Protesters flooded a number of blocks in downtown Montreal on Saturday, chanting “disgrace on you” on the doorstep of america Consulate.
It was certainly one of greater than a dozen demonstrations held throughout Quebec to mark Worldwide Ladies’s Day and denounce the American authorities’s assaults on girls’s rights and Canada’s sovereignty.
In Montreal, many wore crimson, symbolic of each blood and love. Some donned indicators displaying the Canadian maple leaf.
Just a few wore robes paying homage to The Handmaid’s Story, a dystopian novel wherein girls are subjugated by the governing regime.
Others carried indicators evaluating U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to that of Nazi Germany.
Protesters locked arms as eight minutes of silence was noticed.
In a message addressed to Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Trump ally Elon Musk, protest organizer Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette denounced the U.S. administration.
“You aren’t kings. We’re not handmaids,” she mentioned.
Sharing the stage with Barbeau-Lavalette, fellow organizer at Mères au Entrance, Laure Waridel, took intention on the U.S. authorities’s rollback on girls’s reproductive rights and therapy of the nation’s neighbours.
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“Disgrace on you to your therapy of girls,” she mentioned, referring to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s overturning the constitutional proper to abortion in 2022.
“Disgrace on you to your betrayal of your folks and allies,” Waridel added, accusing the Trump administration of “siding with murderers and despots” and undermining democracy.
“You possibly can attempt to intimidate us with us with commerce wars, (however) we’ll by no means develop into your 51st state,” she mentioned and known as for Canadians to withstand the rise of the American far-right authoritarianism and to boycott American merchandise.
Elsewhere, protesters demonstrated in entrance the of U.S. consulates in Quebec Metropolis in addition to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. Protests had been additionally held in Sherbrooke, Joliette, Victoriaville and Saguenay, Que.
American-born Jill Oviatt was one of many protesters braving the frigid temperature in Montreal. Carrying a Canada toque, she mentioned she felt the necessity to take to the streets and rise up for her adopted nation.
“I wish to shield Canada, not simply shield america … from what’s clearly an influence seize in attempting to take over this glorious, lovely nation,” she mentioned, holding up an indication that known as Donald Trump and Elon Musk fascists and in contrast them to ticks.
“I’m right here right this moment as a result of there’s an assault on girls, there’s an assault on minorities, there’s an assault on individuals who aren’t billionaires,” Oviatt mentioned.
Carrying a pussyhat, Caroline Plaat pointed to the signal she was holding to explain what message she needed to ship: “Ta yeule Trump,” it learn in French, which interprets to “shut up, Trump.”
Plaat mentioned she was motivated to come back out and be amongst others who need to withstand what the Trump administration represents.
“I’ve by no means felt extra threatened. All our liberties are threatened proper now, particularly for girls however (additionally) for the LGBTQ neighborhood,” she mentioned.
Since returning to workplace, Trump has signed a number of government orders focusing on the transgender neighborhood, together with a ban on transgender athletes taking part in lady’s and ladies’s sports activities.
“I actually wish to really feel I’m not alone,” mentioned Plaat. “There are lots of people similar to me nonetheless believing in peace and love.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 8, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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