Demonstrator stops traffic on Montreal bridge
MONTREAL - Authorities have arrested a man dressed as comic-book hero Robin in the superstructure of Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.
He climbed the structure early Monday morning and unfurled a banner demanding "parental equality.'"
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The protester on Jacques
Cartier Bridge
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Traffic was halted for three hours on the 3.4-kilometre bridge, which links Montreal with Longueuil on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
The man said he is a member of Fathers 4 Justice (F4J), the Canadian arm of a British group of the same name.
The Canadian group's website says it aims to "expose the injustice that the family law industry has become in this country with a series of high-profile stunts and actions."
It says the family courts are biased against fathers and systematically remove the rights of one parent – usually fathers – to be involved in their children's lives after a divorce.
The man on the bridge said he had not been able to see his child for two years.
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On Saturday, Spider-Man
appeared at a different protest at Mont Royal
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F4J also says its members wanted to make May a "month of mayhem" by "coming soon to a high place near you" after the federal government failed to act on the group's ultimatum to fix family law.
The group said its members were behind eight stunts in May across the country, including releasing crickets in courthouses and offices and having a man dressed as Spider-Man climb the cross on Mont Royal in Montreal on Saturday.
Police said the protester will be arraigned Tuesday on charges of mischief, obstructing justice and conspiracy. An assistant on the Montreal side of the bridge will also be charged.