Across-Québec mobilisation to ask for a complete amnesty for all individuals ticketed under the Public Health Act

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 24, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - In the last few weeks, we have seen an intensification in the Quebec government's approaches towards the pandemic, which marks the beginning of a second wave of repressive measures. On the 10th of September, the premier Francois Legaults announced that it was "time to clamp down".

Yet, this punitive approach taken on by public authorities actually feeds into discriminatory policing practices more than they prevent the propagation of the virus. It has been established that the repression and the judiciarisation of individuals in a public health crisis are counter-productive, harmful and are not dissuasive. On the contrary, it keeps individuals from accessing care, takes them further away from services and their communities and reinforces stigmatisation. For this reason, the Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM), the Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de little contre le sida (TOMS) and the Montréal Indigenous Community NETWORK, supported by more that 70 organizations across Québec are asking for a complete amnesty for all individuals who received a ticket under the Public Health Act in the context of COVID-19. By a complete amnesty, we are asking for the immediate withdrawal of those tickets, as well as a collective reflection on the use of repressive approaches in a public health context.

The highly repressive approach of the Quebec government is not echoed in the rest of the province, as a report by the Canadian association of civil liberties¹ demonstrates that two-thirds of the 10 000 tickets or indictments given in Canada between April 1st and June 15th 2020 were handed out in Québec.  Additionally, the policing of individuals in the province has also been shown to be discriminatory as it targets communities already affected by social and racial profiling: the black community, the urban and remote Indigenous communities, and other racialized and marginalized groups including those living on the streets or retain insecure housing, immigrants, the LGBTQ2S+ community, sex workers, drug users and people living with mental health issues.

As we have expressed in this letter, efficient responses to a pandemic are not the ones that put public health interests in opposition to human rights, but those that adhere to human rights principles and are rooted in harm reduction and prevention. This is why we deplore that the COVID-19 pandemic has been instrumentalized in order to justify an intensification in repressive measures to the detriment of marginalized communities.

About :
The RAPSIM is a grouping of regional community organizations serving the homeless population.
It has 110 members.
TOMS is a grouping of regional community organizations committed to combating HIV/AIDS.
The NETWORK supports the ecosystem of individuals and groups committed to improving the quality of life of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities living in the greater Montreal area.

SOURCE Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM)