Translating the printemps érable

Yves Boisvert                       November 8, 2012

Original French Text: http://www.lapresse.ca/debats/chroniques/yves-boisvert/201211/07/01-4591492-la-culpabilite-douteuse-de-gnd.php

Since Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was found guilty of contempt of court, people have been dusting off their signs.

The red signs denounce this “political” judgement. The opposing signs applaud, saying that, like everyone, GND is subject to the orders of the court.

After some of what I’ve written, people won’t suspect me of having a secret sympathy for the defunct CLASSE or for GND.

It goes without saying, too, that we don’t have the right to choose, based on our whims, what orders we want to take from the judicial buffet, while ignoring the others.

A court order isn’t worth much without the power to enforce it. And without court orders to arbitrate conflicts and limit the powers of the state, there is no democracy – that goes without saying.

We must even obey court orders with shaky foundations, so long as these are not unjust. Luckily, the system affords the possibility of an appeal before other judges.

If we do not, we must accept the judicial consequences of disobeying, either a fine or prison time.

But, precisely because we are talking of prison, there are a number of precautions that arise before being able to send a defiant person away.

In this case, GND is accused, not of disobeying an injunction himself, but of inciting others to do so.

Inciting someone to commit an infraction is one of the forms of guilt. If we incite someone to commit a crime, we can be found guilty just as if we had committed it ourselves.

Is that the case here?

***

A contempt of court hearing, even a hearing about a violation of a civil order, works along the same principles as a criminal case.

What does this mean? That it must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt” that GND committed contempt of court by means of incitement.

***

Other court decisions regarding incitement have established that it is more than just vaguely wishful expressions or dissenting opinions. Incitement requires a deliberate action that furthers the commission of a criminal act. Not only must the accused have encouraged the commission of the crime: the accused must also have wanted for the crime to be committed, or must have known that the crime would be committed because of those encouragements.

***

On May 2, an injunction was obtained by an arts student at the University of Laval to compel the institution and its student association to take measures so that he would be able to return to classes.

On May 13, GND criticized this type of injunction in general.

“These decisions, these attempts to force students back to class, they will never work,” said GND, because of student solidarity. He added that it was, “entirely legitimate” for students to “take actions to ensure respect for the democratic decision to strike.” He said it was “regrettable” that a minority “used the tribunal to overturn the collective decision.” And he repeated that, according to CLASSE, it was legitimate for people to take the necessary means to ensure the strike vote was respected, “and if that takes picket lines, we believe this is an entirely legitimate way to do it.”

This is the rhetoric of the radical wing of the student movement. No concession is made to the legitimacy of the judicial action. At his side, Léo Bureau-Blouin clearly states that FECQ supports respecting court orders.

Nadeau-Dubois is equivocal, as he was on the subject of violence, to the point of being supremely irritating.

You can call that irresponsible. But there is no judicial order to be a good boy like Bureau-Blouin, nor to issue a statement that court orders should be respected.

***

Remember that this is a court action undertaken in the name of an art student in Laval, accusing GND of encouraging people to violate a court order.

I do believe that GND effectively wanted the court order to be defied.

But if you apply the standards of criminal law, and not just a moral compass, the proof of this seems entirely insufficient to me.

The court order that the student obtained forbids blocking entry to a school. It does not forbid picketing. GND is talking about picketing. He does not say to block people from entering, and certainly he does not say to block the entrance to this particular department.

He says, (1) that using the court in this way is a deplorable technique, which is a legitimate opinion of the kind that we can, I hope, still publicly express.

And, (2), that he believes it is “legitimate” to use picketing as a way to enforce a strike vote.

He takes care to not to give any recommendations, nor encouragement, nor to openly defy the court order. He expresses the opinion of his group. He walks astutely on the thin line separating freedom of expression and encouraging people to break the law.

I understand full well the frustration and even the concern of judges before the defiance of court orders last spring. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois personnified this vaguely anarchist current, scornful of institutions.

Even more reason for him to be judged according to the principles demanded by our laws, and for us to make a plainly visible demonstration of his guilt.

Judge Denis Jacques did not make such a demonstration. 

Simon Jodoin    July 20, 2012

Original French text: http://voir.ca/cyberboom/2012/07/20/lettre-a-jean-pierre-rioux-maire-de-trois-pistoles-a-propos-de-lechofete/

Dear Mr. Rioux, 

I learned today that, acting as mayor of Trois-Pistoles, you sought to intervene in the scheduling for Echofête, a festival featuring conferences and workshops in addition to shows.  This year, a suggestion was made to talk about civil disobedience and to invite Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of CLASSE.  According to you, this was a bad idea and one that jeopardized financial support for this event, which benefits from government assistance and is held on public land.  

