On Saturday, March 12, Montreal saw a protest by thousands of people against austerity measures in the provincial budget, including a flat health tax and tuition hikes. Many students gathered in the rally organized by labour unions and student unions. However, 10 students were arrested before the protest even began.

     According to Students’ Society vice president external, Myriam Zaidi, these students were all dressed in black and were “not at all” representative of the protesters. Describing the arrests, Zaidi said it appeared that the police did not “want them to be marching in this family-friendly protest.”

     In addition, Zaidi said that because “they were all dressed in black … a lot of people couldn’t recognize them.” It is unknown whether any of these students were from McGill.

    Some McGill students did participate in the protest. They met in front of the SSMU building and proceeded to Place du Canada, where the demonstration began.