Last Saturday saw perhaps the largest anti-lockdown protest in Canada since the Wuhan virus pandemic restrictions first kicked in more than a year ago. Some estimated the crowd to be as big as 100,000, and certainly the video evidence would suggest that estimate is not unreasonable.

Demonstrators railed against mandatory mask-wearing, the 8:00 p.m. curfew (unless one owns a dog; a canine allows Montrealers to leave the house 24/7), the debilitating lockdown of businesses (big box stores excluded, of course), and the spectre of so-called “vaccination passports” on the horizon. 

Naturally, members of the mainstream media had conniptions over the fact that — shockers! — there was a lack of socialist distancing during the demonstration and that almost everybody was NOT wearing a mask (those who were wearing masks were mostly doing so to conceal their identities so as to avoid employment repercussions come Monday morning, such is the state of our odious cancel culture in 2021).

The demonstrators congregated near Olympic Stadium at noon. And this made for more fodder for mainstream media falsehoods, as it was reported that a city-run vaccination clinic at the stadium had gone on hiatus to avoid any “confrontations” with demonstrators — even though organizers stated there were absolutely no plans to disrupt the Big O’s vaccination site. 

Indeed, it should be noted that not only was the parade peaceful, but it was downright festive in nature, with frequent cries of “Liberté!” punctuating the air. Naturally, that didn’t stop some mainstream media outlets from leading their stories with the pronouncement that some violent interactions had occurred with with police and certain individuals AFTER the anti-lockdown demonstration had concluded. 

How odd given that the lion’s share of violence on this May Day took place near Jarry Park. That’s where a small group of anarchists and Marxists gathered, later making their argument against capitalism by going on a vandalism spree, smashing the shop windows of small businesses. Disgraceful, albeit de rigueur.

Meanwhile, at the truly peaceful anti-lockdown parade, there were some notable people taking part on the demonstration, including People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier and anti-lockdown crusader Chris Sky.

In the weeks ahead, it will be interesting to see if these protests continue to grow in frequency as well as in number of attendees. 

It was clearly evident that a huge percentage of Montrealers are sick and tired of having their freedoms and their livelihoods negatively impacted by politicians, bureaucrats, health agency types and police officers. More than a year into this pandemic, it has become so clear that the so-called cure is worse than the curse — and a growing number of people are fed up with being treated like prisoners for simply wanting to embrace their constitutional rights and freedoms.