Last month, on April 20th to be exact, Montreal probably broke the world record for the most protests in one city, in one day. I say probably because Guinness does not keep that record on, er, record…
At a certain point around 2PM, 200 people, were waiting outside a city park, for the previous protest to complete so they could begin their own, in other words, protests were queuing up! A total of 14 legal protests were scheduled that day, and some other spontaneous ones erupted on their own.
Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay’s appeal to remain calm has however been heard as in the past few days, protests, although they haven’t gotten fewer, have gotten more peaceful and thereby less arrests were made.
Protest tourism?
So I want to extend an idea to the mayor; Why not take advantage of this record and push tourism in Montreal like Las Vegas pushes gambling? Organize a advert campaign to show people that they can come to Montreal and have peaceful protests for anything and everything. No subject will be banned. How about a protest festival?
Want to affirm your opposition to the replacement of Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men? Sure.
Prefer to flaunt your support to the Sonoma man who got an unauthorised enema? No problem, come on down to Montreal.
They could issue special “flavored” pepper spray to the riot control police, I suppose that used in a strong enough concentration, cherry might be an eye/sinus irritant.
Look for the group discount coupons in your local publi-bag and come to Montreal to safely experience the rush of participating in a protest. Gift packages available.
