No major incidents in Quebec City during first day of G7 protests
QUEBEC Jean-Pierre Ouellette sat on his balcony with his girlfriend, a dry martini in hand, and carefully watched the mass of protesters gathering across the street.
His house sits next to Quebec City’s Parc des Braves, the gathering point ahead of this weekend’s first anti- G7 protest on Thursday. Police had been by the previous day to scout out the park and speak with him.
They offered the same warnings they gave to other residents and merchants ahead of this weekend. Don’t leave your house or business unattended, police advised. Leave the lights on if you do. Close your windows and lock your doors. Put away anything that could be picked up and tossed.
“But I don’t feel like they’re a threat,” Ouellette, 63, said of the protesters chanting outside his home. “It could always degenerate. It could explode. But I don’t feel the same animosity as in 2001.”
Ouellette, who’s lived in Quebec City his whole life, was referencing the painful memories many longtime residents have of the 2001 Summit of the Americas, where police and protesters clashed after a security fence was breached at the Centre des congrès, leading to widespread damages.
Being cautious, many merchants and residents in the city’s commercial sectors boarded up their windows and doors this week. By Thursday afternoon, normally busy terrasses were mostly deserted. Police officers, including the force’s canine unit, were present at nearly every street corner along the route given by organizers ahead of the planned demonstration.
“Down with capitalism, colonialism, and the racist and sexist policies put forward by the G7 countries,” protest organizer Anne-Valérie Lemieux-Breton yelled into a megaphone as protesters gathered ahead of the march.
“Tomorrow we’ll see beautiful photos of the seven leaders, pretending to be friends, circulating all over the world,” she added. “But during that time, today, tomorrow and Saturday, we’ll be in the streets!”
Lemieux-Breton and others leading the protest met with Quebec City police beforehand. It was agreed police would allow the demonstration as long as it followed the planned route and stayed civil.
For roughly the next two hours, protesters — organizers said 1,500 people participated — marched through the provincial capital’s streets, making their way to the same convention centre where 2001’s clash took place.
An enormous police presence followed them the whole way, with riot police lining both sides of the street and guarding popular hotels and commercial strips. Police helicopters flew overhead.
The protest was declared over once it reached the convention centre, where a fence and large concrete blocks were erected this week to block access.
Hundreds of riot police waited outside the building.
As of 10 p.m., there were reports of one arrest. No major vandalism, damage or clash with officers had occurred.
Though the G7 summit is taking place 140 kilometres northeast in La Malbaie, most of this weekend’s protests are planned in Quebec City instead.
Part of the reason, activists say, is the level of security in Charlevoix, which includes a $4-million, three-metre-high fence surrounding the site.
Nearly 70 per cent of the summit’s $604-million budget is being spent on security.
More than 8,000 police officers have been deployed for the weekend, with different forces being assigned specific roles.
The Sûreté du Québec is expected to be guarding the National Assembly, while the RCMP will be providing security for dignitaries gathering at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu.
When it comes to protests in Quebec City, it’s the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) that’s in charge of maintaining order and ensuring the demonstrations don’t turn violent or destructive.
“The right to protest is a fundamental right — our role is to maintain order while ensuring that everyone can exercise that right, freely and safely,” SPVQ spokesperson Étienne Doyon said this week.
“If there are criminal infractions that occur during the protests, then, of course, it will not be tolerated and we will act accordingly.”
More protests are planned for Friday and Saturday. A 7:30 a.m. protest Friday is to be followed by what organizers are calling a “day of disruption.”