Obviously, there will be people who agree with you.  They will say, freedom of expression is well and good, but there is always a limit.  They will say, say what you want, but don’t use public funds to do it.  

Read More

Josée Legault         June 4, 2012

Original French Text: http://voir.ca/josee-legault/2012/06/04/lindelogeable-jean-charest/

Monday, June 4, 2012, Quebec entered the 17^th week of student strike.

The strike still being unresolved through conciliation and having, moreover, transformed into a major social crisis, the night protests continue, the casseroles too.

And the events take a more and more surreal turn.

For example, we learned that the day after the minister of public security had openly associated the CLASSE co-spokesperson, Gabriel-Nadeau Dubois, with violence, he is sent for by none other than the police investigators of the “extremist threat division” of Quebec security (Sûreté du Québec) for a long interrogation.

A nice coincidence, all the same.

Denying that there had been a “political order” given, we push the envelope to reports of a detective who met GND with others that day and is said not to even remember him  - despite him being one of the most visible and most publicized faces of the conflict.

Read More

Isabelle Porter - June 4 2012

Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/351613/le-point-limite-est-atteint

The founder of Génération d’idées fears that the student movement will give way to the “cult of civil disobedience”.

PHOTO CAPTION: Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon (on the left) participating in the protest led by lawyers and notaries against the Charest government’s law 78. 

SIDEBAR: FACTS

Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon in 5 dates

February 17 1977: Born in Trois-Rivières
2008: Establishment of the Générations d’idées group
February 2009: He leaves his job at Stikeman Elliott and undertakes a 19-city tour of Quebec in order to meet young people. He wrote an account of this experience in his book Des jeunes et l’avenir du Québec: les rêveries d’un promeneur solitaire (Youth and the Future of Quebec: Daydreams of a Solitary Wanderer) 
January 2010: He becomes Vice President of the Delegatus legal firm. 
October 2011: He plants brooms in front of the National Assembly to demand an inquiry commission. This action cost him his hosting contract with Radio-Canada. 

Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon, of the Génération d’idées group, was shocked to hear that one of the student leaders threatened the government “to organize” Montreal’s Grand Prix last week. He fears that the movement will veer off course into a “cult of civil disobedience”. 

Read More

Source: https://www.facebook.com/events/233059570140740/

POSTER: 

[This is not a student strike

This is a society that is awekening

Large familial and popular protest 

Saturday June 2, 2PM, At Jeanne Mance park, Mont Royal metro. 

www.bloquonslahausse.com]

Read More

Dominic Desroches   May 24, 2012

Original French Text: http://journal.alternatives.ca/fra/journal-alternatives/publications/dossiers/opinions/article/la-spirale-liberale

The endless circle as representation of a closed politic

“In democracies, each new generation is a new people” Alexis de Toqueville

Students continue to make waves with their 100-day old strike. But the government is not listening to them. The autistic government is a lone participant in its macabre dance. Obsessed by the election calendar, it continues to delegate its political responsibility to other players on the political scene: judges, the police, education establishment directors and professors. It is not surprising that this strategy of pinning surveys against the interest of the general population is supported by a contempt that leads to violence. Although the “carré rouge” is receiving support everywhere – from Vancouver to Ottawa and New York – and although the human tidal wave returns on the 22^nd of every month since March, nothing changes.

Read More

Paul Journet   May 29, 2012

Original French Text: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/justice-et-faits-divers/201205/28/01-4529462-la-poursuite-reclame-la-prison-contre-gabriel-nadeau-dubois.php

(Québec) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, accused of contempt of court, risks imprisonment if his accuser presses charges.

As negotiations resume in Québec, the co-spokesperson of the CLASSE appeared in court this morning at the Court of Québec. He is accused of having called for the non-respect of an injunction obtained by a Visual Arts student of the University of Laval, Jean-François Morasse.

Read More

by Cecile Gladel   May 23, 2012
With the collaboration of all team RueMasson.com: Stephanie Lalut, Eric Christmas, Lisa Marie Noel and David Bruneau.

Original french text: http://ruemasson.com/?p=15761


Starting at 8 pm citizens came onto the streets of Vieux-Rosemont with their pots and pans and made some noise; it was a spontaneous demonstration against the government’s emergency law 78. Citizens wandered the streets for more than two and a half hours. At the height of the event 300 to 500 people attended.

