Tens of thousands flood downtown Montreal as unions rally against Legault’s 'rightward shift’

Major arteries of downtown Montreal on Saturday afternoon were shut down as tens of thousands of people, part of a broad coalition of Quebec labour groups and community organizations, marched against what they called Premier François Legault’s accelerating turn to the political right.

In total, about 50,000 demonstrators turned out, according to organizers, marking one of the largest public mobilizations against the Coalition Avenir Québec government since Legault took office in 2018.

Waving union flags, banging on drums and joining in chants, they spilled across René-Lévesque Blvd. and Ste-Catherine St., converging from different directions and sweeping past Legault’s office on Sherbrooke St. Police shut parts of the road to accommodate the protest.

READ MORE: What’s behind Saturday’s big union mobilization against the Legault government in Montreal

Branded “In the Streets for Quebec,” it began at 1:30 p.m. and lasted just after 3 p.m., winding up near McGill College Ave. and Président-Kennedy Ave., where union leaders whipped up the crowd.

Nine major unions marched together, including the FTQ, CSN, CSQ, CSD, FIQ, FAE, APTS, SPGQ and SFPQ, which together represent hundreds of thousands of workers.

They were also joined by five national networks representing about 4,500 community organizations.

Each group brought its own grievances, from overcrowded ERs and problems in social services, to shortages of teachers and anxieties among industrial workers, yet the broader message was aimed at the government’s governing philosophy, which unions argue has become increasingly hardline.

In a joint statement beforehand, the unions said: “With the increasing number of cuts to public services, the underfunding of social programs, numerous economic dysfunctions and attacks on checks and balances, the Legault government is embarking on a rightward shift that jeopardizes the Quebec that generations have built together.”

And of particular concern is Bill 14, which was passed last May, but comes into effect on Sunday, Nov. 30.

This is “aimed at giving greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or lockout.”

In practice, it will allow Quebec’s Labour Minister Jean Boulet to limit pressure tactics by mandating minimum service levels during strikes or lockouts.

“It’s a matter of members saying, ‘Look, we can’t muzzle the members, we can’t reduce the ability of their unions to intervene,’ ultimately, of taking their own voice in the public sphere,” said Éric Girard, president of the CSQ in an interview with Québec Matin earlier on Saturday.