Student Strike, Social Struggle #11

Wed, May 30 - Casseroles Night in Canada   
 

quote:

And here’s why I’m having an especially hard time focusing, whether to do my paid work or concentrate on an essay about this exceptional moment that’s far outstripped the government’s emergency law: the city is both “ungovernable,” to repeat Mostafa Henaway’s tweet last night, and also spontaneously self-governing with its feet, bodies, voices, and casseroles. It was difficult to fully take in what was happening last night, as some 50,000 or more (or who can tell, given the multiple demos, big and small, merging and converging, as well as the thousands and perhaps tens of thousands perched all over the city on their balconies, front steps, rooftops, and so on, banging pots or flicking on/off their porch lights or waving red flags. Well, not difficult. Simply beautiful. Overwhelming in the best of ways. I wish I could have taken a photo of nearly each and every one of the tens of thousands, since nearly each and every one was “self-determining” how they wanted to add to the noise. I noticed many posts this morning of proud photos of dented metal objects, made into impromptu street instruments. Last night was this manifestation of imagination–bringing alive the “all power to the imagination” phrase in a new way for me. People appreciated each other’s imaginative ways of making noise–a “simple” pot & ladle wasn’t enough for most! At the same time, that very imagination, that it’s possible to change the world, is bringing people into the streets, and in the streets, people really have the power in a way I’ve never experienced. This happens elsewhere, in my revolutionary imagination, but not in North America. In Greece, say, anarchists have forged a police no-go neighborhood....

https://cbmilstein.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/je-tadore-montreal-day-105-o...

Colourful characters abound at (mostly) peaceful march

If once is a fluke and twice is a coincidence, then three times may be a trend. For the third night in a row, the roving demonstration that wound its way through Montreal was almost entirely peaceful, with few arrests.

In fact, the protest seemed destined to end without a single arrest until late in the night, when Montreal police arrested two people for allegedly hitting a police horse. The SPVM Twitter account reported another arrest was made for armed assault when a motorist allegedly hit a demonstrator with his car.

The detention of a young woman who wore nothing but the running shoes on her feet all night temporarily raised tensions near the back of the march, when bicycle and mounted police pushed through the crowd to get to her around midnight. The woman was then led away from the march by police at Lafontaine Park. Naked, she was one of the most attention-grabbing protesters, drawing a cheering crowd when she posed with the de facto mascot, a man in a panda suit known as Anarchopanda....

http://montreal.openfile.ca/montreal/text/colourful-characters-abound-mo...

http://www.lapresse.ca/debats/chroniques/michele-ouimet/201205/25/01-452...?

there's a lot of interest in that article, but the part about the referendum is particularly interesting.  on the one hand, it seems that everyone has a pretty strong opinion on the students' movement, on the other hand, it seems that the distribution of this opinion conforms eerily to the distribution of support for sovereignty in various subgroups.  anglophones are monolithically with the government, with the quebec region not far behind, montreal is a divided ground zero, the regions turn out along income and aspirational lines, the ncc/gatineau region votes more like a quebec suburb of ottawa.  and whereas some in the media (chantal hébert, for example) have surmised that the students may have unwittingly put the province on the path to independence, i look at these numbers and read the opposite - that the students may have actually be reinforcing int he minds of quebec region and other voters a wariness for the social project.  i'll have to look more into it.  in quebec, it's a common refrain that it wasn't money or the ethnic vote that won the independence vote for the pro-canada side, it was quebec city and her regions.

I don't think anyone's suggesting that federalists would ever be unwelcome within the movement. In fact, I'm sure it's quite the opposite.

Quebec Students, Government To Resume Talks

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/27/quebec-student-p...

"Quebec's university student federation has confirmed negotiations between student leaders and the provinial government will resume Monday afternoon..."

@ epaulo #19

Actually that goes both ways. 

It was interesting to hear the CBC Radio report yesterday that talks were back on, and the student leader quoted said that the government may be willing to compromise. 

In fact, the government has already offered compromise on several things, including a revised tentative agreement.

I guess compromise in this case means caving in completely to their demands.

I'm not making a value judgment here, just pointing out that not all the errors and assumptions go one way.

i haven't read everything here.  i agree bill 78 has to go, and that tuition be frozen at least.  provinces and everyone ought to get the federal government to increase transfers for universal public services and to create more full-time jobs with good pay.

smith

..i understand what you're saying. i was trying to point out that the offers by government need to be relevant to the student issues.

CBC Newsworld at noon today had someone talking about Montreal F1 hotel cancellations already.

Talks between the government and student organizations will begin again this afternoon, a little more than a month since the last discussions broke off. The negotiations should last over several days with both parties looking for a way to resolve the crisis.

Here’s a look at the crucial people involved in the negotiations and what’s been said about them in the past.....

http://montreal.openfile.ca/blog/montreal/2012/student-strike-talks-whos...

..txs bärlüer

It's a lovely sight this developing social solidarity, especially as compared to the deathlike political coma of the ROC.  Of course if Charest were to settle with the students and withdraw bill 78, it all comes to a grinding halt right? Pity this isn't  a revolutionary movement and prepared to keep going the whole nine yards because they're unlikely to be able to mount this kind of momentum again..

I hope you're right Boom Boom but if a settlement is reached it's more likely simply back to business as usual..unless there is a conscious effort and mobilization to broaden and deepen the struggle.

The casseroles facebook page suggests to me that something will go on regardless of a settlement with tuition fees, and, also, as many have already indicated, these protests have gone beyond being just about tuition fees.