Huge student demo remained peaceful
Thursday’s massive student mobilization, generally assessed at 200,000 people, remained peaceful throughout; the Gazette finds that the waves of protest cost money for businesses downtown and imponderables like the city’s reputation.
ant6n 09:23 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
On the other hand there are businesses who benefit — for example the Tim Hortons on Sherbrooke/University was Packed during the protests. :P
But seriously, the protest only started around 13ish and was close to done around 17ish. This means the protest was going on while most people were working, so it shouldn’t have impacted traffic all that much. It should also not have impacted restaurants all that much, because the protests started after the lunch rush, and were done before the evening rush.
This sounds more like business owners being ‘cry-babies’, rather than students — they have no hard numbers, and just interested in their own selfish self.
Stephane Daury (@stephdau) 09:40 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
From the article: “The more troubling aspect is the loss of reputation for businesses and tourism, said André Poulin, director of commercial development association Destination Centre Ville.”
I don’t think showing we live in a democracy where the people can voice their concerns through protests is a bad reputation to have. If someone tarnished any of that, it really is the government, by taking measures which lead to said protests.
walkerp 12:25 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
That is such BS. This was a peaceful demonstration that brought Canada’s eyes to Montreal. This is good for business and tourism.
Those ice cream guys were making money, too!
Chris 18:47 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
Since it was peaceful, the media has to find something to criticize, so they went with this. You can’t expect the establishment to support the anti-establishment, can you?
ant6n 19:00 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
@Chris
I hoped that 200K people would show that the protesters are not the anti-established.
Chris 21:47 on 2012/03/23 Permalink
ant6n, hmmm, yeah… well, have there been any polls? What do the masses think? With about 3.3 million in the urban area, 200k is 6%, and many presumably there out of self-interest. How many non-students were at the protest? Does their support extend beyond themselves?