Israel-Hamas war: Legault government considers banning protests

Quebec City -

The Legault government calls the shooting of two Jewish schools in Montreal terrorism and is not ruling out banning demonstrations linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The incidents occurred overnight Wednesday into Thursday and the political class vigorously condemned the crimes while calling for calm.

"This is a form of terrorism," said Education Minister Bernard Drainville during a press scrum at the Quebec legislature Thursday morning.

"We don't shoot at schools in Quebec. Our hearts go out to the Jewish community."

He said he is concerned about the "rise of antisemitism."

"We have to stop this, it's urgent to say: let's calm down," François Legault told a press conference in Longueuil.

As to whether the authorities could go so far as to ban demonstrations, he said that nothing is currently ruled out.

In addition, the government is calling on victims of discrimination and hatred at Concordia University to file a complaint with the police.

On Thursday, several politicians denounced the acts of violence committed on campus, also in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A 22-year-old student was arrested and three people were injured.

The minister responsible for combating racism, Christopher Skeete, also a former Concordia student, called on threatened students to report their attackers to the police.

In a press scrum, his colleague, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, appealed for calm.

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister François Bonnardel described the situation as shocking and disturbing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 9, 2023.