On Sunday night, I observed the Montreal police ticketing students on their way home from night classes.

The students had curfew exemption notes, but the officer claimed that they weren't good enough and that they also needed a student ID and a class schedule.

This officer gave four students curfew tickets because he said that they need a student ID and a schedule that's not what the government website says.

For @RebelNewsOnline in Montreal, Quebec. https://t.co/mVEgyLHSEk for more. pic.twitter.com/EOgyYSRqLL

— Yaakov Pollak (@Yanky_Pollak) May 3, 2021

I checked on the government website’s list of accepted exemptions, but it says no such thing about documentation. It only states that "a student who must participate in a face-to-face evening class or go to a laboratory in a recognized school” is exempt from the curfew, with no mention of needing to present student IDs or class schedules to avoid getting fined.

Allowed exceptions:

"A student who must participate in a face-to-face evening class or go to a laboratory in a recognized school;"

Secure: https://t.co/xCvwh08iAJ pic.twitter.com/rFEuUasxIp

— Yaakov Pollak (@Yanky_Pollak) May 3, 2021

Here is the attestation from the government website it says no such thing. pic.twitter.com/2vCfeDOxMH

— Yaakov Pollak (@Yanky_Pollak) May 3, 2021

I reached out to the SPVM with a couple of questions about the incident and the curfew in general. My questions were as follows:

1) Where are these requirements for students listed on the government website?

2) If these requirements are not listed there, why did the officer tell these students that?

3) How many curfew tickets have been issued to students coming home from classes?

4) What discretion is provided to officers when issuing curfew tickets? Has there been a substantial increase of overtime hours for SPVM officers since the curfew? 

5) Is there an available breakdown of pre-curfew versus post curfew overtime hours for SPVM? If so, can this be provided to me? If not, why not?

Here is the response we got from the Montreal police.

"Good afternoon,

The SPVM won't comment on a specific intervention that led to the issuance of tickets under the curfew. However, anyone wishing to contest a ticket can do so within 30 days, as prescribed by law.

Our statistics are not broken down in a way that allow us to know the status of offenders. This request and the one concerning overtime hours will require extensive research that we are not able to complete at the Communications level. We invite you to submit an access to information request."

Rebel News will submit an access to information request and report back if and when we get an answer. To help cover the cost of these requests, please donate here.

This comes after the Montreal police brought in about 40 police cars last week to target Jews heading home from synagogue after the Sabbath. 

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