The Concordia Student Union passed a motion last Wednesday to bring three police forces to court on charges of illegal assembly following the deployment of 6,700 officers in the streets of Quebec City during the Summit of the Americas.
The motion, written by CSU researcher Dave Bernans, makes the argument that police forces would have acted against the criminal code’s Article 63.

“(The article) states that a group of three or more people becomes an illegal assembly if, with the intention of attaining a common goal, the group conducts itself in such a way as to cause reasonable grounds for fear among the people who find themselves in the area of the gathering,” Bernans wrote in the preamble of the motion.
The motion (see bottom of article for full motion) accuses the police of launching “repeated unprovoked volleys of tear gas and plastic bullets into the crowds of protesters” and “beat(ing) and arrest(ing) people for no reason.” In addition, Bernans points out that police “threw about $3000 worth of food and kitchen supplies (used by volunteers to feed hungry people) into the garbage and arrested about 50 people for no reason (including Concordia’s own Zev Tiefenbach of the Concordia People’s Potato Collective).”
The RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec and the Sûreté municipale de Québec are all named in the motion. While the motion says that the “Concordia Student Union Council of Representatives direct the CSU executive to bring charges of illegal assembly against the members of the police forces…” nothing is explained as to how this will happen.
Nonetheless, the criminal code does provide an article that enables citizens to present a judge with a request to press charges against an individual provided that evidence is brought against this person.
Incoming CSU president Sabrina Stea wouldn’t comment on how the union will take action with respect to this motion. She told the CMAQ that she would wait until the CSU has met with a lawyer – which should take place this week -- to see what are the next steps to take in order to take the police to court.
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Motion voted by Concordia Student Union council on May 9, 2001

prepared by David Bernans (CSU Researcher)

Whereas, the police forces (including members of the RCMP, the SQ, and Quebec City Police) assembled in Quebec City in the vicinity of the Streets René Lévesque and Turnbull between the hours of 4:00 pm and 3:00 am on Friday April 20 and Saturday April 21, between 10:00 am and 3:00 am Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 22 and police forces in the area of Ilôt Fleuri on Sunday April 22 between 4 am and 10 am conducted themselves in an entirely inappropriate manner.

Whereas said police forces launched repeated unprovoked volleys of tear gas and plastic bullets into the crowds of protesters and the surrounding residential neighbourhoods. Whereas said police forces beat and arrested people for no reason. Whereas the forces in the area of Ilôt Fleuri at about 9:00 am threw about $3000 worth of food and kitchen supplies (used by volunteers to feed hungry people) into the garbage and arrested about 50 people for no reason (including Concordia¹s own Zev Tiefenbach of the Concordia People’s Potato Collective).

Whereas, Article 63 of the criminal code states that a group of three or more people becomes an illegal assembly if, with the intention of
attaining a common goal, the group conducts itself in such a way as to cause reasonable grounds for fear among the people who find themselves in the area of the gathering.

Whereas, the gatherings of the various police forces mentioned above, in the areas mentioned above at the times mentioned above must be considered to constitute cases of illegal assembly.

BIRT the Concordia Student Union Council of Representatives direct the CSU executive to bring charges of illegal assembly against the members of the police forces (including members of the RCMP, the SQ, and Quebec City Police) assembled in Quebec City in the vicinity of the Streets René Lévesque and Turnbull between the hours of 4:00 pm and 3:00 am on Friday April 20 and Saturday April 21, between 10:00 am and 3:00 am Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 22 and members of police forces in the area of Ilôt Fleuri on Sunday April 22 between 4 am and 10 am.

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