Handling protests requires ‘fine balance' between rights and maintaining order, Montreal police say
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With the summer season drawing closer, the Montreal police department says it is prepared for the increase in protests and public gatherings the warmer weather usually brings.
Speaking from police headquarters on Thursday, Insp. Sébastien Chartier stressed the department's role is to strike the right balance between respecting people's rights to protest and maintaining order.
'It is a fine balance between the two, which isn't always easy,' Chartier said, noting that protests and large public events have always been part of the city's fabric.
Chartier was speaking the same day as thousands were expected to attend a May Day march in Montreal on Thursday evening, and pro-Palestinian advocates planned to counter-protest Israel Independence Day celebrations.
According to the police department, the number of 'public order events' it handled increased by 33 per cent last year, reaching 3,422. The figure includes protests, but also any public events requiring a police presence.
Much of the increase was due to the number of demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war, which the department says occurred on a near-daily basis following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The police force has faced criticism from both sides of the conflict since protests began in Montreal. While some have argued speeches made at certain demonstrations have amounted to hate speech, pro-Palestinian activists contend they've been subject to excessive policing and violent arrests.
In terms of policing hate speech at protests, Chartier said it can be difficult for officers to do so while focused on maintaining order in what are often tense situations.
'When it comes to speech, it's not black or white — there is a fine line which is hard to determine in the field,' Chartier said, adding that officers follow the Criminal Code to determine what crosses the line.
The department also came under fire after anti-NATO protests in November that saw cars torched and windows smashed at Montreal's Palais des congrès. Though police clashed with protesters and made arrests, many questioned how a protest was allowed to turn so destructive in the first place.
On Thursday, Chartier said he couldn't comment on specific cases, but noted the department is always careful in how and when it chooses to intervene during a protest.
If a small group of people is being destructive during a larger protest, he explained, police moving in to make targeted arrests can complicate matters and could be perceived as an escalation against the entire protest.
'We do what we can to rectify the situation while, at the same time, letting people express themselves,' Chartier said. 'When it's an intervention on (an entire) crowd, which is very rare, we do it in the most specific manner, with the least use of force as we can.'
In 2023, the City of Montreal agreed to pay $6 million and publicly apologize to settle several class-action lawsuits brought against it over the department's handling of protests between 2012 and 2015.
During the so-called Maple Spring protests of 2012, thousands of students took to the streets in Montreal against tuition fee increases, with some turning destructive.
Plaintiffs had claimed that the mass detentions police carried out during the protests — and the many arrests that followed — were illegal and prevented them from exercising their fundamental rights.
Asked on Thursday about the police department's current approach to handling protests, Chartier said the main goal is always to ensure they proceed smoothly.
That objective is met in most cases, he said.
'We do have a lot of protests and a lot of public events,' he said. 'And one of the (beautiful things) about our city is that 99 per cent of those events are fun, they're peaceful and people get to express what they want.'
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 2:51 PM.
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