Several small protests against the provincial government took place Monday in Montreal.
Outside a lunchtime speech by Finance Minister Carlos Leitao to the Chamber of Commerce, students and unionized workers chanted "Arrêter le massacre, nous nous sommes en tabarnac!" (Stop the massacre, we are here damnit!)
This group also hurled rolls of toilet paper onto the fence at Place Bonaventure, saying the provincial budget Leitao delivered last week was "shit."
A dozen people managed to make their way inside the hall inside Place Bonaventure before Leitao arrived at the scene but they were removed by building security.
Two more small groups revealed themselves to be protesters, once after Leitao was present, the final group after he began speaking, one such group holding small signs reading "Stop Couillard."
Each time security removed the demonstrators, with police then escorting them out of the building.
Protesters say the measures taken by Leitao and the provincial government to balance the budget will have a profoundly negative effect on social cohesion in Quebec.
Leitao's budget will balance the provincial books next year with no tax increases but with a pledge to begin tackling the province's hefty debt.
Quebec's gross debt is more than $200 billion, more than half of the province's gross domestic product.
