Quebec’s Bill 13: Yet Another Attack on Quebecers’ Democracy

Montreal – December 10, 2025

Quebec’s Bill 13, An Act to promote the population’s safety and sense of security and to amend various provisions, “is a direct attack against freedom of expression and the right to protest peacefully,” said Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). “Silencing dissent and shrinking public space is yet another tell-tale sign of an authoritarian drift.”

Along with several other groups of Quebec’s civil society, the CCLA has been sounding the alarm for a while about the progressive erosion by the Quebec government of the pillars of Quebec’s democracy. Instead of backing-off, the Quebec government is doubling-down on its rights-infringing agenda – and chose International Human Rights Day to do so.

Pursuing a subjective “sense of security” is not a valid ground to violate constitutionally protected rights and freedoms. Yet that is exactly what Bill 13 is doing.

“Public safety is important, and that is why it is already extensively protected under the Criminal Code, other federal, provincial and municipal legislation, and common law powers,” added Bussières McNicoll. “The police already have the tools they need.”

Bill 13 prohibits protesters from participating in peaceful demonstrations near the residence of an elected official.

“Peaceful protest is part and parcel of a functioning democracy,” continued Bussières McNicoll. “Quebecers should not be fined for participating, on public streets, in a peaceful protest that some deemed inconvenient.”

Bill 13 also prohibits the possession, during a demonstration and “without valid reason”, of “an object or substance that may be used to interfere with the physical integrity of a person or to threaten or intimidate a person or that may cause damage to property”.

“This provision is so vaguely worded that it could be made to capture peaceful protestors in possession of a sign mounted on a large stick, or any other object that the police may find peculiar,” added Bussières McNicoll.

Bill 13 also prohibits the public display of any name or symbol associated with an entity that is entered on the new “list of entities with a criminal purpose” drawn up by the Minister of Public Security. The dire impact of these provisions on freedom of expression is compounded by the Bill’s permissive conditions for including an entity on the list.

An entity could be included if the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that one or many individuals active in Quebec and related to this entity are “pursuing a criminal purpose”, which includes committing or attempting to commit criminal offences, or promoting the commission of a criminal infraction.

“This could capture a teenager wearing a T-shirt that displays the logo of an environmental activist group whose members have been arrested for blocking a bridge,” said Howard Sapers, CCLA’s Executive Director. “Since anyone who helps or induces another person to commit an offence under this new Act commits the same offence, a parent giving their teenager such a T-shirt could be charged as well,” Sapers added.

The CCLA urges the Quebec government to reverse course on these rights-infringing provisions.

We continue to study Bill 13 and will provide additional comment in the future.