Nov 10th Support
Resource Guide for Students Affected on November 10
As students and as community members, QPIRG McGill would like to express our horror at the conduct of the Montreal Police, Securitas private security services, and the McGill administration. All three are to blame for the violence we saw directed against students on campus on November 10th.
QPIRG McGill stands in solidarity with those brutalised on campus on Thursday, with the MUNACA members silenced, ticketed, and stonewalled by this administration’s refusal to resolve the ongoing strike, and with all those who want education to become accountable and accessible to the people it is supposed to serve—all people.
We also want us to turn from our individual experiences to reject police brutality wherever it happens, not only when it happens to university students. “We Are All McGill” is not enough when it comes from the administration, and it is not enough when it comes from us. Above all, it is not enough for the people who are harassed, beaten, and killed by police every day. They are not McGill. Let’s use our experiences to demand that we never allow this to happen again—not only on our campus, but to anyone, anywhere, ever.
Here are some resources that might be useful for people affected on November 10th:
- Filing Complaints Internally at McGill
- Filing Complaints Against the Police
- Legal Aid Resources
- Dealing with the police
- Active Listening and Support Services
- Documenting your experiences
Filing Complaints Internally at McGill
The organization that is best equipped to help students file complaints internally to McGill (for example, against McGill Security agents) is the Student Advocacy Clinic, located in the Shatner Building. As they put it,
Student advocacy will help all students in their quest to achieve fair and equitable treatment by the University – especially in light of the events of November 10, 2011. As such, we are currently inquiring into the details of the complaint procedure of McGill Campus Security. Apart from such complaints, students may be in a position to seek redress from McGill University (via the filing of a grievance) considering the following guaranteed rights which may possibly have been violated:
3. Every student has a right to the safeguard of his or her dignity and a right to be protected by the University against vexatious conduct displayed by a representative of the University acting in an official capacity.
8. The University has an obligation to ensure that adequate measures are taken to protect security of students on University property.
25. Every student enjoys within the University the freedoms of opinion, of expression and of peaceful assembly.
26 Every group of students has a right to organize and to promote the interests of its members, provided that the purposes of such group are lawful. Every such group shall also have the right to publicize and hold meetings, to debate any matter and to engage in lawful demonstration.
These rights are guaranteed in the Charter of Student Rights. The report commissioned by Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, asking Dean of Law, Daniel Jutras to investigate the events, may also play a role in such complaints. As of right now, he has been asked to submit the report by December 15, after which Principal Munroe-Blum will release it to the public. Please read the open letter (endorsed by QPIRG McGill) from the McGill community contesting the legitimacy of the Jutras investigation into the events of November 10 on campus.
Again, the mandate of the Student Advocacy Office is to represent students in any and all disputes between the University and students. If there is a case, they will assess, and help seek redress in the most appropriate manner. If there are any questions or possible cases, please email – advocacy.law@mcgill.ca”
Filing Complaints Against the Police
There are a number of Montreal-based organizations who are familiar with processes around legal defense involving demonstrations and filing complaints against the Montreal police force. Some of these include:
The CLAC: The Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (The Anti-Capitalist Convergence).
COBP: Montreal’s Collective Opposed to Police Brutality is a group whose mandate is not only to denounce police brutality but also to support those affected by it, both by doing workshops and producing material related to your rights vis-à-vis the police, but also by providing legal support when they are able. The COBP can be reached at cobp@hotmail.com, or by phone at 514 395 9691.
ASSE Legal team: you can reach the ad hoc legal committee of Quebec’s largest student union, and the organizers of Thursday’s demonstration, at legal@asse-solidarite.qc.ca
Legal Aid Resources:
- 425, de Maisonneuve O, Bureau 600
- 514-864-2111
CSU Legal Information Clinic
- Room H-731, 1455 de Maisonneuve O
- You must book an appointment to speak with a volunteer by emailing legalclinic@csu.qc.ca or by calling 514-848-7474, x.7375
- If you are between the ages of 12 and 25 and have questions concerning your rights and responsibilities, our Legal Coordinator can help you make sense of a variety of legal related issues. They ask for a minimun donation of $20
- The Clinic runs Monday-Thursday from 10am-5pm
- 5833 Sherbrooke O
- 514-481-0277
- legal@headandhands.ca
Student Advocacy Office at McGill
- The mandate of the Student Advocacy Office is to represent students in any and all disputes between the University and students. If there is a case, we will assess, and help seek redress in the most appropriate manner. If there are any questions or possible cases, please email – advocacy.law@mcgill.ca.
- Or call 514-398-6792 and a volunteer will call you back withing 48 hours.
- 5276 St-Laurent
- 514-507-3054
Dealing with the Police
We have to rely on ourselves to know our rights and have them respected. The police systematically abuse their power, particularly when confronting unconventional individuals: the poor, youth and anyone questioning authority. This information is based on Canadian laws as well as on the rules and regulations applying to police forces in Quebec.
