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..the parents are afraid for their children as i would be for mine. that does not change anything. it's the children's future and they will decide..just like i would want them to. let the parents oppose the government and it's subservience to capital.
Yeah, folks, please read the material before jumping to huge conclusions. No one is purporting to speak in the name of the students. Only the students will decide. And some of us may not like their decisions. But right now, by my estimation, they're in the forefront of the entire progressive movement in Canada, if not beyond. They need our support. And no, they will not singlehandedly overthrow the capitalist system on our behalf. They need a victory - one they can call their own.
..i do read what you post unionist. at least what i get from google translate when in french. i just disagree with this pressure being added to the students for them to change their behavior because yes it is worrisome that some may be hurt but more it challenges and disrupts the larger society and forces them to become involved to a greater degree than they may want. i don't speak of revolution but to take the oportunity to oppose the root causes in a very public and active manner.
Students don't necessarily have to gather as a mass target in the streets in order to continue with their strike. They can still maintain their absence from the classroom and lecture hall as a tactic within the collective struggle, and at the same be absent from the crosshairs of the police and their co-opting auxiliaries alike. Make of it that when the pig media complain once again about demonstrations of violence in the street, it would have to be an account of the keystones pummelling one another; the result of a lack of volunteers whereby curiosity gets the better of them. A once a week impromptu gathering to celebrate solidarity, disseminated and held at a moment's notice, should suffice as a tactical adjustment to the current plans underway to involuntarily disperse the students.
But the next battles will be at the gates of the schools. Collège de Rosemont wil open its classes tomorrow in response to injunctions. Failure to picket is not an option. Plus there is the next massive march scheduled for May 22. And the students have pledged to march every night till the end. Victoriavile was an exception. The students have managed to control the handful of vandals very well in recent weeks. What no one can control is sabotage like that of the smoke bombs.
Continuing the strike and just staying home would hamper mobilization and motivation. It would be seen not as a tactic, but a defeat. Something else is needed.
Offices of the SQ at night:
Mass arrests and beatings could go some way toward hampering motivation as well. No martyrs need be created by an all too willing police offensive chomping at the bit. New tactics are needed to counter the National Assembly's edict for the violence to commence for sure. Physical presence where the state can role out its strategy to negate everything, made all the more easier for the police thugs because everyone has conveniently gathered in selected locations, vs. a social networking presence with the capacity to update everyone instantly, even if they're sitting in far smaller groups in cafes spread out all over the place. They could be sitting next to cops munching away on donuts for all they'd know.
My sister was a cop. She said if you ever do need a policeman-officer, call the donuts and coffee shop. Nine out of ten times there will be at least one cop there.
Police injure one student (17 years old, pepper sprayed and hit on the head by a police baton) at Collège de Rosemont - but VICTORY! - mass picketers succeed in getting administration to cancel classes, despite injunction!
Also, the four student associations (CLASSE, FECQ, FEUQ, TACEQ) were on a conference call with the education minister an hour ago - not sure if it's still ongoing.
Finally, several demos are taking place this morning. Long live the Maple Spring!
ETA: Here's a report about the blockade of the education minister's office this morning in Longueuil - about 150 demonstrators, the riot squad intervened and used pepper spray to open the picket.
Also, the article has a detailed report on the action at Rosemont.
Here's the education minister's office:
Classes were also cancelled at Collège Édouard-Montpetit, in spite of the court injunction.
At Collège Lionel-Groulx, on Montréal's north shore, 150 picketers showed up this morning. The administration was "evaluating the situation" as to whether to respect the injunction there, or cancel classes. Awaiting further developments.
As for Rosemont, here are some other views of this morning's events - totally gratuitous on the pigs' part, as the announcement of cancellation had already taken place before they attacked the students:
That's the spirit!
Demo: Support the Quebec students' movement - no to police violence!
5 Trafalgar Square, City of Westminster, SW1Y 5BJ
Support the students’ movement in Quebec! Stop the violent police repression! Demonstrate outside the Canadian High Commission to denounce police attacks on Quebecois students! 17:30-19:00, 16 May, 1 Grosvenor Square London W1K 4AB.
