Montreal---Police in Montreal arrested several students protesting the Quebec government's austerity measures Wednesday for blocking access to classes and forcing a half dozen to be cancelled, according to several sources.
The protesters, often wearing masks, have been holding demonstrations at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) over several weeks.
University students across the Canadian province voted at the end of March to strike over cost-cutting measures in the government's recent budget.
"Twenty-one people in balaclavas and other masks were arrested," a police spokesman said, adding that riot police were called in by the university after their own security staff was overwhelmed.
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard denounced the protestors' unruliness, calling their "conduct inacceptable."
"If a hooded person entered my place to cause a ruckus, I'd call the police," he said.
UQAM's administration obtained an injunction last week forbidding protestors from stopping their peers from trying to attend classes.
The court ordered the student protestors to "cease and abstain from all forms of intimidation both physical and mental, making threats, harassment or provocations."
AFP
