There are fewer of them these days. The long hot days of July have quietened things down.
But the Quebec students are still marching through the streets of Montreal.
Tonight was their 83rd nightly demo in a row. And next month they will have to make a choice that could determine the future of their movement, the future of Quebec, and maybe even the future of Canada.
Like so many things in Quebec these days it was an amazing sight.
Eighty thousand people in downtown Montreal watching an outdoor show by Loco Locass, a very popular and very political hip hop group.
The group was dressed in red and waving a Quebec flag with a red square sewn on it to show their support for the student movement.
But the truly magic moment came when they invited the movement's leaders on stage, and they all sang one of the group's biggest hits, Libérez-nous des Libéraux...Free us from the Liberals.
Oh no. Somebody please stop him. It looks as if Jean Charest has finally, as we say in Québec, perdu ses pédales, or lost his pedals.
He's so eager to discredit the students, so he can run against them in a snap election, he's accusing them of plotting to sabotage the Montreal Grand Prix. And now look what he's done.
It was wet and miserable in Montreal today. But that didn't stop thousands of people from attending a rally to support the Quebec students.
Thousands of people clad in raincoats and carrying umbrellas gathered in Montreal's Jeanne-Mance park Saturday afternoon for what was billed as a family-friendly protest in support of Quebec's students and in opposition of Bill 78.
And not only were there more kids than usual, but there were also more older people.
Four days of negotiations ended in an impasse on Thursday when Premier Jean Charest’s government refused to budge on its plan to increase tuition fees.
It was likely the last chance for an immediate resolution to the social crisis that has gripped the province for almost four months.
It's funny eh? When I see pictures like this one I see people standing up for their rights, telling a corrupt government to take their fascist bill and shove it, or just joining others to demand a better world.
But most of the Con media only seem to see a mob, dangerous terrorists, and above all GREEKS !!!!
There was another amazing freedom party in Montreal tonight.
Thousands and thousands of people marched peacefully through the streets, beating pots and pans. Defying the police to arrest them for taking part in an illegal demonstration.
And what struck me the most apart from the incredible energy, was the diversity of the protesters. Now it's not just students, it's middle aged people, it's seniors, it's EVERYONE.
A massive thunderstorm hit Montreal this evening. The heavens really opened up.
But that didn't stop thousands of people from parading through the streets, beating their pots and pans.
Even though in a city full of riot cops armed with a fascist bill, anything couldhappen.
More than 2,500 people have been arrested in a months-long dispute that has catapulted the province onto international news pages, which is at least five times the number jailed during the 1970 FLQ crisis that saw martial law declared in Quebec.
In many Montreal neighbourhoods this evening people were banging pots and pans in another casserole symphony of protest. The latest tactic in this awesome struggle.
It's a nightly ritual known as les manifs aux casseroles, that sees hundreds of people step out of their homes, armed with pots and pans.
At the stroke of 8 p.m., they start to bang on their kitchenware.
And just about everybody in the province was talking about yesterday's massive demonstration.
Meanwhile in the rest of Canada, judging from the coverage on the CBC, this was the Big Story.
And so it came to pass. On the 100th day of their amazing struggle, they refused to be intimidated by a totalitarian bill, and turned Montreal RED.
A sea of students, their numbers swollen by trade unionists, teachers and other supporters, flooded through the streets of Montreal in a massive turnout marking the 100th day of a protest movement that is growing broader and bolder.
Reported estimates placed the number of protesters Tuesday at between 100,000 and 250,000.
When I see pictures like this one of my beloved Montréal on a warm Saturday night.
On sedate St-Denis street of all places.
And I read what kind of peace the Quebec government's totalitarian Bill 78 has brought.
The adoption of emergency legislation to end Quebec's escalating student crisis stoked fiery debate across the province overnight, from highly charged street protests that lasted into the wee hours to harsh editorials and some calls for civil disobedience.
When I read how police pepper sprayed the peaceful patrons of a bar. On a patio of all places.
