Quartier Latin businesses take a beating
Stories are proliferating of Quartier Latin businesses getting hit hard – by police – during Saturday night’s demo. The Saint-Bock bar, mentioned in an earlier post, is not the only one: the l’Absynthe bar also got hit, the owner claiming police broke tables and chairs and scared his clients. A Facebook page I can’t link to – it’s only available to members – written by Dominique Dion, owner of the no-allergen resto Zero8, describes how he was dragged out of his restaurant, thrown to the ground and arrested. Video here.
Do our police have to “read us our rights”?
Mark 18:34 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
According to this CBC Q&A with a Toronto lawyer and past president of the Ontario bar, you’re supposed to be read your rights and informed of the charge for which you’re being arrested, at least in Ontario. I imagine this would apply to Quebec police as well, though I don’t know for sure. I’ve known people arrested at demonstrations in Ontario, though, who told me they were basically just handcuffed (well, tie-wrapped) and thrown into a paddy wagon with little formality, not finding out what they were charged with until much later. The lawyer in the above article pointed out that being arrested can be so “emotionally overwhelming” that it’s possible that they might not have heard, or might have forgotten, what the police officer told them, which I can see, but it seemed a little too common to always be the case, in particular with people who’d been arrested before.
At chaotic protests, the police often seem to arrest people more-or-less indiscriminately, sometimes informing them of charges and sometimes not, knowing full well that the crown attorneys can always drop the charges later. It’s sort of a legal loophole for dispersing protests–get people off the streets; scare them, or at least disorganize them, with a little bit of jail time, some bail restrictions, and the threat of a trial hanging over their heads; then drop the charges later. Look at the G20 protests–1100 people arrested, and, what, 40-50 people actually having charges stick? Insanity.
Ian 18:34 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
Sort of. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/06/29/f-morton-faq-arrest-rights.html
FWIW I saw the CTV footage of teh incident at Saint-Bock and it’s clear the patrons started the kerfuffle by throwing a chair, but the cops unleashed some serious retaliation (CS canister deployed, batons out, rushing the patio, pepperspray) on a crowded patio for the actions of a few – with no warning. Montreal cops have always had a reputation for being thuggish but the demos all spring have really brought out the best in them. It’s the cops tourists should be scared of, not the protestors.
Ian 18:37 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
Sorry I jumped your link, Mark. Worth noting, the cops here can legally hold you for 48 hours without charges “on suspicion”, which is what they have historically used for mass arrests to clear an area. This is also why reports of however many arrested are irrelevant, it’s how many are charged that matters.
Singlestar 18:40 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
http://www.facebook.com/notes/dominique-dion/arrestation-arbitraire-dun-entrepreneur-de-la-rue-st-denis/436840449668115
Kate 19:09 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
There’s some stuff about Canadian standards for arrest on the Wikipedia Miranda warning page. It’s interesting to note that we do not have the right to have a lawyer with us when questioned by police.
Kids should get some instruction in school about ways in which our culture differs from the U.S., particularly in law and politics, considering how many wrong assumptions must be made about rights and procedure after all those U.S. crime shows.
Singlestar: thanks for trying to help, but that link just leads to a login page if you’re not logged into Facebook, and I’m damned if I’m going to make the assumption everyone is always logged into Facebook.
mare 20:56 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
BTW, these are not Montreal cops, but agents of the Surete de Quebec. The Montreal cops got a night off. Charest probably wanted it to become a nasty riot.
Kate 21:00 on 2012/05/20 Permalink
mare, are you saying you think the cops in all three of those stories were SQ??
Raoul 09:31 on 2012/05/21 Permalink
Does it really matter if theyre SQ or SPVM? i think someone should setup a hall of shame website, post facepics of cops breaking the law, ID and shame them where they live, the same as was done in vancouver after their riots.
Ian 19:56 on 2012/05/21 Permalink
It worked with Tony Bologna of OWS fame… not a bad idea.