Montreal In Pictures

May 22 2012

Today marked the 100th day of the Quebec students’ fight against tuition fee increases and was marked with the largest march to-date.

Students were joined on the streets by supporters in downtown Montreal, not only to protest against the fee hikes, but to also voice their condemnation of Bill 78 that many see as a violation of fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

The emergency law passed on 18th May by the Charest Government prevents the assembly, protest or picketing on or near universities and CEGEPS and requires organizers of protests greater than 50 people to provide police with the march route at least 8 hours in advance. The law expires on July 1 2013.

With an estimated 500,000 marching in the streets this afternoon, the demonstration has been called the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.

I missed the start of today’s march that began at Place des Festivals, but caught up with the demonstration as it wound its way along Sherbrooke street and down along René Lévesque.

Superman and Batman among the protesters

May 22 Montreal Student March

The bad news for today was that my camera broke and I had to cut short my coverage. I now get an error message saying “press shutter release button again”. Having searched the web for a fix, the diagnosis isn’t looking too good, as 2 screws on the base are all burred and preventing me getting to the potential problem of stuck gears. So until I fix my Nikon, or buy a new body, I’m going to have to make do with my point and shoot 🙁

To view images in gallery format, simply click on one of the images below.