Quebec City police make 3 arrests at protest against pandemic measures
CBC
Quebec City police have made three arrests, as protesters hold a second demonstration in two weeks near the National Assembly in Quebec City to call for the immediate end of all pandemic measures in the province.
The city's police force, the SPVQ, announced the arrests via Twitter just before noon Saturday. Police have not released details about the arrests, which they say happened "at the periphery" of the protest.
"The majority of protesters are respecting and honouring their agreement to demonstrate peacefully," police wrote.
Protesters, including some arriving in convoys from regions such as the Beauce and Saguenay, began gathering in front of the National Assembly this morning around 11 a.m., blaring their horns and carrying signs criticizing politicians and calling on the government to end pandemic measures.
Despite recent announcements from the Quebec government that it plans to phase out the vaccination passport and to lift most pandemic measures by mid-March, protesters say the government needs to go further to eliminate restrictions.
"Why are we going to Quebec City? Because they want to suspend the vaccination passport only until the next wave [of COVID-19]," said an organizer, Kevin Grenier, in an interview with Le Manic, a local weekly paper in Baie-Comeau.
Beauce resident Jérémie Sarrazin arrived in Quebec City after taking part in the Ottawa protests for the past three weekends. He says he's there because he is tired of the province's public health measures.
"Kids in school with masks and everything like that, we're no longer able to stand it," he said, also calling for the immediate end to the soon-to-be-phased-out vaccine passport system.
"This needs to stop right now. People need to wake up and normal life needs to resume," said Sarrazin.
Organizers are also calling for the end of the public health emergency, first declared at the outset of the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020.
City trucks are once again being used to block access to certain streets around the National Assembly.
The portion of Honoré-Mercier Boulevard between Grande Allée and René-Lévesque boulevards has been closed, to keep vehicles from getting access to the area in front of the assembly.
Grande Allée is also pedestrian only, between de Claire-Fontaine Street and Honoré-Mercier Boulevard.
A parking zone for trucks has been established on René-Lévesque between Honoré-Mercier and Claire-Fontaine, as agreed with organizers, Quebec City police (SPVQ) said in a tweet.
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