Yesterday, as many as 2,000 anti-lockdown protestors—with some reports saying it numbered closer to 5,000—took to the street of Montreal. The event on Facebook was initially presented as a "mega Christmas family gathering", but conveniently set its meeting point on the street outside the office of Quebec Premier François Legault.
Vidéo 7 pic.twitter.com/4WcFsMCAIc
— ⛓DIGITAL💿🛡💿 SPARTAN⛓ (@DIGITLSPARTN) December 20, 2020
Thousands of people in Montreal are marching against a government that has gone too far#protest #mtl pic.twitter.com/kWxtIG2JwW
— Gordon Burling (@GordonBurling) December 20, 2020
Whatever the gathering's size, it ended by collecting in Lafontaine Park, "was among the largest demonstrations against safety measures in recent months", and was likely the site of many children being introduced to adults being fined (269 fines at $1,546 each) and handcuffed for their first time. Fun.
As can be seen from the footage above, while protestors could exercise their right to free speech and peacefully gathering, many are not very their masks—a simple request issued by the government for any level of alert in any part of the province.
On the same day, Quebec reported its second day in a row of new COVID-19 cases topping 2,000—2,146 to be precise—and if that wasn't enough, today had the province reporting 2,108 new cases along with 30 deaths.
The latest from Time Out Montréal
- Top Montreal Haitian restaurant Agrikol announces its closure over the weekend
- Montreal's Botanical Garden is now open to explore for the winter season
- Parc Jean-Drapeau's new winter program has a skating rink, sledding hills, and free equipment
- Get yourself a lockdown buddy at this one-day-only plant sale in downtown Montreal
- Veterans of Maison Publique have opened a new restaurant-boutique hybrid called Salle Climatisée