# Student protest in Montreal



## andreanefraser (Mar 15, 2012)

I have never shoot a big protest before and I was pretty curious about it.  The opportunity arose earlier this week as I am working here for two weeks.  It was pretty peaceful although some of the protesters were there to create problems.  Mounted police, bike patrol, and several other groups of police officers kept an eye on about 1900 adult students protesting against tuition increase.


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## Hickeydog (Mar 15, 2012)

The bandana dude apparnetly didn't like getting his picture taken.............


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## jonathon94 (Mar 15, 2012)

Knowing teenagers (I am one) I'm sure a good amount of people only went to be involved and don't really care. The guy shooting a bird doesn't even look like someone who would go to college. I am a high school senior and will graduate in may so I feel their pain but at the same time what can they do? Boycott college? How will that help them any?

But pretty cool photos


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## andreanefraser (Mar 16, 2012)

These are from lat night's protest against Police Brutality.  Now considering 13 out of the last 15 protests turned violent,  I grabbed a 70-200mm f2.8 to keep my distance, which turned out to be a good idea.  I followed the protesters on their walk and two hours in, the police declared the gathering illegal after some protesters threw things to the officers.  Later on that night police cruisers got flipped over, they also broke a lot of windows downtown, etc.


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 16, 2012)

Some nice images, the protest turned violent as well you must know.  Seems counter productive having a protest against police brutality and then tuning it into a violent protest against the police.


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## andreanefraser (Mar 16, 2012)

Yes i stuck around Philips Square and notice the gathering on Ste-Catherine St. where they flipped over the police cruisers and attempted to burn them.  After the police pushed me with their shields , i decided it was not worth getting myself arrested for documenting the event.  After all, this is just a hobby for me.


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## Hickeydog (Mar 16, 2012)

andreanefraser said:


> Yes i stuck around Philips Square and notice the gathering on Ste-Catherine St. where they flipped over the police cruisers and attempted to burn them.  After the police pushed me with their shields , i decided it was not worth getting myself arrested for documenting the event.  After all, this is just a hobby for me.



But that's 3/4 the fun of documenting protests.


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 16, 2012)

andreanefraser said:


> Yes i stuck around Philips Square and notice the gathering on Ste-Catherine St. where they flipped over the police cruisers and attempted to burn them. After the police pushed me with their shields , i decided it was not worth getting myself arrested for documenting the event. After all, this is just a hobby for me.



Great decision on walking away, when it gets to this point and you're not a working professional it's not worth the risk.


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## OscarWilde (Mar 17, 2012)

Great pictures. STUPID protest...

Seriously? They are complaining because there tuition is going to double... from $1600 a year to $3200 a year... 

In Ontario, I already pay nearly $6000 a year, and my girlfriend pays over $7000. Their tuition doubled is STILL ONLY HALF~! Get over it.


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 17, 2012)

OscarWilde said:


> Great pictures. STUPID protest...
> 
> Seriously? They are complaining because there tuition is going to double... from $1600 a year to $3200 a year...
> 
> In Ontario, I already pay nearly $6000 a year, and my girlfriend pays over $7000. Their tuition doubled is STILL ONLY HALF~! Get over it.



Tuition well spent..........it's "their" tuition, not "there" tuiton


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## molested_cow (Mar 18, 2012)

You know, carrying a camera and looking like a journalist in a protest feels pretty good, because you can be on both sides of the crowd without feeling awkward. You are meant to be there and people are there to be seen.
Of course, when it's the real deal and you know that crap is going to happen, you just have to prepare yourself with protection. Helmet, pads, eye protection? I don't think the police will harass you, and I don't think the protesters will start attacking you, but getting caught in between is no one's fault but yours.
I don't wish for protests to happen, but I'd love to get more opportunities to capture emotions.


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## OscarWilde (Mar 18, 2012)

imagemaker46 said:


> OscarWilde said:
> 
> 
> > Great pictures. STUPID protest...
> ...



Are you honestly criticizing my grammar? a) I was typing fast without any focus on my grammar or spelling; b) I used the word "their" twice in the sentence and I accidentally typed it incorrectly once; so clearly I KNOW it's "their" not "there" and c) I don't recall saying I was spending $6000 a year on an English degree...

Plus I'm not even entirely sure what your point is. Because I'm a university student I must type every sentence with the utmost care and meticulous spell checking? Have you been to a university? Ever? Half of the people are genuine idiots.

So yeah, my tuition is well spent; and I never claimed that it wasn't. I don't mind spending $6000 a year on my education. I was saying that they should grow up and deal with it and join the rest of us. 

For the record; using more than three periods in a row is poor grammar. What you are trying to do is called an ellipsis and it is only three periods. (You also spelled tuition wrong; but only once out of two attempts )


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## Netskimmer (Mar 18, 2012)

imagemaker46 said:


> Some nice images, the protest turned violent as well you must know.  Seems counter productive having a protest against police brutality and then tuning it into a violent protest against the police.



I have never understood this kind of thing. Attacking police and civilian property during a protest over police brutality is kind of like mobs causing millions in damage to their own city after their sports team WINS a game.

EDIT:

Forgot to mention, I like the pictures.


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## Skaperen (Mar 19, 2012)

OscarWilde said:


> Are you honestly criticizing my grammar? a) I was typing fast without any focus on my grammar or spelling; b) I used the word "their" twice in the sentence and I accidentally typed it incorrectly once; so clearly I KNOW it's "their" not "there" and c) I don't recall saying I was spending $6000 a year on an English degree...
> 
> Plus I'm not even entirely sure what your point is. Because I'm a university student I must type every sentence with the utmost care and meticulous spell checking? Have you been to a university? Ever? Half of the people are genuine idiots.


