Negotiator arrested in Quebec City
FECQ’s Léo Bureau-Blouin was arrested Monday night in Quebec City, and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is threatened with prison for something he said on Radio-Canada back in April.
(Bill 78 was passed on May 18. I don’t know much law, but I do know you can’t be jailed for breaking a law in April that didn’t exist till May.)
Kevin 07:14 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
LBB was not arrested. Police let him try to convince the people about to be arrested to leave, and they refused.
Hamza 09:31 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Jean Charest demonstrates his gift for the art of negotiation. Force has worked so well for the government throughout the crisis. If he keeps it up, the students are bound to see his side of the story. Oh hai F1 tourists
marco 10:34 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois went against an injunction. That law has been around for quite a while and yes, it applies to students too. There was no mention of bill 78 in the article.
He feels justified going against a court order because his group voted to bully students who didn’t want to be part of the boycott. Sorry Gabriel, you aren’t above the law.
ant6n 10:44 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
The globeandmail article says that Léo Bureau-Blouin, FECQ president, was trying to get protesters to disperse. It also says that Philipp Lapointe, negotiator for CLASSE, was “taken way by riot police”, Whatever that means:
“Philippe Lapointe, the negotiator for CLASSE, had just left the bargaining table at the end of Monday’s meeting in Quebec City to witness the arrests of protesters outside the building where the talks were being held. He was promptly taken away by riot police.”
These seemingly arbitrary arrests are becoming annoying.
steph 10:47 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Between back-to-work legislation and injunctions, there’s no reason why the government even needs to ever negotiate. It’s a disgusting abuse of power. CP rail is abusing of those powers right now by not even sitting at the negotiating table with the rail workers currently on strike, just yesterday the federal government passed a back-to-work legislation. Why do we even have unions if they hold no powers? Here’s a good article on back-to-work legislation by the cbc http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/15/f-faq-back-to-work-legislation.html
Ephraim 11:05 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
GND told people to violate a court injunction, that’s well before bill 78. It’s one thing to defy government, it’s entirely another to defy a court injunction.
Steph 11:57 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
It’s worth noting that it’s a UofL student, Jean-François Morasse, that’s filed these charges against GND. It’s typical lawyer posturing and par for the course, obviously the media is going to shock headline “GND faces prison time”.
TiGuy 12:31 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
La peine à laquelle GND pourrait faire face n’a rien à voir avec la loi 78. Ce serait pour outrage au tribunal pour avoir incité les gens à ne pas respecter, voire à enfreindre délibérément, une ordonnance de la cour.
Michel 12:38 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Anyone get the feeling that, with Phillippe Lapointe being arrested and separated-by-one-degree-from-the-PLQ that the government is somehow imprisoning its political opponents?
It’s not so blatant, but I don’t like the current undertones.
Hamza 13:26 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Yr basically right Michel. It’s the ol’ carrot-and-stick. Jean Charest showing up was the carrot. The arrests are the stick.
Only problem is, Quebecers aren’t asses, the stick is small and his carrot is even smaller.
Kate 14:17 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Michel, that’s exactly what I thought. Something creepy about a government trying hard to silence a critic.
Bill Binns 16:53 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
If these student “leaders” cannot even convince a few protesters in Quebec city to disperse, how exactly are they going to shut down the whole operation if/when a deal is signed? The government may as well have picked a few random wingnuts out of the mob to negotiate with. I suspect the guy in the panda costume has more influence over the protesters.
ant6n 17:42 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
They are not “leaders”, they are spokespeople. It probably would’ve been better if the crowd dispersed; but it also seemed that the police where continuing to arrest people (so the promise ‘if you leave there will be no arrests’ seemed weak), and the protesters also felt that they were engaging in a lawful assembly from their point of view.
Jack 20:33 on 2012/05/29 Permalink
Arresting a person dressed up as a Banana was priceless.” First they came for the Banana’s….”
steph 00:26 on 2012/05/30 Permalink
I don’t expect the protest movement to skip a beat even if tuition hikes are frozen.
Spock 06:40 on 2012/05/30 Permalink
Exactly what I have been saying all along. This has spiralled out of control!!!