QUEBEC — Five years after the “Maple Spring” student protest, some 400 people arrested during the 2012 demonstrations have filed a $6-million class action suit against Quebec City.
The Quebec Superior Court authorized the class action on Dec. 15.
The former demonstrators’ lawyer, Enrico Théberge, accused Quebec City police of making arrests in an arbitrary manner and said that legal proceedings against those arrested were not carried out within a reasonable delay.
Théberge said the demonstrators, who were all ticketed under section 500.1 of the Highway Safety Code, were not asked to account for their actions. Even though the demonstrators were not convicted, they never had an opportunity to defend themselves in court, he said.
The class action demands that Quebec City pays the demonstrators about $15,000 each.
