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Over the weekend of August 31 to September 1, North Star was present at the “François, assez c'est assez” demonstration in front of the Quebec National Assembly. Despite the pouring rain on Saturday, a few hundred people braved the elements to denounce the Legault government's lack of “honesty, transparency and integrity”, as well as the corruption they deem pervasive in Quebec's political system.
After a series of speeches by influencers and representatives of small political parties, North Star journalists went out to meet the demonstrators, often demonized in mainstream media outlets, to better understand their perspectives and demands.
Most were there to denounce corruption, privatization of the province's resources, excessive taxation and lack of democracy. Others came to make their case, like Christiane Vallière, president of the Association des Accidentés de la Route Victimes de la SAAQ (AARVS).
The AARVS fights on behalf of Québec's public road safety insurance claimants whose claims were unjustly rejected. Ms. Vallière explained to North Star that if people's legitimate rights were being respected, “you wouldn't see cases like this. We're not asking to become rich, but because of the SAAQ, we're getting poorer.”
Also at the rally were other, smaller groups or individuals, expounding theories about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on LGBTQ communities, proclaiming themselves tax-exempt “sovereign citizens,” or sporting red “Trump 2024” caps.
Denouncing Those Who “Line Their Pockets”
Demonstrator Doris Nadeau, wearing a yellow raincoat and brandishing three different signs, asserted that voters don't really have a free choice when it comes to electing politicians:
“We choose among those they show us,” she told North Star, ”but they're probably friends who get beers together at the end of the day [...] In the end, one or the other, it's all the same.”
Bertrand (quoted under a pseudonym for the sake of anonymity), a protester interviewed a few minutes later, agreed: “We really do live in a false democracy.” He continued, “There's corruption everywhere, the evidence is out in the open, but the police do nothing.”
One example of corruption cited by Bertrand was the Legault government's favouritism in awarding contracts to Lion Électrique, a bus company whose main shareholder is the controversial Power Corporation, controlled by the Desmarais family oligarchs.
To combat this corruption, many of the demonstrators called for greater popular participation in politics, even if the proposed approaches often lacked clarity. The small political parties present seemed more assertive:
“We're going to have to stop taking the piss out of each other, and the solutions are going to have to come from the bottom up,” said Jean-Charles Cléroux, leader of the Parti Démocratie Directe.
Other demonstrators were even more outspoken, although they didn't propose a path forward. For Bertrand, “it's gonna take a revolution. [...] The people have to rise up, not just a minority, because they're waging a silent war against us, they're lining their pockets, and the rest of us are struggling to eat. It's not supposed to be this way.”
While many demonstrators spoke of the oligarchy's enrichment on the backs of the people, others also mentioned the mounting economic pressures on Canadian workers. “They're saying we need to be paying a tax on fuel as they arrive by private jet,” Doris quipped.
“We can't afford to buy a car anymore, we have to lease one. Young people can't afford to buy houses. Even for older people it's been made impossible.”
A recurring theme among the demonstrators was the Legault government's reforms and bills. In particular, many construction workers were present and denouncing Bill 51: “Once again, the CAQ is attacking workers,” read a pamphlet handed out during the demonstration by activists from the group Alliance Ouvrière.
Mixed Messages
Shortly before, Daniel Pilon, a self-described “free-thinking finance and business columnist”, seemed to be emphasizing psychological change as a means of combating this untenable situation. In a speech, he asserted that “inner liberation begins with ourselves, with our introspection, our awakening, our conscience, our love for one and all.”
Pilon, who sells $1,200 financial consulting sessions on his website, added that “collectively, we must denounce people who oppose these values.”
Obviously, not everyone held such an individualist view of change. On the podium, Jonathan Blanchette, leader of the Union Nationale Party - hardly recognizable as once being the post-WWII party of Duplessis - put it this way:
“Do you really think it's in their interest for us to nationalize our resources? That we control our ports on the St. Lawrence River, among other things? Do you realize how much money we lose every year by refusing to manage directly the gateway that is the St. Lawrence River?”
“Do you realize that right now, we have enough to take charge, to take back our trade, to stop the madness of multinationalism? Right now Trudeau controls trade. How does he control Chinese vehicles? He puts a tax on them. Who gets the tax? Does it go to us?” he added, shaking his head.
Union Nationale's political solutions stand in stark contrast to those of Daniel Pilon, but also to those of Mireille Chéry, also known as LadyRose, who declares herself a member of the “sovereign citizen” movement.
Presented by the host as a commissioner of oaths - a seemingly official title that is in fact quite easy to obtain - she was on hand to get demonstrators to sign a “notice of non-consent” that she planned to send to all the province's ministers, MPPs and mayors.
She explained in her speech that “when we say nothing, when we do nothing, they can take our children away with the DPJ [...]” This notice would therefore be a way of stopping abuse and ensuring that decisions are made with the people's consent.
According to Christian Splinter, a lawyer consulted by North Star, “this document may carry political weight, but it carries no legal weight. It's kinda like a petition,” even with a commissioner's signature. “If you're against the law, you have to change it. And that means fighting politically.” The text also mentions the American legal concept of UCC 1-308, which does not apply to Canadian and Quebec law.
This form is not the first of Chéry's projects to find its way into the public sphere. Just over three years ago, Radio-Canada revealed the details of her FISH Foundation, which claimed to be raising funds to purchase a building to house the homeless. According to their article, Chéry had obtained a total of $2,300 in donations, but had only given $500 to NGOs helping the homeless. The rest of the money was seemingly used to organize a rally with no apparent link to homelessness.
Currently, Chéry is promoting a website called “Devenez banquier” (Be Your Own Bank) on her Facebook page, which promises visitors that with the help of experts charging $400 per appointment, it's possible to “become independent of the traditional banking system” and “set up your own banking structure.”
A direction that's building up
Despite the eclecticism of the speeches, there was an appetite in the crowd for a clear political direction. In conversations with North Star, demonstrators expressed a desire for greater political unity and a plan to bring about real social change.
On stage, the Démocratie Directe representative said: “The only solution is to change the system. [...] If the people are at the heart of decision-making, the rest will take care of itself.”
Alliance Ouvrière's leaflet called for organizing against the Quebec government's various reforms. “The CAQ justifies its measures by using the housing crisis and the labour shortage as a pretext to accentuate the exploitation of workers [...] We must organize now to fight the effects of this reform.