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Montreal police arrest 12 for gluing hands to store windows in Black Friday protest
Environmental activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and La planète s’invite à l’université organized the protests, drawing several dozen people to the shopping district. They marched through malls and blocked traffic on Ste-Catherine Street.Montreal police say 12 minors glued their hands to store windows on Ste-Catherine Street Friday to protest overconsumption. (Radio-Canada)A dozen minors were arrested…
Environmental activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and La planète s'invite à l'université organized the protests, drawing several dozen people to the shopping district. They marched through malls and blocked traffic on Ste-Catherine Street.
A dozen minors were arrested during protests against overconsumption on Black Friday in Montreal's busiest downtown shopping district.
Montreal police say the minors glued their hands to two store windows on Ste-Catherine Street near Peel Street. The fire department was called in to unstick their hands from inside American Eagle and H&M.
The minors were cited for mischief and released, but prosecutors may decide to press further charges, according to a Montreal police spokesperson. The spokesperson declined to provide the ages of those arrested.
The arrests took place at around 4 p.m. and those arrested are members of Extinction Rebellion Youth Québec, Radio-Canada has learned.
“We are doing this for the children who are exploited and the resources that are wasted — for those whose rights are violated in the production of useless goods,” said Osama Kaidali, a spokesperson for the group.
Environmental activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and La planète s'invite à l'université organized the protests, drawing several dozen people to the shopping district.
They marched through malls and blocked traffic on Ste-Catherine Street. A chanting group gathered on the street, holding signs and blanketing the asphalt with colourful banners.
“While companies propose saving 20 per cent or 30 per cent, we propose you save 100 per cent,” said Marouane Joundi, a spokesperson for La planète s'invite à l'université, referring to the idea of buying nothing on Black Friday.
He said it's possible to move “from an economy of overconsumption to an economy of sharing, giving, exchange, repair.”
There are companies that support this model and they should be supported, he said.
In Montreal's Quartier des spectacles, a thrift shop was held outdoors to encourage people to exchange or donate used clothing in the spirit of a sharing economy.
In Quebec City, about 100 activists protested on Friday afternoon at Place Sainte-Foy and Laurier Québec, one of Canada's largest shopping malls.
They lay down in the malls, and protested outside as well. Some were escorted away by police, but Radio-Canada reports none were arrested.
The Retail Council of Canada estimates that Quebecers will spend 39 per cent of their $507 average holiday shopping budget on Black Friday this year, up three per cent from 2018.
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