Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Defence Minister Bill Blair condemned violent anti-NATO, pro-Palestinianprotests in Montreal Friday evening.
“This was nothing like lawful, peaceful protest. This was anarchy,” Blair said, speaking in Halifax.
Joly added, “What we saw was not peaceful protest. What we saw was actually violence, hate and anti-Semitism. And this has no place on our streets.”
Montreal police told Global News officers arrested three people on Friday after protestors smashed windows at a convention centre and nearby businesses, ignited smoke bombs and set two cars on fire.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) said they arrested a 22-year-old woman and two men, ages 22 and 28, for assaulting a police officer and for two charges of impeding police work, though the spokesperson did not clarify who is facing which charge.
Veronique Dubuc also told Global protestors launched fireworks at officers.
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Two groups, Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles and Divest for Palestine, organized separate marches on Friday afternoon to protest outside the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a meeting between alliance members that is being held this year in Montreal.
Neither protest group immediately responded to The Canadian Press’ requests for comments.
The SPVM posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they had dispersed the crowd by 8 p.m. on Friday.
“I believe that a peaceful protest can be co-opted by anarchists who have other agendas. Those agendas were quite apparent by the activities of that mob yesterday,” Blair said, speaking on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum.
The assembly, including NATO partners, is scheduled to discuss sustaining their support for Ukraine and addressing climate change.
This story is developing and will be updated.
With files from The Canadian Press.
