Group of Laval high-school students take off masks in COVID-19 protest, picket on sidewalk
At least 50 students at a Laval high school took part in a protest against COVID-19 rules that got briefly heated, and was captured on video, on Thursday.
The students at Laval Senior Academy were upset about the requirement to wear masks and that they're only allowed to eat in their school's cafeteria, said Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board spokesperson Maxeen Jolin.
The students protested in the morning and then outside during the lunch hour. A video posted to Facebook showed a rowdy group of teenagers shouting in a school hallway at a masked adult.
In a letter to parents on Thursday afternoon, the school's principal explained that the protest was mostly "peaceful" but that a few students needed to have their families contacted and disciplinary measures taken.
"Today, several students left class during period 2, to participate in a protest to express their concerns about the current sanitary measures (mainly the wearing of the mask) at school," wrote principal Nathalie Rollin.
The students "congregated outside" on the sidewalk of Souvenir Blvd., carrying signs. School administrators called police for help, but the protest was under control and most students went back to class and went on with their day, Rollin wrote.
"By the end of recess, most students returned inside the school," she wrote.
"While most students went back to class, others continued walking in the hallways which caused a short disruption at the beginning of the next period. Some students were escorted outside by the administration and the police to listen to their concerns and the reasons behind this protest."
The school board put the group about 50, but some who participated said it was at least 200 at its biggest point.
The teens aren't happy about the mask restrictions back in place for their age group, which require them to wear face coverings everywhere in the school except for the cafeteria, the school board said.
Rollin wrote that they complained "they find it challenging to wear the mask at all times and find it difficult to only have the cafeteria as an option to eat their lunch.
"The cold weather and the fact that restaurants are closed add to their frustration," she wrote.
The school told them it must respect public health rules, including for their own safety, but that it will find "alternate solutions" to the lunchtime issue "so that students can eat in more areas of the school."
She didn't go into detail about what kind of disruption happened inside the school.
"Parents of some students needed to be contacted as some disciplinary measures had to be applied for a minority of students that acted inappropriately," she wrote.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
The pros and cons of discussing mental health issues in the workplace
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.