Anti-lockdown Protests Grow Destructive in Montréal

Anti-lockdown riots rocked the streets of Montréal, Canada’s second-biggest city, on April 11. (Wikimedia)

Destructive riots erupted in the historic Old Montréal neighborhood on April 11 when protestors took to the streets in defiance of an 8 PM curfew implemented by the regional government in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The protesters lit garbage cans on fire and smashed storefront windows in Old Montréal, acts which Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante condemned as “absolutely unacceptable” in a tweet on April 12. She pleaded for Montréal residents to “remain united and stick together.”

Québec has some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, with all schools, non-essential businesses, and religious sites having been closed indefinitely since April 1. Montréal residents have also been subject to a mandatory curfew from 8 PM to 5 AM since April 11, a 90-minute extension from the previous curfew, which had been in place since January 9. Despite the evident discontent with such restrictions, Premier of Quebec François Legault insists that only “a very, very small minority of Quebecers” are opposed to the lockdown. 

However, this opinion has spread across Canada. Similar protests have erupted across the country, such as in Edmonton, Alberta, where hundreds of protesters surrounded GraceLife Church on April 11. The congregation had been holding illegal meetings for months, provoking local authorities to erect a fence around the church and arrest its pastor. 

As lockdown fatigue descends into lockdown rage, Canada is being overwhelmed by a new surge in COVID-19 cases. Canada detected more COVID-19 cases per capita than the United States for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic on April 13. This is a startling reversal of fortune for a country that was initially praised for its response to the pandemic. In July 2020, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even boasted that Canada handled the pandemic comparatively better than most other countries, “particularly including our neighbor.”

To worsen an already dire situation, the Canadian COVID-19 vaccine rollout has proceeded relatively slowly. As of April 14, only 18.5 percent of Canadians have received at least one vaccine dose, compared to 36.8 percent of Americans. Epidemiologists worldwide estimate that around 70 percent of a country must either have received a COVID-19 vaccine or have previously contracted the virus before the country achieves herd immunity.

Canadians were once lauded for their unity in the battle against the pandemic. However, more than a year after COVID-19 was first detected in Canada, the virus appears to be winning the war.