Quebec-based antifascist groups played a key role in the disruption of the May 31 March for Life organized by Campagne Québec-Vie (CQV).

According to CQV president Georges Buscemi, the tactics employed by the counter-protesters resulted in a hostile environment that severely limited the ability of CQV to run an orderly, family-friendly event.

“It was difficult to get the event going, to have a coherent order of the day. It was almost impossible to hear any of the speeches,” Buscemi told The Catholic Register.

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Last year, though there was some disruption to the march, protesters held a separate but parallel protest to the pro-life event. Elected officials, including Minister for the Status of Women Martine Biron, participated in the pro-choice event.

This year, counter-protesters again outnumbered those gathered for the March for Life, but there was no separate pro-choice event. Instead, activists infiltrated the crowd, first mingling with the pro-lifers, even joining in the singing and holding up signs provided by CQV, but then hijacked the rally by deploying bullhorns, whistles and coloured smoke bombs to disrupt the event.

Emilie Young is a Montreal resident who traveled to Quebec City to participate in the March for Life. Young told the Register the police presence meant she didn’t fear for her physical safety, but the actions of the activists made for a completely different experience than she was used to at the annual National March for Life in Ottawa.

“It was a bit strange because they'd been singing with us; I think they even were chatting with some of the pro-life people. Then they just moved towards the people running the speeches and started putting up gas in the air. You couldn't see anything. There was a kind of fog around where the speeches were taking place, and you couldn't hear anything either,” she said.

“It was a little bit scary at first because of the smoke. Everyone was coughing because it's in the air, your eyes kind of sting a bit. It made your throat feel scratchy.” 

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition director Alex Schadenberg was one of the scheduled speakers at the march and had a view of the protesters from the stage.

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Schadenberg wrote in an email to the Register, “I noticed that the protesters were bused in and had some level of organization connected to their protest. They appeared to have a ‘rent-a-crowd’ style to them.”

Though the feminist organization Regroupement des groupements de femmes de la Capitale-Nationale (RGF-CN) is listed as host of the counter-demonstration on Facebook, social media posts by the group Québec Antifasciste show several graphics connected to the protest.

Buscemi, Young and others noted that there was a group of about 30 protesters in the characteristic “black bloc” garb identified with antifascist groups.

One woman, la_cheminaude, who asked on the Quebec Antifascist Instagram page whether they would be transport from Montreal to the protest, later posted photos from the day on her own Instagram account remarking, “Comrades came out to counter anti-woman, anti-queer goons in the pouring rain. Some were in full black bloc gear. Riot cops tried to kettle us several times but we resisted. Good luck trying to #bringbackrescue when our side not only outnumbers yours but direct actions it out too. DC liberals should take notice.”

Also posted on the Quebec Antifascist Instagram page were photos taken in Montreal of a coach being obstructed by demonstrators with the caption, “This morning, activists in Montreal slowed down the bus carrying people to an anti-choice demonstration in Quebec City.”

In his 2024 book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage, legal scholar Jonathan Turley identifies the Antifa movement as being fundamentally opposed to free speech.

“Antifa has a long and well-documented history of such violence in acting against journalists, protesters and speakers. Like the Black Panthers and other groups, Antifa rationalizes its violence as an act of self-defense. The group treats free speech as harmful,” Turley wrote.

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Young noted that though many of the pro-life marchers attempted to engage the activists in conversation, they were rebuffed.

“It kind of put a whole damper on the March for Life because we were coming together to share everybody's stories. A lot of people were very open to having a conversation and hearing other people's stories,” she said. “But that was completely ignored, and you could barely talk to even the person beside you because it was so loud.”