Monday 28 May 2012

Casseroles: pots and pans protest video from Montreal goes viral By Alina Seagal | Daily Brew – Sat, 26 May, 2012

Casseroles: pots and pans protest video from Montreal goes viral

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/casseroles-pots-pans-protest-video-quebec-goes-viral-164926816.html

By Alina Seagal | Daily Brew – Sat, 26 May, 2012

Striking Quebecers are getting creative. Protesters — dubbed 'casseroles' — took to the streets with pots and pans in Montreal and other Quebec cities this week. But loud noise wasn't the only thing they've created. Take a look at this beautiful black-and-white video going viral at the moment.

Doesn't it sound like a hymn to the protesters? Thousands of Facebook and Twitter references have been made to the short film since it went live on Vimeo 24 hours ago. It had more than 100,000 views since then.

The pots and pans movement came from Chile, where it has been used as a loud but peaceful way to express discontent since the '70s. In Canada, Montreal police declared the event illegal on Thursday, but allowed it to proceed as long as it remained peaceful.

In the mean time, a tornado hit Quebec on Friday night but failed to stop the locals from marching again. The protests began more than 100 days ago over university tuition fee hikes in the province. But they have since focused on a new issue: Bill 78. The province pushed through the new controversial law to crack down on the demonstrators. But it hardly helped to calm the masses.

Police have made at least 2,500 protest-related arrests in the province so far.

Check out these links to find out more about the latest protests, the students taking legal action and the Bill 78.