Quebec considering special law to prevent anti-vax protesters from blocking access to hospitals, schools
Quebec premier François Legault said Tuesday it’s “unacceptable” that people have been protesting against the vaccine passport outside hospitals and schools recently, adding the province could turn to the law to put an end to these demonstrations.
While thousands of people have filled the streets of downtown Montreal and other Quebec cities to protest the public health measure, only a fraction of those crowds showed up at hospitals and schools in the last few weeks.
About a dozen protesters showed up at the Glen hospital on Decarie Blvd. on Sept. 13, a far cry from the thousands that marched through the island’s core at the beginning of the month.
Still, with protesters also showing up at schools and allegedly harassing students, the premier said he is considering an extra measure to keep health-care workers and youth safe.
It would be a law to create a safe zone around such building, similar to the one introduced by Quebec in 2016 to prevent demonstrations within 50 metres of abortion clinics.
“We’re not ruling out anything,” Legault said Tuesday at a press scrum at the National Assembly.
“Indeed, that could be a special law that we’re looking at, if we have the right, if we can do it.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, too, had promised during the election campaign that he would introduce legislation that would make it illegal for protesters to block access to hospitals after several protests took place across the country.
But experts have come out saying those laws already exist in the Criminal Code and that police, in some cases, just aren’t enforcing them.
“It’s unacceptable to have anti-vaccine protesters in front of our schools, in front of our hospitals,” Legault said Tuesday. “I can’t tolerate that.”
Following his remarks, education minister Jean-François Roberge, who has previously said he was “outraged” by protesters showing up at the Louis-Riel high school, tweeted on Tuesday “Let's leave the students out of these protests!”
Already this school year, there have been five anti-vaccine demonstrations near schools in Montreal, according to Liberal education critic Marwah Rizqy, who said she has seen children being shouted at and filmed by protesters.
On Tuesday at the National Assembly, she suggested a short-term solution would be to seek an injunction whenever a protest is announced on social media.
"We can't just tweet our outrage anymore, we have to take action," she said from her seat in the Blue Room. "We have to protect the children before it gets out of hand."
More protests are being planned in Montreal and elsewhere, with Facebook events describing them as demonstrations against “dictatorial governments” and their “Nazi passport.”
--With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Remembering legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole. Oh baby, what a life
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.