02) WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO STOP BILL C-51?

By Johan Boyden

            A couple of weeks ago, I picked up the front page of a Montreal daily newspaper with interest. “P-6 student protest fines dropped by Montreal,” it said translated into English. Two things flashed through my mind. The first was the new Conservative Law Bill C-51. The second was a small stack of letters sitting on my desk back at home.

            Since the beginning of January, Montreal City hall has sent me no fewer than eight letters about my two bylaw infractions, incurred during and shortly after the Quebec student strike, informing of fines that could have added up to over $1500.

            The strike was three years ago. At the height of that conflict, hundreds of thousands of students and working people were in the streets against the provincial Charest Liberal government, rising up against tuition hikes and austerity policies. The government’s response was to bring in the “Hammer Law” and make the protests illegal. Municipalities adopted similar draconian rules. Thousands were arrested.

            My first court appearance, as part of a group legal challenge to the law, saw the city courthouse in complete commotion. Not because there was any civil disobedience; so many people were charged and due to appear at the same time, that all the court rooms, processing centres and hallways were packed to capacity.

            While the Hammer Law was one of the first things swept from the books after the late-summer provincial election sent the Liberals  packing (at least temporarily, since they were re-elected in 2014), the municipal bylaws did not go. Montreal’s P6 bylaw, under which police could make almost any demonstration illegal, stayed in full force - until this February.

            That is when Judge Randall Richmond ruled on Article 2.1 of bylaw P6, finding it so flawed as to no warrant protestors arrest. Now the City of Montreal is dropping most of the charges.

            But here is the scoop. Judge Randall’s ruling took three years of struggle, inside and outside of the courtroom, fighting a simple city Bylaw. And his ruling simply said the legal wording of the law was flawed, not that it violated fundamental civil rights and freedoms outlined the Charter.

            Could this be the future, with the anti-terrorist Act, Bill C-51? Already, over 100 law professors as well as a group of provincial privacy commissioners have joined the host of voices saying this new law violates Charter rights.

            The fact that in Montreal it took so long to score a partial victory against something as narrow and limited as a bylaw should be a warning to those who hope we can count on the courts to strike down Bill C-51.

            Moreover, the Liberals are supporting the legislation, and the NDP (whose welcome opposition to Bill C-51 came out late last month) has also quietly said that if elected, they would not strike the law but simply modify it.

            Meanwhile, rallies in at least 31 cities on the March 14 weekend against C-51 will be an important, powerful show of opposition, which the Communist Party has endorsed.  Judging by facebook responses, among the top ten will be Winnipeg, CPC leader Miguel Figueroa is expected to speak.

            Already some actions are taking place. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was hounded at the University of British Columbia by students opposing the Bill. Rozh E., one of the initiators of the protest and the organizer of the Vancouver Young Communist League, told me by facebook chat that Trudeau was aggressively dismissive towards the students who simply questioned him about the Liberal's position.

            “This goes against the claim that ‘82% of Canadians support this bill’ as the media has been saying,” she said.

            Exactly, Mr. Harper. It is a changing reality the Conservatives and Liberals in Parliament need to wake up to.

 (The above article is from the March 16-31, 2015 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)