Costumed activist fighting bylaw that bans masks at protests

MONTREAL – A philosophy professor who famously wore a panda costume to lighten the mood throughout last year’s Quebec student protests has found a new cause.

Anarchopanda, the unofficial mascot of the Quebec student strikes, has completed a fundraising campaign to contest fines levied against protesters in recent months.

More than $31,000 has been raised according to Anarchopanda – whose real identity is Julien Villeneuve, a philosophy professor at the College de Maisonneuve.

He became a local celebrity during the student strikes where, clad as the bamboo-munching bear, he peacefully marched with students, offered hugs to police, and spread the authority-resisting gospel of anarchism.

Although the strikes ended last year, the most committed core of protesters carried on this spring. First they fought the smaller tuition hikes introduced by the Parti Quebecois and, lately, have been contesting an alleged crackdown on civil liberties.

Villeneuve was detained last month and fined $637 for not respecting a Montreal bylaw that has become the focus of the civil-liberties dispute.

He is now fighting that local bylaw, P-6 – which bans masks at protests, and requires that an itinerary be submitted before any demonstration in Montreal.

- globalnews.ca