Identifying Yourself:
Your identity is your own. You are under no obligation to identify yourself to a police officer, except in the following cases:
- If you are under arrest;
- If you are driving a motor vehicle; you must show your drivers license as well as the vehicle registrations (your passengers don’t have to identify themselves).
- If you are under 18 and found in a bar or movie theatre (to prove that you are 18 or older)
- If you are found at night in a public place (park, street, etc). According to some municipal by-laws, people who refuse to identify themselves can be charged with vagrancy.
Other than these exceptions, you are never obliged to speak to the police. If the police ask you to identify yourself or come with them, ask them, “Am I under arrest?” If you’re not you don’t have to identify yourself or follow them.However, the police have to identify themselves. According to their own code of conduct, police officers are required to identify themselves and/or wear badges with their names and ID numbers on them.Asserting your rights might provoke two kings of reaction from the cop:
- Surprise: The cops are not used to dealing with people who are aware of their rights, so they may decide to let you go without further questioning.
- Frustration: The police may feel they are being provoked and take advantage of the situation to put you under arrest.
For more information on being arrested, interrogations, searches and demonstrations check out “Guess What! We’ve Got Rights”.–From COBP’s, Guess What? We’ve Got Rights!
Active Listening and Support Services
There are a number of campus organizations offering active listening and support services, including SACOMSS, who can be reached at 514 398 8500, and McGill Nightline (514 398 MAIN), from 6pm-3am. The McGill Counseling Services takes new students from 10am until noon everyday. In addition, here are the names and email of students and community members who have offered to be available to students affected by the events of November 10th for active listening and support.
LOCAL ACTIVE LISTENING RESOURCES
Head and Hands Counseling Services: Appointments (Bilingual services)
- Phone: 514-481-0277
- Website: http://www.headandhands.ca/social.php
Project 10 Listening Line: Hotline available (Bilingual services)
- Hotline: 514 989 4585 (Monday-Thursday 12-6pm)
- Website: http://www.algi.qc.ca/asso/p10/
Peer Support program at the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy: Drop-in available, appointment preferred (Bilingual services)
- Phone: 514 848 2424, x. 7880. Email: psa@centre2110.org
Réseau québécois des centre d’aide et de lutte contres les agressions à caractère sexuelle (support centre for survivors of sexual assault).
- To find a CALAC near you: http://www.rqcalacs.qc.ca/ (Bilingual services)
- Montréal: www.calacsdelouest.ca
- Telephone: 514-620-4333
CAVAC Crime Victims Assistance Centre (for all forms of violence, including sexual assault) (Bilingual services)
- www.cavac.qc.ca
- 1-866-LE CAVAC (1-866-532-2822)
Documenting your experiences
THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
1) Personal documentation vs public testimonials
It can be really important to document everything that happened to you and your comrades as soon as possible, while the memory is still fresh. This differs from public testimonies you might be publishing. When going public about an experience, it is important to be more general, and to be sure to either incriminate anyone or break someone else’s confidentiality.
2) Why document:
Detailed documentation can be hard and scary, but it will help you when defending yourself against charges, being a witness for someone else, or pursing a civil suit. These notes will generally not be used in court themselves. Instead they will be for you to refresh your memory later, and make sure you have all the evidence in one place.
3) Who should document:
You should do a personal documentation if you:
- were criminally charged,
- witnessed police harassment or violence,
- were targeted by police harassment or violence on the streets,
- during arrest (with or without cause),
- detainment and/or release.
4) How to document:
These notes should be made on your own, based on your own memory. Have support of friends nearby as this process could be triggering.
- Date the document and on the top of each page write “Confidential: for my lawyers eyes only.” This should help protect your notes from being used against you or someone else.
- For most people, it’s easiest to go chronologically. Be as precise as possible regarding dates, times, places, etc. Include badge numbers, witnesses and whatever you can remember.
- Contact any witnesses, including legal observers and ask them to do the same thing, but be sure you don’t collaborate with witnesses about what happened. It’s important that your experience is not considered “tainted” by another’s experience or suggestions.
- Be sure to keep copies of any video/audio/photo evidence with dates, times and locations, and ask any witnesses with such evidence to do the same. Again, mark it as “for my lawyers eyes only” if it is footage that you don’t want made public
- If possible, include the impact it had on you. If you are injured or traumatized, this is important to document, along with medical records, counselling appointments, time off from work, etc. If you were physically injured or traumatized by what happened to you, or feel unsure about the effects of any trauma you might have experienced:
- see a doctor right away if you haven’t yet;
- take photographs or videos of any visible injuries; and
- write down a list and description of the physical and mental injuries you sustained.
5) What to do with this:
Keep at least one hard copy only in a safe place to show only to your legal counsel. If you want support in getting a lawyer, or to find out about a class action suit the resources listed above.
- DO NOT send us details of your case, of your actions or others’ actions, and
- DO NOT send your personal documentation.
—CLAC 2010 Comité légal