The police from station 44 accompanied the event, which was illegal since the required eight hour notice of the route was not provided, however, they did not intervene. “Everything is going well, we will not throw oil on the fire,” said the supervisor. Everything was going well right until the end of the event, in front of the church [on Masson] at 11pm when there was less than one hundred people left. RueMasson.com left at that time.

The pots and pans demonstration included residents, parents, children, the young and the not-so-young and dogs (on leashes). Citizens came out of their homes banging on pots and pans. Subsequently, people gathered on Masson Street, then meandering the streets of Saint-Michel Beaubien, via Chicago, Holt, Laurel, Dandurand avenues, alleys and gathering twice at the steps of the church. Without organizing and leaderless, the parade was really improvised. It sometimes seemed like it was going in circles.

Update: Here’s a video that summarizes the whole two hours and thirty minutes of the demonstration on May 22, 2012 in 5 minutes. http://youtu.be/kV2ZdrAFJZs

Many residents watched the parade from their balconies, while banging a pan. Some joined the procession, others closed their window, bothered by the noise and some even complained. A mother was out on his doorstep, on Rosemont Boulevard, noting that her baby was sleeping.

People were shouting slogans against the special law: “The special law, we don’t give a damn!” [« La loi spéciale, on s’en câlisse! »]. They made noise with their pans. The atmosphere was peaceful and orderly. It was a party. A protester thanked the officers when leaving. “It doesn’t mean that we necessarily agree with you, but we do accompany you,” a police officer said with a smile.

When the demonstration passed the fire station 29 on Masson Street, the protestors stopped. The firefighters clapped and responded by putting on the fire truck sirens. http://youtu.be/kV2ZdrAFJZs

There was another demonstration on Laurier and St. Michel: http://youtu.be/vbng8emJOiA

The photo album of the event: http://www.flickr.com//photos/ruemasson/sets/72157629856109130/show/

The protestors have decided to regroup in front of the church for subsequent protests.

[Translator’s note: As I translate this article, the pots & pan protest is still making noise in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, over three hours after it started. These protests are a joyful, uplifting and defiant of Law 78. The crowd applauds whenever someone new joins. The following article from a local web-based newspaper in a neighbouring borough really captures the folksy inclusive atmosphere of the protests.]

by Guillaume Bourgault-Côté   May 22, 2012 18h17 

Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/education/350608/100e-jour-de-greve-la-manifestation-etudiante-commence

The big Montreal protest highlighting the 100^th day of the student strike held a big surprise for police: almost all of the participants split off from the approved route, flouting the provisions of law 78 under the generally tolerant eye of police.

No estimation of the crowd was available at 5pm but certainly several tens of thousands of people marched the streets of Montreal today at the invitation of student groups and unions. CLASSE evaluates the crowd at 250 000 people.*

At the end of the day, the police counted only isolated incidents: one sub-protest was declared illegal at 4:30pm on rue Peel. But for the large part, the protest had a calm and festive atmosphere, despite its ostensibly illegal character.

In theory, the protestors had to follow the route presented and approved by the authorities, as the new provisions of law 78 would predict. Les fédérations étudiantes collégiale et universitaire (FECQ et FEUQ), as well as the unions, had provided a precise plan: depart from the Place des Festivals, move toward parc Lafontaine via Sherbrook east. Except that almost no one followed it.

 As soon as the procession was put in motion, the vast majority of protesters split off onto Sherbrooke west to follow the representatives of CLASSE, who had refused to divulge which itinerary they would follow. Between the surprised motorists, the protesters essentially criss-crossed Sherbrooke until Peel Street, which they took south until Réné-Lévesque. From there, they came back up on Berri toward parc Lafontaine.

 Dense, the crowd formed a veritable human tide that stretched several hundred meters. The Montreal Police reacted with a conciliatory and tolerant approach to the protest for practical reasons: arresting thousands of people would have been “problematic”, acknowledged a spokes person this afternoon.

 According to the spokes person of CLASSE, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, “The gesture made by these tens of thousands of people is a collective gesture of civil disobedience,” he stated before the departure of the march. As M. Nadeau-Dubois sees it, “the government can no longer associate civil disobedience and vandalism with a marginal movement. Today tens of thousands of people disobeyed the law.”

 “The law doesn’t work in its implementation,” asserted the president of the FEUQ, Martine Desjardins, a few minutes before the start of the march. “A negotiated avenue would be a much better way out of the crisis.”

 The mobilization was officially under the theme “100 days of strike, 100 days of contempt”, however, the introduction of the special law 78 last week enlarged the scope of the event to encompass larger questions of respect for constitutional rights and the right to protest. In the crowd, numerous signs denounced the provisions of law 78, alongside those criticizing the tuition fee hike.