Sign the online petition against police violence <a href=“http://www.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Violence_policiere_actuelle_dans_le_cadre_du_mouvement_de_greve_des_etudiants_quebecois/”>here</a>...
https://www.facebook.com/events/362420050482304/
This morning, the four young people charged with setting off smoke bombs in the Métro last week were remanded in custody for a bail hearing on May 23 (by consent), to give the defence more time to examine the evidence.
Meanwhile, hundreds protested outside and inside the courthouse (watch the videos):
Suspected smoke bomb bail postponed, protesters block media
Ongoing struggle at Lionel-Groulx
The administration, facing injunctions, refused to officially cancel classes today - but hundreds of masked demonstrators have made it physically impossible to hold classes. Many teachers are standing in support of the students, as usual, condeming the recourse to injunctions and the orders (which they are refusing) to cross picket lines put up by democratic decision of their students.
Ten Points Everyone Should Know About the Quebec Student Movement
The blog elaborates on each of these ten points.
LINE BEAUCHAMP IS GONE!!
All over Twitterverse. Just happened. Quit? Fired by Charest? He just gave a speech saying he was going to announce "new measures" to ensure order, very menacing.
I predicted weeks ago he'd use her as a scapegoat when the time came. Let's see if this ushers in another phony "agreement" or more fascist suppression. In either case, the students and their allies will need to be more vigilant than ever now.
ETA: Sorry, just to remind everyone, she's the (apparently ex) Minister of Education. She has been the face of government stubborn refusal and denial throughout this movement. Beware of tricks ahead.
"Line Beauchamp" is now trending worldwide on Twitter.
What a creep. She said she's quitting (after the conference call with the 4 student unions this morning) because she's "no longer part of the solution". But in making her statement, she says she has "lost confidence" in the students' desire to settle the conflict!
Of course, just to prove she's a liar, she also is quitting politics entirely - resigning her seat in the assembly. Huh? Explain that? Lost faith in the cleaning staff??
Fuck off, good riddance, na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye!
Ok, here it is - official report on Minister of Education's resignation.
Don't forget how many times it was reiterated that she was making the "ultimate compromise." Er...
Reminds me of Bertolt Brecht's lines in The Solution [Die Lösung], in response to the Stalinist bureaucrat in East Germany who declared that the people had "lost the confidence of the government" when they revolted in 1953:
Lol!! Thanks, Spector!
Beauchamp is not going anywhere...She's simply going to cross the floor to the CAQ.
Manifestation de soir : le problème, c’est pas Line, c’est la hausse !
I did not see a call from any of the three striking student unions to engage in this action. I never take actions that are not sanctioned by the strikers themselves. I'm old school that way. It is the students strike not their parents nor Duceppe's nor any union leaders.
Kropotkin, I agree in general, but this time Nadeau-Dubois welcomed the call for a moratorium (that's basically the demand, after all, and it's better than what they all signed for!). He just wanted details on the duration and conditions.
Meanwhile, we have a new minister - or rather, a recycled old minister of education - Michelle Courchesne. Plus ça change...
Quebec student crisis badly mismanaged by Jean Charest’s government
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1178347--hebert-queb...
The CAQ must be foaming from the mouth...They'll definately use this as an election hot point,playing into the idiot fringe who are labeling the protesters as 'terrorists' and calling for mass arrests much like we saw during the October Crisis.
Where are the PQ?
By way of comparison, it should be noted that just under 500 people were arrested during the "October Crisis". I believe that during this strike the Charest government has already surpassed that number several times over.
Wow..sorry,my bad.
But I have heard some (mostly anglo,BTW) calling for the Army to intervene.
Will that happen?..I doubt it but seeing that trhe LIberals are now toast in Quebec,there's a huge threat that the CAQ will benefit...And that's bad news for the students and ALL Quebecers.
Charest has a one-seat majority now, with three byelections that could be called - all in safe Liberal seats according to Jean LaPierre on CTV's Power Play. The PP panel thinks Charest will call a provincial election by the end of August. He also said the population is in 2/3's support of Charest versus the students.