Drimonis: My thoughts on protests, props and moral panic |
I’ve been thinking about this month’s International Workers Day demonstration in Montreal, where a papier-maché effigy of what appeared to be Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet was decapitated with a makeshift guillotine.
Boulet filed a complaint with Montreal police, which opened an investigation into the incident. The act by militant labour group Alliance Ouvrière was widely condemned by Quebec politicians.
I don’t appreciate the mock beheading of a puppet depicting the likeness of a Quebec minister anymore than I did “freedom convoy” protesters carrying makeshift gallows with a noose and accusing then prime minister Justin Trudeau of treason. I worry such theatrics carry the potential of encouraging real-life violence in troubled individuals.
But as distasteful or disturbing as these protest tactics may seem, unless they’re accompanied by explicit threats, they’re generally protected under freedom of expression provisions in charters of rights.
Alliance Ouvrière says its effigy wasn’t meant to represent Boulet specifically (despite the obvious likeness) but was symbolic of public anger........