Police-state cranks up to fight Maple Spring

"Some of those arrested were people police recognized from earlier student demonstrations that had been deemed illegal," district commander Alain Simoneau told reporters. "In the interest of public safety, we decided to detain these people."

Some people arrested in neighbouring suburbs could face charges, Simoneau said, but most arrested near the event will not be fined or charged. Those who were detained were taken back to Montreal, while the others were made to turn around and reboard the metro.

The search and detention operation at the Grand Prix race site began just after noon, near the exit of the Jean-Drapeau metro station, as an estimated 100,000 people — not including Premier Jean Charest, who steered clear of the event — made their way to the island for the big race.

Police searched scores of people on their way to the event, citing security concerns.

The race got underway at 2 p.m. ET at the Gilles-Villeneuve track.

Tight security for race

There was heavy police presence at key public transit points and Grand Prix events across Montreal, including the main race site, after an anti-capitalist group called for disruptions. Hundreds of police officers and sniffer dogs swarmed the underground train line that services the track site on Ste-Hélène Island.

Police conducted random searches of metro riders, with some people being turned away from the train platform. Those who didn't have a ticket for the race, including some reporters and some planning to purchase a ticket at the gates, were not allowed onto the island and were ordered back on to the subway.

Many of the people turned away were wearing red squares, the emblem of the student movement.

The added security comes less than 12 hours after a chaotic downtown protest that resulted in dozens of arrests.

On Saturday night, 28 people were arrested as protesters tried to push into the Crescent Street bar strip, where several Grand Prix parties were being held. About 16 of those arrested Saturday will face charges, according to police.

At least four police vehicles were vandalized — including one that was completely flipped over — and at least one business had its windows broken.

The Grand Prix has been targeted by demonstrators protesting student tuition-fee increases and capitalism in general.

Bomb threat shuts metro

On Sunday morning, police arrested a man after a bomb threat along the yellow subway line that services the Grand Prix race site.

Police received a call at 7:50 a.m. about a possible bomb at the Longueuil/Université-de-Sherbrooke station.

The bomb threat turned out to be false, but it still provoked a three-minute service disruption on the metro line.

Police tracked the suspect, a 40-year-old man, to his home where he was taken into custody.

In another plan that targeted the transit system, an anti-capitalist group organizing Sunday's protest suggested cramming the subways to slow down fans heading to the event.

The signal to board appears to have been a fire alarm, which was set off on the subway line Sunday morning. Several people were removed from the metro following that incident.

Now here is a report filed at Pacific Free Press describing the zeitgeist Saturday before the Grand Prix race.

June 9, 2012 – Tens of thousands of people are in the streets of Montreal this evening in a chaotic scene that hundreds, probably thousands, of police are trying to control.

Many people are there to take in the festivities related to tomorrow’s running of the annual Formula One auto race. But thousands are there to protest. They are in solidarity with the post-secondary student strike, and they are opposing the police state Bill 78 adopted by Quebec’ National Assembly on May 18.

They are angered at the decision yesterday by a Quebec judge to detain Yalda Machouf-Khadir and four other arrested colleagues in prison over the weekend.

Many people also mobilized today to express their anger and disgust at the decadence represented by the race itself. These include women who staged a march against the trade in womens’ bodies that they say accompanies the Formula One race each year. They tried to take their case to the Sheraton Montreal Hotel, which they say is the preferred hotel for what protesters call the “international jerk-offs” that frequent the race, that is, the men who purchase sex. The women were blocked and broken up by Montreal police.

Another group of about 100 protesters against the F1 took to their bicycles during the afternoon…with no clothes on. One woman wrote on her bare back (translation from the French), “The F1 makes me sick. Stick it up your a**.”

The image of the race took a dive two days ago when former Formula One driver, hometown boy and success story Jacques Villeneuve thumbed his nose at the student strike and told students to go back to class.

The AlJazeera video, meantime, breaks down the scene in Quebec and across Canada for the student-based scenario which has become known as "Maple Spring".

Published on Jun 8, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish

The recent Quebec protests are the largest in Canadian history. We'll examine if the movement has become broad in popular uprising.

The video below is an earlier report from Democracy Now!

Introductory notes:

Published on May 25, 2012 by democracynow

DemocracyNow.org - More than 400,000 filled the streets of Montreal this week as a protest over a 75 percent increase in tuition has grown into a full-blown political crisis. After three months of sustained protests and class boycotts that have come to be known around the world as the "Maple Spring," the dispute exploded when the Quebec government passed an emergency law known

as Bill 78, which suspends the current academic term, requires demonstrators to inform police of any protest route involving 50 or more people, and threatens student associations with fines of up to $125,000 if they disobey. The strike has received growing international attention as the standoff grows, striking a chord with young people across the globe amid growing discontent over austerity measures, bleak economies and crushing student debt. We're joined by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for CLASSE, the main coalition of student unions involved in the student strikes in Quebec; and Anna Kruzynski, assistant professor at the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University in Montreal. She has been involved in the student strike as a member of the group, "Professors Against the Hike."

For a transcript of the Democracy Now item go here, for the Pacific Free Press story 'A night of protest and chaos as Montreal hosts F1 auto race' go here and for the CBC piece 'Montreal police detain 34 outside Grand Prix site' go here. Also more from AlJazeeraEnglish at this webpage.

Police said those who were detained or expelled from Ste-Hélène Island were carrying objects including bricks, rocks or ski masks.