Maybe your online name creates a higher expectation


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## Robin Usagani (Mar 19, 2012)

Why would you put a sign people cant read?


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 19, 2012)

OscarWilde said:


> imagemaker46 said:
> 
> 
> > OscarWilde said:
> ...



Oh well. Guess that's why I'm a photographer and not a writer.


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## Forkie (Mar 19, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> Why would you put a sign people cant read?



Isn't Montreal in French Canada?


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## memento (Mar 19, 2012)

Forkie said:


> Isn't Montreal in French Canada?



Yes. French is the 'native' language in Montreal.

cool pics!


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## Robin Usagani (Mar 19, 2012)

I was just kidding folks lol


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## memento (Mar 19, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> I was just kidding folks lol



uh-huh... _suuure _you were


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## bentcountershaft (Mar 19, 2012)

I thought all signs had to be bilingual there?  Someone should fine that protester.


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## Forkie (Mar 19, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> I was just kidding folks lol



I'll let you off.




This time.


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## pgriz (Mar 19, 2012)

The sign says:  "That justice be done for all the victims of repression".

The demonstrations by students against tuition fee increases are noisy, but they do not represent all of the students.  Some claim as many as 80% for, other claim the numbers are as little as 20%.  Compared to other places, tuition in Quebec is cheap.  But people here often don't care what goes on elsewhere.

The annual march against police brutality has a habit of degenerating into violence.  In this edition the larger body of protesters (anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 depending on who you talk to) were trying hard NOT to allow the event to be hijacked by a group of anarchists that pops up routinely at these events.  These characters tend to wear masks and be dressed in black or dark clothing.  They have been seen coming to the events carrying heavy backpacks, which one presumes were filled with rocks.  The police don't help matters, by doing mass arrests instead of focusing on the touble-makers.

That was on Thursday.

Yesterday, on Sunday, the same street witnessed the largest St-Patrick's Day parade we've had ever in Montreal, helped by the unseasonal warm temperatures.  No arrests, no drama.  Now that is more like Montreal.


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## andreanefraser (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.  It was interesting for me to be able to document an event like a protest since I have never done this before.  I had fun doing it.


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 19, 2012)

pgriz said:


> The sign says: "That justice be done for all the victims of repression".
> 
> The demonstrations by students against tuition fee increases are noisy, but they do not represent all of the students. Some claim as many as 80% for, other claim the numbers are as little as 20%. Compared to other places, tuition in Quebec is cheap. But people here often don't care what goes on elsewhere.
> 
> ...



Montreal is such a great city, and as much as everyone assumes that french is what you hear spoken most, in Montreal english is spoken just as much. There are places just outside Montreal that are pretty much english communities. The mayor of Pointe-Claire doesn't even speak french.  The signs however are all in french.

The protesters that show up and look to cause trouble are the same ones that show up everywhere, they have an agenda of violence, and should be delt with as the police see fit.  The problem is that the innocent always end up getting caught in the middle.


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## Robin Usagani (Mar 19, 2012)

I can't read French but I assumed it was about hockey.


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## Netskimmer (Mar 19, 2012)

imagemaker46 said:


> pgriz said:
> 
> 
> > The sign says: "That justice be done for all the victims of repression".
> ...



We often see the same thing down here (US). There were always 'those' people showing up at Tea Party protests and of coarse the liberal media focused solely on them (when they weren't trying to ignore the protests completely) to make the whole group seem like nut jobs. Natually they did the exact opposite when the Occupiers hit the scene but while some of there smaller protests maintained order the bigger ones usually grew so far out of control that they couldn't cover it up.


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## pgriz (Mar 19, 2012)

Imagemaker, the former major of Pointe-Claire was anglophone, but did talk in French.  The current mayor is fluently bilingual, and the city business is conducted 100% in French, although the reality is that the population mix is pretty much 50/50, and it is rare to find someone who is truly unilingual.  In the greater Montreal area, I'd say 80-90% are fully bilingual, and maybe 30% are trilingual or more.  Outside the greater Montreal area, the language situation changes and becomes 90-95% francophone (french-speaking), with notable regional exceptions such as in the Eastern Townships.

Part of the nationalist propaganda is to simplify the historical narrative, writing out whole chapters of contributions by various non-french pioneers and immigrants.  Reality is much more nuanced and far more complex than simple storylines will have you believe.  Anyways, enough of political observation.


@andreanefraser:  your shots were pretty good, although a bit on the dark side.   I knew these events were going on, and stayed away because they can be very unpredictable.  The anarchists are very good at making sure innocent bystanders are between them and the police.


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## imagemaker46 (Mar 19, 2012)

pgriz said:


> Imagemaker, the former major of Pointe-Claire was anglophone, but did talk in French. The current mayor is fluently bilingual, and the city business is conducted 100% in French, although the reality is that the population mix is pretty much 50/50, and it is rare to find someone who is truly unilingual. In the greater Montreal area, I'd say 80-90% are fully bilingual, and maybe 30% are trilingual or more. Outside the greater Montreal area, the language situation changes and becomes 90-95% francophone (french-speaking), with notable regional exceptions such as in the Eastern Townships.
> 
> Part of the nationalist propaganda is to simplify the historical narrative, writing out whole chapters of contributions by various non-french pioneers and immigrants. Reality is much more nuanced and far more complex than simple storylines will have you believe. Anyways, enough of political observation.
> 
> ...



Ah ok, I was shotoing a swim meet in Pointe Claire last year and the mayor was an anglo, he did attempt a few lines in french. It really surprised me that he didn't know french, I was told he had been mayor for quite a few years.  I know that when you get out into the rural areas that the language is pretty much all french.  I'm afraid my growing up in Ottawa and not learning french is one of those regrets I have.


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