Status for All Marchers Defy Montreal's P-6 Rule, Police Lie About Enforcement

Migrant Justice March Defies Bylaw P-6, Montreal police misinform media to protect arbitrary use of anti-protest bylaw

by Status for All

Montreal, 23 May 2013 - Police misinformed media and the public this week about protestors' compliance with the anti-protest bylaw P-6. In fact, organizers of Saturday's annual Status for All march against deportations refused to give police their itineraries and encouraged people to wear masks in conscious defiance of P-6. 

 

Despite police warnings and, in some cases, significant interference, four contingents - starting in Côte des Neiges, Verdun, Villeray and Hochelaga - were able to march through the city to converge downtown for a rally at Philips Square.

"The SPVM informed La Presse that itineraries were provided to police; they then repeated the same thing on twitter. This is false. We have never given our itinerary to the police and this year was no exception, despite the context of increased police repression. In addition, many people wore masks," said march organizer Rosalind Wong.

"We made a decision to not share our itineraries in defiance of the P-6 bylaw because we refuse to give police the power to decide when and where and who can protest. We also wanted to express our solidarity with the hundreds of people who have been arrested while protesting against this repressive bylaw in the last months. At the same time, we encouraged people to wear masks as an act of symbolic solidarity with members of our communities who cannot show their faces in public because of their status," said another march oganizer, Mary Foster.

"Our decision to defy P-6 was not easy because borders and racism make our communities vulnerable to police repression. However, we made a conscious choice to join the many other community organizations in Montreal who are standing up to this attempt to control popular movements," added Wong. "It is outrageous that the SPVM is pretending that we complied with P-6 to protect their arbitrary use of this bylaw and conceal their political profiling. We won't play along with that."

Status for All Information sheet on P-6 distributed before and during the march:
www.solidarityacrossborders.org/en/p-6-and-the-status-for-all-march-the-rights-and-risks-of-marching

Anti-P-6 Statement signed by Status for All member organizations:
www.solidarityacrossborders.org/en/solidarity-against-police-repression-in-montreal-we-will-not-submit-to-municipal-by-law-p-6

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Press Release

Media Contacts:
Rosalind Wong
Mary Foster

Source:
Status for All Coalition, composed of the following groups:
- Dignidad Migrante (www.dignidadmigrante.org)
- Immigrant Workers Center (www.iwc-cti.ca)
- Mexicans United for Regularization (www.mexregularizacion.org)
- No One Is Illegal-Montreal (www.nooneisillegal.org)
- Solidarity Across Borders (www.solidarityacrossborders.org)