I just got back from Montreal... this is what I was up to...
In Montreal, the afternoon demonstration organized by militant anti-poverty groups threatened to get out of hand when as many as 500 demonstrators gathered at Phillips Square.
Denouncing cuts in social spending and demanding housing for the poor, members of CLAQ Logement, anarchists, masked punks, and left-wing activists began marching against the traffic on Ste. Catherine St. around 5 p.m.
With no police escort, they surged into Place Ville Marie, plastering anti-Charest stickers on plate glass windows, then headed into Old Montreal.
There, demonstrators stormed into the exclusive St. James Hotel on St. Jacques St., plastering its lobby and grand piano with stickers and pushing over room dividers. They then moved into the World Trade Centre, kicking over several planters. One security guard who tried to stop a protester was jostled before colleagues pulled him away, allowing the crowd to march through and join several thousand unionists in Victoria Square.
John Hodgins, one of the organizers, said the protest inside the World Trade Centre was significant because "this is definitely a place where the people who came up with the re-engineering of the state have their offices.
"This is where they play, this is where they buy stuff, and they got to see some of the anger that people in this province have."
"Compared to a lot of protests I've seen in Montreal, there was surprisingly little violence. I'm proud of what people did today."
Police were nowhere to be seen when the crowds surged through the buildings. But there was a heavy police presence during and after a largely peaceful march involving more than 10,000 people in Montreal yesterday evening.
In Montreal, the afternoon demonstration organized by militant anti-poverty groups threatened to get out of hand when as many as 500 demonstrators gathered at Phillips Square.
Denouncing cuts in social spending and demanding housing for the poor, members of CLAQ Logement, anarchists, masked punks, and left-wing activists began marching against the traffic on Ste. Catherine St. around 5 p.m.
With no police escort, they surged into Place Ville Marie, plastering anti-Charest stickers on plate glass windows, then headed into Old Montreal.
There, demonstrators stormed into the exclusive St. James Hotel on St. Jacques St., plastering its lobby and grand piano with stickers and pushing over room dividers. They then moved into the World Trade Centre, kicking over several planters. One security guard who tried to stop a protester was jostled before colleagues pulled him away, allowing the crowd to march through and join several thousand unionists in Victoria Square.
John Hodgins, one of the organizers, said the protest inside the World Trade Centre was significant because "this is definitely a place where the people who came up with the re-engineering of the state have their offices.
"This is where they play, this is where they buy stuff, and they got to see some of the anger that people in this province have."
"Compared to a lot of protests I've seen in Montreal, there was surprisingly little violence. I'm proud of what people did today."
Police were nowhere to be seen when the crowds surged through the buildings. But there was a heavy police presence during and after a largely peaceful march involving more than 10,000 people in Montreal yesterday evening.