Bill C-309, the law that criminalizes wearing a mask to any 'unlawful assembly'
With all of the protests happening, especially in light of Montreal, I think it’s important as Canadians we revisit in this case, our lack of constitutional rights regarding protests. Everyone should have the full knowledge of their rights and their lack of them. If people don’t arm themselves with knowledge, it’s like walking into trouble blind.
Since 2013, when Bill C-309 passed, it is a criminal offense for anyone to wear a mask or otherwise conceal yourself during an unlawful assembly. This carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
A protest in itself is not considered to be an unlawful assembly. However, a riot is an unlawful assembly, as is the beginning or transition stages towards a riot is also an unlawful assembly.
Why does this matter when people are peacefully protesting?
Cops can use this law as a tool to arrest those they deem a threat. Look at all of the examples of plainclothes cops instigating violence and vandalism during an otherwise completely peaceful protest. By doing so, cops can easily turn a peaceful protest into an unlawful assembly, giving them the legal right to arrest and imprison anyone wearing some form of mask present, even if they are acting peacefully.
That’s because it’s a criminal offense to simply be present while masked during any unlawful assembly. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, only that you are masked and present.
This isn’t to dissuade people from wearing masks or other protective gear. In this case, it’s the law that’s morally wrong and makes it morally justified and imperative to fight against this law that makes it extremely difficult to exercise our constitutional rights of freedom of speech and assembly, as well as our right to privacy and anonymity. In the times of this pandemic, wearing masks and other protective gear is even more important than before. It’s a law that exists because the law recognizes that black bloc tactics are effective and work: it makes it difficult to identify and arrest individuals, which is why they made it a criminal offense.
But don’t forget that this will continue to be used to target the most vulnerable: black people.
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