CIVICUS, one of the most important international organizations dedicated to supporting citizen action, denounces Bill 78

CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal

MONTREAL, July 3, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - After the UN, it is now the turn of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, one of the most important international organizations dedicated to supporting citizen action, to denounce Bill 78, a bill the organization says shows "that the challenges of state pushback against protest…are not limited to developing countries and those without elected governments." It should be noted that it is in Montreal that CIVICUS will be holding its World Assembly in September, in collaboration with the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM).

"The special law—Bill 78—that has been introduced to limit strictly assembly of more than 50 people, flies in the face of accepted good practice about laws to regulate and enable citizen action. The new law was also introduced in a hasty manner with minimal consultation," declares Henri Valot, Outreach Director for CIVICUS, an organization whose mission is to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world.

CIVICUS also stated its support for the call made by its Montreal-based partner, the Institut du Nouveau Monde, for the creation of an independent consultative commission on university financing and access to higher learning to help find a solution amenable to the different camps in the Quebec conflict.

All this makes the holding of the 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal from September 3 through 7 especially timely. This major international gathering will bring together leading organizations along with government representatives, local authorities, parliamentarians, traditional and social media, multilateral institutions, academics, civil society and young innovators.

The CIVICUS World Assembly will provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing, for example, by permitting Quebec activists and concerned citizens to meet with key players from the Arab Spring and new European grassroots movements.

For further information, visit the CIVICUS website (www.civicusassembly.org).

Source: Institut du Nouveau Monde and CIVICUS

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Roch Bilodeau
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