Issue and Opponent: The issue occurred when the Quebec government passed Bill 87 to crush the growing student movement protesting national tuition increases. Bill 87 banned protests of over fifty people if notice was not given to the police at least eight hours before. Violators of this law could be fined $5,000-$125,000. The opponents were the Quebec government which passed the bill and the police that enforced the unconstitutional law.
Dilemma Action: The widely held belief is that all citizens of Montreal have the rights outlined in their constitution, which include freedom of expression and association. By banning gatherings of more than four people, Bill 78 directly interferes with these rights. The specific dilemma action was protesters gathering in groups and making noise (casserole) outside to demonstrate the ludicrousness of the policy. Every night at 8 p.m., the citizens of Montreal were encouraged to go outside and make noise for fifteen minutes. This action continued for months and incorporated tens of thousands of participants. The government’s exaggerated response was to arrest over 500 people for being outside in groups. The arrests only fueled the movement by increasing participation.
Outcomes: The success of this dilemma action forced the government to repeal Bill 78 and cancel national tuition increases. This backlash was caused by a significant amount of media coverage on the issue, resulting in the public’s external sections getting involved to show solidarity and apply pressure. This dilemma action was part of a larger campaign that began as a protest to lower tuition. However, due to the gatherings of that movement, Bill 87 was passed to prevent any disruptive gatherings from taking place. The group didn’t historically use dilemma actions. Still, once this subsection saw success with their action, they were further utilized as a means for the larger movement to achieve its goal.