MONTREAL – Deep divisions emerged in Quebec society a day after violent student protests led to the largest mass arrests since the 1970 October Crisis.
Police in Montreal and Quebec City made nearly 700 arrests as student protests spiralled out of control Wednesday evening.
Thousands of protesters continued to defy the controversial new special law, passed last week, requiring any protest group of more than 50 people to advise police eight hours in advance.
Tourism officials warned that the nightly protests in Montreal are driving away visitors.
The constant traffic snarls are also causing frayed nerves. Video posted on the internet shows one motorist plowing through a crowd on a downtown street, lifting a young man onto his hood and hitting a second man.
One of the victims suffered a broken collarbone and other injuries, and some Montrealers predicted tragedy if the crisis isn’t resolved.
“If this continues, someone is going to drive their Hummer right through the crowd,” one man told a call-in show on QMI’s French television network.
