While the events covered in this article took place at the beginning of May, their significance is such that the article is the cover story of the current issue of Révolution Communiste, our French paper. We publish it here for the interest of our English readers.
During the trade union demonstration on May 2 in Montreal, protesters beheaded a papier-mâché puppet depicting Minister of Labour Jean Boulet. Immediately, Quebec’s political and media establishment loudly condemned this so-called “political violence.”
Alliance Ouvrière, the group behind the protest, is now the subject of a police investigation by the SPVM. The Montreal Police Department has issued a public appeal to identify three suspects. We strongly condemn this repression and extend our solidarity with the comrades of Alliance Ouvrière.
Already, many have objected to the completely ridiculous way this story has been handled. The hypocrisy is glaring. The skit performed by Alliance Ouvrière was specifically intended to expose real violence! Alliance Ouvrière explains it themselves:
“In 2025, like every year, more than 250 workers died as a result of workplace accidents or occupational diseases, and no one was held accountable. And in January 2025, Jean Boulet himself allowed Amazon to lay off more than 4,500 workers. […] That is the true nature of the violence perpetrated by the elites.”
We could go on and on: evictions, layoffs, police brutality (which was very real during the May 1st demonstration), eroding wages, plant closures, and ever-growing surgery waiting times…
Of course, the unions were immediately blamed for the action and asked to condemn the stunt. The union bureaucracy was quick to distance itself.
Ruba Ghazal of Québec solidaire wrote on Bluesky that “political violence has no place in a democracy, no matter where it comes from.” The FTQ added to this on May 5, reiterating that it “condemns this action.”
By capitulating, the left and the unions thought they could avoid coming under fire. But weakness invites aggression and the right continues the attack.
This scandal isn’t breaking out because of any aversion to violence on the part of the capitalist establishment. This outcry against the guillotine only made headlines because it provided an opportunity to attack the left and the unions. It is a mistake to capitulate in the face of this hypocritical criticism.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette stated that “it is possible to make progress constructively without violence or threats.” But it has been amply demonstrated that it is impossible to make any headway under this dictatorship of the bosses. After decades of successive governments implementing austerity measures that no voter asked for, it is clear that this “democracy” isn’t worth a dime.
Last fall, the entire political establishment banded together to strip the unions of their right to strike and their right to take political positions. And they’re now talking about social dialogue and peaceful methods of protest?
The entire capitalist system is built on violence. We are ruled by bankers and other parasites who enrich themselves through the plundering of natural resources and the brutal exploitation of sweatshops in poor countries, and yet we’re supposed to be moved by the fate of a papier-mâché puppet? The monsters who turn a blind eye to the genocide in Palestine and the ethnic cleansing in Lebanon, who profit from the wars in Iran and Ukraine, are lecturing us about violence?
Like all workers, we abhor violence. That is precisely why we are calling for the overthrow of this system.
