-- Download "Please be kind enough to let us know the number of plainclothes officers who will infiltrate our event so we can order the appropriate catering." - Gatineau Chamber of Commerce on Bill 78 as PDF --

Hot off the Twitter presses, courtesy of @NieDesrochers of Radio Canada, comes this letter from the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce:

NOTICE OF A GATHERING OF MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE

The letter is a notice to the Gatineau police force, pursuant to the Special Law that the Quebec Government has quickly passed to block student protests.

The law, in part, requires that all gatherings of ten or more people that will take place in a public venue must provide written notice at least eight hours in advance to the police of the location, route, date, time, number of attendees, and must comply with any changes ordered by the police.  This law is likely unconstitutional in its broad application.

The letter from the chamber of commerce reads:

Please take note that, pursuant to section 16 of Bill 78, the Chamber of Commerce of Gatineau will have a group of “more than 10 persons” on the 29th of May 2012 between 5:00pm and 7:00pm.

The participants will leave from the parking lot of the Gatineau airport a bit before 5:00 and will go about 300 metres west along Rue Arthur-Fecteau to arrive at the Wings of History Hanger which is at 1669 Rue Arthur-Fecteau.

Here, the participants will engage in discussion and will listen to brief speeches.  This is to highlight the ‘team of the month’: the Laiterie de l’Outaouais.

Between 6:30pm and 7:15pm, the participants will go back along Rue Arthur-Fecteau to the parking lot where they will leave.  

We anticipate that there will be about 200 people attending.  Please be kind enough to let us know the number of plainclothes officers who will infiltrate our event so that we may be able to order the appropriate catering and other orders.

Antoine Normand, President

This is pretty awesome, and shows the flaws in the Special Law that aims to stop student protest.  There’s now a rumour that the government will consider an amendment to change the number of people at a gathering that would require notice from 10 to 25, which does nothing to fix the flaws in the law.

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kevin harding

Kevin is a cooperator, an always-student, and passionate about the arts. As a principal of the Incipe Cooperative, Kevin works with colleagues in a workers' co-op offering services for advocacy and nonprofit organizations. He's passionate about education policy, having been through twenty some-odd years of schooling and still thinking it changes the world. He also thinks that art changes the world, and he works with Art for Impact to celebrate art's power for social change. A Vancouver born and raised resident who is exiled from Toronto, he constantly loses umbrellas and probably rants too much.

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