Students in Montreal are planning to disrupt the Canadian Grand Prix with mass protests following a breakdown of negotiations between them and the government over university tuition fee increases.
Student groups have already held protests throughout the streets of Montreal on a nightly basis which have seen tens of thousands taking part. Whilst most protests have been peaceful, some 100 protesters were arrested for violence last week.
The latest protest is centered around disrupting the grand prix on Sunday. Posters and event pages on Facebook have called on students to enter the Montreal subway and when signalled to, board a train to the circuit which has just one station.
The campaign presents itself as an experiment “to see how many people can get on the metro” at 10:30, the busiest period for race goers.
With the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve located on an island, almost 90% of spectators take the metro, so any disruption could have a significant impact on the event.
The circuit’s promoter Francois Dumontier, says the organisers have several contingency plans in place for such disruptions.
“We will not divulge any details, but we already have a rather elaborate plan as our event is an international event”, he told La Presse. “So we increased security, reviewed certain points which might have been more vulnerable and, over the last several weeks, have been working closely with the police.
“We are ready for several contingencies. We want to protect the festive nature of the grand prix. This is a celebration and we want our clientele to enjoy their grand prix.”
