Curfew targets vulnerable people more than COVID-19, protesters say

Stopping people from going outside is counterproductive, they say

Author of the article:

Susan Schwartz  •  Montreal Gazette

People take part in a demonstration opposing the Quebec government's 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, Sunday, April 18, 2021.
People take part in a demonstration opposing the Quebec government’s 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, Sunday, April 18, 2021. Photo by Graham Hughes /The Canadian Press

Maggie held a brown posterboard with four words neatly printed in black marker, one beneath the other: masks; distancing; vaccinations; curfews.

Beside the first three, there was a check mark; next to curfews was an X.

Maggie was one of dozens who attended a demonstration Sunday afternoon at Jeanne-Mance Park to protest Premier François Legault’s imposition of an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in Montreal and Laval “until further notice.”

Maggie said she is “very much against curfews” for two main reasons: they disproportionately affect people with lower incomes, who tend to live in smaller spaces; and curfews target victims of domestic violence by confining them in a space with their abuser.

Maggie, a protester at Jeanne-Mance Park, holds a poster expressing her opposition to curfews during a protest on Sunday, April 18, 2021.
Maggie, a protester at Jeanne-Mance Park, holds a poster expressing her opposition to curfews during a protest on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Photo by Susan Schwartz /Montreal Gazette

Organizers of the protest said on the event’s Facebook page that the curfew also disproportionately affects people experiencing homelessness, sex workers and those who live in small or crowded dwellings.

Advertisement

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

“The curfew is the repressive measure of a state that uses its police more and more in a futile attempt to address much wider issues,” they said.

One protester with the Riposte socialiste, a Marxist organization, said he believes it is wrong to impose a curfew on people and because there is no evidence that a curfew is effective in containing COVID-19.

Scott Weinstein, an intensive-care unit nurse who has treated patients with COVID-19 and has “seen the worst of it,” had a poster that said “En plein air sanitaire; couvre-feu autoritare et anti-science.”

“Since the beginning, I have been very concerned about the spread of COVID-19 and the government’s anti-science stance in combatting COVID-19,” he said.

The science is clear, Weinstein said: COVID-19 is aerosol-borne, and aerosols disperse when people are outside. The curfew chases people inside, where COVID-19 aerosols are more dangerous, he said.

Advertisement

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

We should encourage people to be outside,” he said. “There should be a curfew to get people outside.

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, Weinstein said, much health care and schooling took place outside.

People take part in a demonstration opposing the Quebec government’s 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, Sunday, April 18, 2021.
People take part in a demonstration opposing the Quebec government’s 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, Sunday, April 18, 2021. Photo by Graham Hughes /The Canadian Press

Imposing a curfew is effectively putting people who have done nothing wrong under house arrest, said John Martin, another demonstrator. He equated the imposition of a curfew to a mass house arrest — “and mass house arrest is inherently wrong,” he said. “It’s a ridiculous over-extension of authority.”

Such actions as mask wearing and social distancing have a positive impact in stopping the spread of the virus, Martin said, but a curfew does not. “The virus doesn’t go out just at night.”

Sunday’s protest ended before the 8 p.m. curfew, said police spokesperson Véronique Comtois. There was one arrest and two tickets were issued for infractions of COVID-19 health regulations.

More On This Topic

  1. Young men are detained by Montreal police in downtown Montreal Monday, April 12, 2021. Protesters against COVID-19 restrictions set by the Quebec government were out after the 8 p.m. curfew.

    After targeting Old Montreal, anti-curfew protests shift to downtown core

  2. Restaurant co-owner Rob Stutman cleans up on April 12, 2021, following the previous night's anti-curfew riots in Old Montreal.

    Already hit by pandemic, Old Montreal picks up pieces after anti-curfew riot

  3. Workers look over damage on Notre-Dame St. W. outside of Rooney Shop in Old Montreal Sunday, April 11, 2021.

    Police ask for public’s help in identifying Old Montreal rioters

  4. A woman walks by damage on St-Paul St. W. that was made when a crowd of at least several hundred people gathered in Old Montreal, chanting and shooting off fireworks to protest the return to an 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal.

    Hold tight, Dubé says as Montreal’s earlier curfew met with protest and rioting

sschwartz@postmedia.com

Montreal Gazette Headline News

Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300