Allmand, Rotrand dissent with Union over 'face mask,' police 'insult' bylaws

Two Union Montreal members of the Côte des Neiges-NDG borough council have broken rank with Mayor Gérald Tremblay's party over a set of proposed Centre City bylaws, which would make it illegal for demonstrators to cover their faces during public protests and that would allow police to ticket people who insult them.

R:"They have to be very careful with such a bylaw because it could be infringing on human rights," Loyola city councillor Warren Allmand said concerning the bylaw banning face masks, which will be voted on by Montreal city council on Feb. 23.

"You don't want people prosecuted because they're wearing a scarf in cold weather all around their face," added the former Liberal MP for Notre Dame de Grâce who also served as Canada's solicitor general.

However, Allmand, who was president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development following his retirement from federal politics in 1997, acknowledged that even members of his organization resolved not to wear masks during demonstrations they staged at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001.

"We felt we wanted to be open and transparent and there was no reason," he said. "I remember the monitors of the parade put people out who were obviously young guys wearing masks who were just going to cause trouble."

Allmand said he wanted to study the face mask bylaw carefully to make certain it is written in such a way as to not cause innocent people to be unfairly prosecuted. "It's a potential violation of human rights if it's not drafted properly," he said. "I want to make sure the bylaw isn't written in such a way that it's going to be overdone."

While Rotrand is also concerned about the face-mask issue, he said he is more disturbed by the prospect of police arbitrarily imposing fines on anyone deemed to have insulted them. "You can see how this could not only erode our civil liberties, but could lead to capricious application," he said.

Although some municipalities, including Quebec City, already have such measures on their books, Rotrand maintains that Quebec's bylaw, which dates back to the mid 19th century, is probably no longer enforceable.

"Many of these ancient bylaws may still be on the books in some places, but they won't pass the litmus test of a legal case based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and liberty of expression."

Noting that the idea for both bylaws originated with the Montreal Police Department, Rotrand said it should not be the police who are driving the agenda on civil liberties. "It's got to be the politicians who are there to make sure that our police officers can do their jobs well and safely, but in respect to the rights of all citizens."

Rotrand doubts the police insult bylaw will ever be passed by city council. "I don't think that one is necessarily going to make it," he said. "I've been told by (executive committee chairman) Claude Dauphin that the public security commission will only look at this again in March."