McGill and clashed with the police officers, who had been asked by McGill to keep Gray's group off the campus. In September 1969, rioting broke out in the suburb of Saint-Léonard between Italian-Canadians and French-Canadians over the language issue. Italian immigrant parents had kept their children from school to protest the fact that the language of school instruction was now French, instead of English, and on 10 September 1969, a group of 1,500 French-Canadian nationalists attempted to march through the suburb's Little Italy district to protest the school boycott. Upon their arrival, the marchers were attacked by the Italians, which led to a night of violence on the streets. In the first week of October 1969, the arbitration committee, appointed by the city, ruled that the police would receive a pay increase of $1,180, which led to the police going on an illegal "wildcat" strike. Because of the financial investment in Expo 67 and the simultaneous bidding to host the 1976 Olympics, the city of Montreal was already heavily in debt, which left little money for pay increases for the police. Riot On the morning of 7 October 1969, all 17 police stations across Montreal were deserted as the policemen gathered at the Paul Sauvé Arena for what was called a "day of study." The firefighters also joined in the wildcat strike. The provincial government posted 400 officers from the Sûreté du Québec to Montreal in the morning, and Quebec Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand called an emergency session of the National Assembly to pass a back-to-work law. By the end of the day, the government had been forced to send another 400 Sûreté du Québec officers to Montreal to impose order. As the police were on strike, a crowd of disgruntled taxi drivers belonging to the MLQ appeared outside of the City Hall at about 6 p.m. supported the police strike, and carried banners denouncing Drapeau as being corrupt. After the rally, the taxi drivers formed a convoy, which was escorted by the Popeyes Motorcycle Club, the most violent of Montreal's many outlaw biker clubs. Joining the convoy were journalists and members of the FLQ carrying banners demanding independence for Quebec. On the street, the convoy encountered a Murray-Hill limousine, which was forced to stop. The passengers and the driver were allowed to leave, and the car was then smashed to pieces by the taxi drivers and the Popeyes. The taxi