from inhabitants’ realities, as public land, resources, and services were unequally distributed among urban socio-economic groups. This means that accessible and well-maintained commons are disproportionately available to those privileged along economic, racial, social, and gendered axes. Lefebvre pointed out that the interaction between capitalism and cities has turned both urban space and social interactions into commodities, and called for people to reclaim their city as a “co-created space” separate from the effects of capitalism. He advocated for public spaces to be a “meeting point for building collective life.” He argued that cities are shaped by its inhabitants through their public life, and that everyone has the right to use spaces within the city. By arguing that the ownership of space was less important than its use, he accorded more value to public use than to economic worth.

Lefebvre coined the term “right to the city” to express his view of public spaces as a collective project in which all people should have the right to participate. This idea has only grown in importance since its conception in 1968.

Increasingly, cities like Montreal are becoming gentrified and segregated along social, economic, and cultural lines, which curtails opportunities for public interaction. Processes of privatization and urban redevelopment that gained traction during the 1960s resulted in the conversion of many publicly-owned public spaces to privately-owned spaces. This means that much of what could today be considered the commons are in fact semi-public spaces. These semi-public spaces are places where anyone can go if they pay, like cafés or shops. Public transportation, libraries, and parts of malls or shopping centres can be semi-public, and may have stricter rules like dress codes, or the prohibition of solicitation or advertising.

Montrealers with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by these changes.

This privatization and increased control of once-public spaces hits certain segments of the population especially hard; semi-public places are increasingly modified to both explicitly and implicitly exclude certain people. Montrealers with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by these changes. Some benches in Montreal parks and metro stations are designed so that they can’t be used as resting places by people experiencing homelessness, and spaces like parks have restricted opening hours so that they’re inaccessible at night. These restrictions are enforced by the police, and over-policing often disproportionately targets areas where Montrealers living on the street tend to congregate. For example, the area around Atwater metro station and Cabot Square has a much stronger police presence than comparable parks and public spaces in the surrounding neighbourhood of Westmount. The people experiencing homelessness who spend time in this area, largely comprised of Indigenous people and people of colour,  are therefore disproportionately affected by restrictions on where they are or are not permitted to exist. In fact, the selective enforcement of laws in public spaces is described by the National Coalition for the Homeless as “criminalization of homelessness.” The Coalition argues that as the growing lack of affordable housing in large cities pushes more and more people into increasingly privatized public spaces, this selective enforcement serves to harass those living on the street. Their report Illegal to be Homeless states that laws against obstruction of sidewalks and public thoroughfares by sitting or lying down in public are largely enforced against homeless people, and serve to drive them out of the public.

Additionally, public spaces often implicitly rather than explicitly exclude disabled people, since suitable access is quite often unavailable. In a city as hilly as Montreal, there is an appalling lack of ramps accompanying the stairs.  Moreover, the public transportation network is sorely lacking in elevators that would make its metro system accessible to those who are unable to navigate the many staircases.

Despite these serious issues, Montreal’s commons continue to provide spaces that fulfil needs which might not be able to be met by privatized spaces. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, a city characterized by its utter lack of commons and its excess of strip malls. Any gathering would have to take place at a restaurant or store, if not at someone’s house – all private locations that would probably require someone to spend money in order to spend time there, rendering them inaccessible to many. Compared to the many similar North American cities, Montreal has a miraculous wealth of public spaces, such as parks, university campuses, libraries, and public festivals. Montreal’s public spaces include well-used bike paths as well as free festivals like the Jazz Fest and the Mural Festival that allow for expression and exploration through public art. The Government of Quebec further supports public art through its policy of integrating art into the architecture and environment of government and public buildings and sites. This policy ensures that at least 1% of the cost of constructing a new public building or site goes toward the integration of a work of public art. The government reports that this effort to “foster the democratization of public art” has resulted in the installation of over 3,500 works of public art and has “[enriched] Montreal’s public spaces.”

McGill itself is another site of public value, as its libraries and lawns are used by Montrealers and tourists alongside students. McGill also hosts a farmer’s market that brings sustainable food to “both the McGill and Montreal community.” However, it’s impossible to overlook the semi-public nature of our campus; anyone vaguely student-aged or student-passing can take advantage of McGill’s green spaces, libraries, and buildings (during certain hours), but anyone perceived to be outside that description is liable to attract much more scrutiny from campus security.

Globally, many organizations have come together to work to protect access to the urban commons that are so important to civic life. One such group is the Right to the City Alliance, whose main goals include “the right to land that serves the interests of the community and not of the market, the right of Indigenous people to their ancestral lands, the right to safe neighborhoods and police force that works for all communities, and the right of working class communities of colour, women, queer, and transgender people to an economy that serves their interests.” Activism from groups like this one ensures that public life can thrive in the spirit of Henri Lefebvre, who described cities as an “oeuvre,” a piece of ever-changing collective artwork shaped by the actions of its inhabitants. He lamented the deterioration of truly democratic urban spaces as a result of the privatization of land under capitalism. The public spaces from which we benefit are at risk, and it is both our right and our responsibility to add our brushstrokes to the Montrealaise oeuvre.

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