Police, businesses brace for protest onslaught, open detention centres
Quebec City’s historic district looked as though business owners were preparing for a mini hurricane to blow through the cobblestone streets on Thursday, as several storefronts were barricaded with plywood in anticipation of anti-G7 protests.
So far, demonstrations were tense but calm, as protesters congregated in growing numbers in a city park.
Stores that were open for business vastly outnumbered the shuttered facades. But the police presence in the old city was noticeable — squad cars drove through the area and uniformed officers kept watch at different spots across the neighbourhood popular with tourists and locals alike.
On Thursday evening, protesters gathered for what organizers had described as a “festive mass demonstration against the G7, capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, racism, and borders.”
The atmosphere was upbeat as protesters slowly filtered in, with some wearing colourful costumes and bearing signs advocating for such diverse causes as food security, open borders and environmental protection.
For a pay-what-you-want donation, protesters were offered zucchini cake, rice and tofu, and vegetable soup.
While the scene was peaceful, Alice-Anne Simard of environmental group Eau Secours declined to condemn possible violence. “We will not condemn acts that have not been committed,” she said. “We are here to protest and we are here to denounce the violence of the neoliberal policies of the G7 members.”
Police were stationed along the planned march route and a few dozen converged at the park where the protesters gathered before marching. Officers were carrying shields and wearing protective gear.
While the G7 summit will be held 140 kilometres northeast of Quebec City in the resort town of La Malbaie, diverse groups including unions, aid organizations and anti-capitalists have been organizing protests in the provincial capital. Police have been making parallel arrangements, with several thousand ready to jump into action.
The number of detention spaces that have been opened up around Quebec City in anticipation of protests is leading human rights groups to worry about the intentions of security forces.
Representatives from Amnesty International and Quebec’s league for civil liberties say they’ve been told by police that officers aren’t looking to make any mass arrests.
“But with all the security measures that have been put in place, it’s leading us to believe there is a gap between the discourse and the reality,” said Geneviève Paul, head of the francophone Canadian branch of Amnesty International. Her group and Quebec’s league for civil liberties are sending 44 observers to the protests, which are likely to continue well into Saturday night.
Paul said prisoners in Quebec City’s provincial jail have been transferred to other detention centres in order to liberate about 230 spots for protesters.
“There are agreements with other prisons to transfer inmates to make even more room [in Quebec City’s jail],” Paul said.
Police have erected a temporary detention centre near Quebec City’s Victoria Park, and another temporary jail in a town a few kilometres north of La Malbaie. Paul said police have also made room to detain people if need be in the main police station.