 Many actors and social groups participated in the protest, as well as many artists, notably Paul Piché, Michel Rivard, Michel Léon, and Yann Perreau). The former leader of the Bloc québécois, Gilles Duceppe, was sporting a white square. M. Duceppe specified on the waves of RDI that he “doesn’t believe in civil disobedience.” “We are not in South Africa or Gandhi’s India,” he said, “But I also criticize the civil disobedience of Charest’s government. Both are irresponsible and fuel the crisis.”

No question of providing the route of the demonstration before marking the 100^th day of the student strike.

Valérian Mazataud   22 mai 2012  Éducation

Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/education/350603/la-classe-refuse-de-ceder-a-la-peur

CAPTION: CLASSE co-spokespersons Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Jeanne Reynolds say Bill 78 must not be allowed kill the mobilization of their members. They call on citizens to continue to demonstrate and to exercise their rights guaranteed under the Quebec and Canadian Charters.

Following a weekend marred by violent evening clashes between demonstrators and police, CLASSE called on Quebecers yesterday afternoon to “refuse to give in to fear and repression” by disobeying Bill 78, adding they were “prepared to face the legal consequences.” Earlier in the day, Montreal Mayor Tremblay spoke out in favour of a truce, calling on the government and students to return to the negotiating table.

Holding a copy of Bill 78 freshly punched with a National Assembly seal in their hands, CLASSE co-spokespersons Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Jeanne Reynolds spoke yesterday afternoon in Square Émilie-Gamelin before an audience of journalists, and surrounded by a crowd of supporters wearing the red square. On the eve of the 100^th day in this historic showdown between the government and students, the now famous spokespersons hammered home the point that doing nothing is to accept the loss of fundamental rights.

The CLASSE organization wants to take a leading role among those who plan to oppose Bill 78. It says it is ready to assume this role, even if it means facing prosecution, “The right to demonstrate is fundamental and cannot be bullied.” In this capacity, Ms. Reynolds wants to maintain CLASSE’s “organizational practices,” in accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly by not declaring the route of the demonstration. “Not declaring a route for the demonstration does not mean it will turn violent,” stated Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.

The coalition called for a demonstration May 22 at 2 pm at Place des Festivals to mark the 100^th day of the strike.

Violent clashes

The weekend saw nightly cat-and-mouse chases between police (City of Montreal police and Sûreté du Québec) and demonstrators. “Marco? Polo! We’re playing tag with the police,” called the demonstrators to patrons of bar patios in the Latin Quarter neighbourhood as an invitation to join in. However, the atmosphere during marches over the long weekend was anything but light and festive.

Declared illegal as they began, the evening marches resulted in 370 arrests and at least 10 injured demonstrators, at least one of whom is in serious condition. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Émilie-Gamelin square on Saturday and Sunday nights to stage their 26^th and 27^th night marches. People in the crowd quickly found themselves face to face with police who dispersed participants, sometimes quite violently.  

Small scattered groups were able to join back together several times, notably thanks to Twitter, and the Latin Quarter became a focal meeting point. A group improvised a burning barricade Saturday night using material from a construction site on the corner of Ontario and Saint-Denis. The next day, an open fire hydrant flooded the street at the same site.

The patio of the Saint Bock bar was ransacked Saturday night by police and the owner estimated there is several thousand dollars worth of damage. For his part, the owner of gluten-free restaurant Zero8 was arrested while helping customers flee out the back door.

Call for a truce

During its press briefing yesterday afternoon, CLASSE wanted to stress that it has never called for vandalism and that it works to maintain order during the protests it organizes.

Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd during Victoria Day festivities, Amir Khadir agreed with CLASSE, saying “the only answer to oppose [Bill 78], is to not comply with it.”

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay issued a call for a truce, saying that police, tourists, demonstrators and citizens were all losers: “The only way to resolve this conflict is to return to the negotiating table,” he argued.

On the legal front, lawyers and law professors mandated by student associations, including CLASSE, are working to contest several articles in the special law before the courts, with the assistance of the legal clinic Juripop.

May 21, the 28^th night march brought out thousands of demonstrators in Montreal, including the “Baby Bloc” group: activist parents accompanied by their young children. Demonstrators marched toward the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, the entrance to which was blockaded by the SQ. The demonstration was declared illegal, but was tolerated because it remained peaceful. Later on in the evening, a group headed to the premier’s residence in Westmount, chanting, “We’re going to Charest’s house.” Tensions grew around 11:30 pm when police blocked the route. At press time, demonstrators decided to avoid a confrontation and resumed their march.

Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.

*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at translatingtheprintempsderable@gmail.com. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.