Students marching during a protest against tuition fee hikes in Montreal on May 24, 2012.
Students in Canada’s eastern province of Quebec have launched a legal motion against the province’ controversial Bill 78, aimed at cracking down on student demonstrations.
Lawyers of the student federations and unions appeared in Quebec Superior Court in Montreal on Friday and filed motions against the provincial government’s anti-protest law, urging the officials to suspend the law until a ruling is made.
Bill 78 outlines strict regulations for demonstrations and conditions of heavy fines for students and their federations. Under the new law for any demonstration of 50 or more people, police should be informed eight hours in advance and told of the route of the demonstration.
Meanwhile, the student groups, labour federations and several other organizations considered the law as “unconstitutional” and in clear violation of basic rights.
Speaking at a press conference Friday, the leader of the student group FECQ, Leo Bureau-Blouin, condemned the province’s decision to restrict student protests, saying that he anticipated the law could make its way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
"We are doing this because we are genuinely worried that basic important rights such as freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to hold peaceful demonstrations are being attacked," he said.
The first motion will be heard on May 30 and is expected to obtain a temporary suspension of the law.
The developments also come after Police arrested about 700 people in Montreal and Quebec City on Thursday.
The government is expected to hold a meeting with student groups next week in a last-ditch effort to resolve the 3-month unrest.
Students have been protesting across the province since February in a bid to add up pressure on the province’s government to drop the plan to increase the tuition fee.
The new law was designed to put an end to student protests, but their actions have mounted since the passage of the law last week.
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