With the Stanley Cup playoffs underway in Montreal, the excitement is everywhere and the SPVM is deploying to contain it, but some say they are overacting.
Alex MacMillan who started the Spark Solidarity page has been weighing in on what he considers excess brutality towards Habs fans by the Montreal Police. In this interview Alex details the long history of police interventions against hockey riots, the laws that changed how the police in montreal react, as well as the contrasting styles of big game crowd control used in places like Toronto that are much more peaceful than in Montreal.
With the Habs continuing on in the playoffs one question remains, should public funds be used for beating up fans of the Montreal Canadiens who have not broken any laws?

Muslim prisoners in Quebec face a compounded type of discrimination. There is the usual deprivation of life and freedom that the public expects prisoners to face. However, there is a rigidity of prison life that is wholly unaccommodating to the Muslim faith, and some are saying it is becoming even worse with budget cuts from both federal and provincial governments that take away educational opportunities from prisoners.Two community organizers are taking things into their own hands with the Eid Card writing initiative for incarcerated Muslims.

Local 514 host, Kalden Dhatsenpa speaks to the organizers, Nashwa and Nabeela who have taken on efforts to spread awareness and raise funds for this unspoken issue.They talk about Islamophobia in Québec’s institutions, the broader global uses of prisons to stifle racialized and Indigenous communities, as well as the reception of their initiative by these prisoners.

Should university staff at McGill be allowed to demand students identify themselves on campus? Montreal’s McGill University’s board of governors has voted in favour of a controversial new policy. It’s called the Identification Policy for Access to Properties Owned, Occupied, or Used by the University.
This policy was proposed by Professor Fabrice Labeau on January 14, 2026 and it received quick criticism for the power it gives to McGill security and staff to demand identification from anyone on campus grounds.
The concerns raised about the policy point to its timing after the pro-palestine encampments. Critics of the policy are concerned about how the policy might be used against protestors trying to protect their privacy, women wearing a veil for religious reasons, and those who wear the mask for medical purposes.
To learn more about the policy and the concerns around it, Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa speaks to student from McGill that helped organize an open letter of opposition to the policy back in the winter.