A take on how Bill 3 exposes the hypocrisy of Montreal’s police force
If you have been out of the house in the past few months, chances are your path has crossed with strangely-dressed police officers, over-abundant red stickers and oddly ornamented municipal cars. As you may already know, those are all techniques used by the police, the firefighters and other public worker unions to protest Bill 3. This bill, as well as a number of other political and economic measures, was brought forward by the Liberal party as a way to help with the impending deficit of Quebec’s society.
In the last few months, these groups protested quite heavily with other, more intense actions; they lit a fire in front of Montreal City Hall and, more recently, they ransacked through it and chased the mayor through the halls.
Adding to the absurdity of it all, the policemen on duty were standing by and did nothing to stop the protesters. For all those people who have been arrested, pepper sprayed or harmed in any way in the student protests of 2012, this social and political situation seems quite hypocritical. Can anyone imagine the police response to students pushing their way into City Hall or lighting a bonfire at Place Émilie-Gamelin? What kind of double standard allows one group to physically intimidate government officials in their workplace, but makes the police conduct mass arrests on the other because of an unannounced itinerary?
Also, people leaving their posts to protest is one thing, but when we are talking about those who are supposed to protect and serve the general population, it becomes a question of safety. It is true that protesting is a fundamental right of any worker and citizen in a democratic society. Still, tragedies usually do not care about the protesters’ will to bully the mayor.
Nonetheless, it is important to state that, in many ways, the government employees are right to protest a bill that makes them pay for mistakes that others did. A number of people that would be affected by the bill are either swallowing this harsh pill or looking to negotiate with the government. Still, a certain group of people — composed mainly of firefighters, policemen and blue collar workers — are acting as bullies, thinking they will get something out of it.
The fact is that, by doing this, they alienated the part of the population that did not already think that they had become the thugs. Also, anyone without a pension or any kind of financial security has only one thing to say: tough luck.
It is obviously hard for anyone to have advantages you cherish taken away from you. Still, in this case there are two sets of rules that seem to apply: if you are the law, then you’re above the law.
