Antivaxxers demonstrate at high school
Antivaxxers demonstrated midday Tuesday outside a high school in Montreal North. Brief item says François Legault is pondering a law to keep protesting nutbars at a distance from hospitals and schools.
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Kate
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Chris 08:41 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
Sure, they are nutters, but a law against protest is a very bad idea. Horrible precedent. One day they’ll use it against a cause you believe in.
Tim S. 08:46 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
I sort of see your point Chris, but adults really shouldn’t be allowed to target their demos at children.
Kate 08:50 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
It did cross my mind that a law like this would be prone to misuse. I do not trust the CAQ’s scruples.
Chris 08:58 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
The test of whether you truly believe in free speech is if you still believe in it for others that espouse views you oppose.
Let them protest, for all to see how weak their arguments are.
Suppressing them will just feed their victimhood complex, and perhaps even win them sympathy and new members.
Kevin 09:39 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
Protest that impinges on the free movement of people is already prohibited by law. It’s considered intimidation.
Specific laws banning protest around certain locations are decades-old, namely abortion-access laws passed in the mid-90s in a few provinces.
@Chris
Your argument is based on the supposition that people are making good-faith arguments and have fulfilled their responsibility to be educated on the subject.
The people protesting in front of schools are a) making bad faith arguments and b) overwhelmed by hubris https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-09-22/le-mathematicien-radicalise.php
Kate 10:00 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
You could presumably frame a law against demonstrating in ways that impede access to health care or intimidate minors.
Chris, you can’t expect a school kid to counter the “arguments” of angry adults waving placards – that’s nonsense. If those people were amenable to rational argument, they wouldn’t be standing outside a school trying to browbeat kids into refusing a scientifically validated health measure.
And you can’t reasonably expect a patient, or someone visiting a sick relative or friend, to deal with this nonsense either.
Tim S. 10:54 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
“If those people were amenable to rational argument, they wouldn’t be standing outside a school trying to browbeat kids into refusing a scientifically validated health measure.”
Exactly. Thanks, Kate.
H. John 21:52 on 2021-09-22 Permalink
As Kevin points out the criminal code already prohibits intimidation:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-423.html
Chris makes, what I think is a valid point – that free speech and where it can be exercised, will inevitably suffer. The Montreal police aren’t as good as they are at kettling by accident.
But, I listened to Paul Arcand this morning talking about a 13 year old who was harassed by six adults as he approached a hospital for treatment.
At the end of the day, I don’t think this is a free speech issue.
This will not be easy.
I genuinely don’t trust the CAQ, and Simon Jolin-Barrette, the Minister responsible for eradicating human rights, to create a fair and balanced approach.
It will be interesting to see how they try to frame the legislation. They can’t protect it from a constitutional challenge if it strays into criminal law (which is a federal jurisdiction).
Chris 08:15 on 2021-09-23 Permalink
>You could presumably frame a law against demonstrating in ways that impede access to health care
Bonus: that framing should also work well to stop overworked nurses from protesting outside their hospitals.
>Chris, you can’t expect a school kid to counter the “arguments” of angry adults
But adults seeing coverage in the news can.
Tim S. 09:07 on 2021-09-23 Permalink
Yeah, it would be nice if the proposed law distinguished between people who belong to an institution and those who don’t. So nurses, students could be allowed to protest outside their own hospitals/schools, but not be targeted by outsiders (who should still be free to protest outside a legislature or other public space where they’re not impeding/targeting a specific group). I guess we’ll see soon.