What exactly is unconstitutional about forbidding protesters to cover up?

Montreal residents are a passionate and vocal bunch and a number of contentious issues have –and will continue- to bring them out in protest. No one is saying that demonstrations should be squelched in any way. They are a legal and valid form of vocalizing against unjust decisions made locally and internationally, as well as a way to express solidarity with a cause. It is a citizen's fundamental right in a democratic society to be able to express one's beliefs, grievances, and outrage in a vocal and public, yet peaceful, way. Not being able to conceal one's face does not take away from that right.

Those yelling from the rooftops that their individual right to protest has been trampled on, have, unfortunately, jumped the gun on this one. In their earnest and misguided attempt to defend human rights and take the side of the underdog, it's important to remember everyone's rights; not just the protesters.

If taking part in a protest is your legal right, one which no one is preventing you from taking part in, than why insist on donning the attire one normally wears while robbing a bank? Why the masks and the head scarves? Why the concealment and the need for anonymity?

The reasons are simple: in too many cases, public protests are completely hijacked by roving bands of angry pseudo-anarchists, intent on simply wreaking havoc and destroying public and private property for the sick pleasure of being able to get away with it. Think of last year's hockey riots. What higher cause were these hooligans espousing and protesting against when they set cars on fire and threw trash cans through storefront windows? Think of extreme language groups and racists of all colours who, in the name of freedom, come out and spew vile hatred and burn flags. Is it their democratic right to do so? Absolutely. But it's also our democratic right to know who is behind such actions.

Just like a letter to the editor stands no chance of ever being published if it does not arrive at a newspaper with a complete name and a contact number or email, so should protesters not be allowed a veil of secrecy on the grounds that their basic human rights are being trampled on. People should be allowed to protest and to flood the streets with their anger or their allegiance to a cause, but they should also have the courage of their convictions and be prepared to do so without hiding behind a ski mask or a head scarf. It's called accountability and it's just as vital a part of democracy as freedom of speech is.