Several dozen demonstrators gathered in downtown Montreal on Saturday to denounce police violence, a day after allegations of misconduct involving two city police officers came to light.
The rally at Phillips Square was originally organized in solidarity with student protesters in France, but the latest allegations against Montreal police brought concerns about police violence closer to home, with speakers condemning the treatment of marginalized communities and criticizing government austerity measures.
Montreal police confirmed Friday that two officers from a downtown station had been suspended in late August and early September and that an internal investigation was underway.
According to a report by newspaper La Presse, one officer allegedly urinated on a person experiencing homelessness while on duty, while the other allegedly posed for photos mocking a suspect during an arrest. The Canadian Press has not independently verified the allegations.
“The police are literally pissing on us,” Frédéric Audet, secretary general and spokesperson for a student association at Université de Montréal, told the crowd.
Audet also drew parallels between police responses to student movements in France and Quebec.
“When young people take to the streets, the only response from police is to beat us up,” he said, referring to protests in France and Quebec’s 2012 student movement.
Émily Fleming-Dubé, an Indigenous activist and student at Montreal’s French-language Université du Québec à Montréal, denounced what she described as systemic violence against vulnerable people, particularly Indigenous people and those experiencing homelessness.
“I’m here to denounce a kind of violence we know all too well, that of a state that prefers to repress vulnerable people rather than meet their basic needs,” she told the crowd.
Fleming-Dubé argued that police violence, homelessness and inadequate public services were interconnected problems.
“When the state chooses to protect police officers rather than the people they brutalize, when it chooses repression over housing, when it chooses to silence us instead of listening to us, it’s not an accident. It’s a system,” she said.
Jasmin Picard, 29, said he attended the demonstration primarily to denounce police violence, expressing outrage over the allegations reported Friday.
“I’m fed up with opening the newspaper and reading about new horrors, like what we learned on Friday,” he said. “It’s outrageous.”
The latest allegations come months after Montreal police dismantled a 16-member patrol unit in June in the Montréal-Nord borough amid separate allegations of racism and misconduct. Four officers from Station 39 have been suspended.
Saturday’s crowd, which included younger and older demonstrators, waved Palestinian flags and flags associated with the French left-wing party La France insoumise. Others carried protest signs.
At one point, a demonstrator climbed onto the King Edward VII monument at the centre of Phillips Square and attempted to place a flag on one of its bronze figures.
Two police officers wearing cycling gear approached and gestured for the demonstrator to come down, drawing boos from the crowd. Demonstrators then chanted “Everybody hates the police,” while several officers remained nearby.
Other chants included “No police in our protest” and “Solidarity with the students of France.”
For Nicolas Ferron, 22, who is originally from Paris, the Montreal rally offered a way to support the student movement in his home country.
“I would have liked to be there with my friends and family, but I’m glad today’s demonstration is happening,” he said, adding, “The people of Montreal are with you, French high school students.”
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about 550,000 people participated in 110 demonstrations countrywide, while organizers, including labour unions and student groups estimated the turnout at 800,000.
Clashes between police and protesters broke out in several cities, including Paris, with about 400 people arrested countrywide.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
By Charlotte Glorieux | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.