It's about way more than tuition fees now.
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Student strike movement continues #6
Tue, 2012-05-08 21:50
#1
Student strike movement continues #6
Tue, 2012-05-08 21:52
#2
Little fascists have always hated the youth. They can't control them. They can't predict what they'll do:
[url=http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10381196]François Legault: Open schools with "whatever means necessary"[/url]
Francois Legault says the province should take whatever means necessary to make sure that all schools are open, starting Monday morning, to students who want to attend class.
"The direction at CÉGÉPS and universities has to make sure that they have all the support necessary, including the support of police, to make sure that it happens in an orderly manner," says the CAQ leader.
Tue, 2012-05-08 23:10
#3
Manifestation pour le droit à l'éducation !
https://www.facebook.com/events/232620616844146/
google translate:
Demonstration for the right to education!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
2:00 pm Until 5:00 pm in UTC-04
Attention ***** the date may change because there is a manifestation of the same day FRAPRU *********
Against the arrogance and contempt for the government, let us unite once again to assert the right to education!
Sunday May 27 at 14 pm instead of Canada students invite the entire population in a demonstration to defend access to education.
Because we all want a better society.
Because the pricing does not help the construction of an egalitarian society.
Because our public services should remain public.
Because education is a right!
Overall, block the rise!
Tue, 2012-05-08 23:14
#4
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The inspiring and courageous strike by students across Québec against proposed tuition hikes is making clear that we live, study, and work in perilous times. By struggling and taking a stand for justice in the age of austerity and by taking to the streets in the hundreds of thousands, students in Québec have sparked a movement that is resonating with students around the world, from BC, to Tokyo, to Australia. Regardless of the outcome, students in Québec have put in motion a process that demands that we all find ways to work together, in our various capacities, to resist attacks on education and other important social services; this is about shifting the blame pattern upwards to politicians, capitalists, and those who defend and police their status quo.
As part of this process, now is clearly the time for workers to build stronger networks of solidarity with students. Thus, on 7 May 2012 the Executive of CUPE 3908, the union representing over 500 contract faculty and student-workers at Trent University, decided to donate $1000 to the Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSE) to assist with the strike and its costs for members. CUPE 3908 members are greatly inspired by the significant solidarity donations made to striking Quèbec students by the CAW, such fellow student-worker unions as CUPE 3902 (UofT) and CUPE 3906 (McMaster), and the Graduate Student Association at Trent. We encourage other workers and union locals to wear the red patch in solidarity with the strike and consider making a similar donation. There is power in our union!
In love and solidarity with the Quèbec student strike, from Peterborough, Anishinabe Territory,
Stephen Horner, President, on behalf of the Executive Committee
Wed, 2012-05-09 00:27
#5
Donation to ASSÉ from contract academic workers and grad students at McMaster University in Hamilton.
Wed, 2012-05-09 00:40
#6
The End of Nothing
quote:
The government says they’ll strike a 19-member committee to find savings. Of those members, four will be students and four will be union reps. The others will be university directors, and business and government representatives.
That’s five parties trying to find solutions where two parties couldn’t. And at least three of those five are extensions of the corrupt and useless system we’ve spent over two years hounding for their incompetence and complete disregard for students. Many will be the same university directors who support the hike while collecting gold-plated pay-cheques and absconding with public money.
And what are “business representatives” doing on the council? Why do we care what the CEO of Pizza Pizza thinks of tuition? He’s only going to want it to go up so he isn’t threatened with higher taxes to pick up the slack.
So, on this body that’s supposed to help reduce fees for increasingly-indebted students, more than half of the voting members will be non-students.
This whole increase was to fund our poor, underfunded universities. This new deal would take money from those universities and give it directly to the government.
There’s nothing win-win about this trojan horse of a deal. We lose and universities lose more.
This strike has set the students back an extra $153 per year. They’re laughing at us.
By press time today, 25 student associations have voted against this trap of a deal. We would be wise to do the same. If not a freeze, we should at least ask for one more student rep and one more union rep on the committee. That would give us the majority we need to enact meaningful change.
Festival season starts soon, and the last thing the province wants in its largest city is clouds of tear gas engulfing the F1 and Jazz Fest crowds. The government doesn’t have the stamina nor the stomach to keep this up, but we do. If we keep protesting, peacefully and safely, we can get a better deal. After months of work, we’re this close to victory. Let’s not give up now.
Wed, 2012-05-09 01:10
#7
..my highlight
Students reject offer, thousands march in night protest
MONTREAL - Students said they will protest every night in downtown Montreal until a tuition deal is reached and they continued to make good on that promise on Friday.
Thousands of students and their supporters marched through downtown Montreal in a night protest that was largely peaceful even though there were 35 arrests and some damage to property. Students have been protesting in Montreal at night all week.
Police declared the march illegal around 10 p.m., yet students and their supporters snaked through the streets of downtown Montreal and the Plateau district until 2 a.m.
Many protesters voiced their displeasure with Quebec Premier Jean Charest's latest offer, which he announced earlier in the day.
Students will be expected to pay $1,778 over seven years as opposed to $1,625 over five years as originally planned, Charest said Friday in Quebec City. The government will also add another $39 million for bursaries and said 50,000 students will have access to higher loans.
However, the offer was immediately denounced by student leaders who said it didn't respond to student demands. About 170,000 Quebec students are on strike. Student leaders say the proposed tuition increase makes university education more inaccessible and increases student debt.
Although several protests around Quebec have degenerated into violence over the past several weeks, Friday's march in Montreal was comparatively peaceful.
Masked protesters who tried to commit violence were roundly booed by fellow marchers. One masked man threw a rock at the doors of a bank in downtown Montreal. He was immediately surrounded by a group of protesters who jeered him.
They chanted "We stay, we stay, we will stay calm!"
The leaders of the three student federations told QMI Agency Friday that each member association will vote or debate the government's offer. A final decision on whether or not the strike will continue won't be known until next week, they said. However, all three leaders told QMI that they believe the offer will be roundly rejected by striking students.
More protests were scheduled for Saturday in Montreal and across the province.
Wed, 2012-05-09 12:43
#8
M. Spector
[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/face-of-quebecs-student-pro... and Mail interview with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of CLASSE[/url], May 8
Wed, 2012-05-09 12:44
#9
Quebec solidaire MNA wants civilian probe of Victoriaville police-protesters fracas
QUEBEC - Amir Khadir, the Québec solidaire MNA, called Wednesday for an independent civilian review of police action during the Friday night riot in Victoriaville that led to three severe head injuries.
One student lost the use of his left eye, a woman student's jaw was shattered and a third student suffered a head injury when, they contend, they were struck by plastic or rubber bullets fired into the crowd outside the site of the Quebec Liberal Party's general council meeting last weekend.
The demonstration was organized to protest against the provincial Liberal government's plan to raise university tuition by $1,778 over a period of years.
Some demonstrators fired projectiles at riot police, who also suffered injuries but none as severe as those of the three students, Khadir said.
Police fired about 30 rubber bullets, Khadir said....
Wed, 2012-05-09 13:15
#10
NDP's policy on Quebec student unrest: more federal cash for education
MONTREAL - The leader of the federal NDP says his party's position on the student crisis rattling Quebec is perfectly clear: it wants more federal money for post-secondary education.
Tom Mulcair bristles at the suggestion that he's forbidden his younger members from taking sides in the dispute over tuition — a charge levelled at him by opponents in his home province, particularly those of the left-leaning sovereigntist variety.
Mulcair says his caucus is united and that young New Democrat MPs, some of whom were university students just last year, understand their new role as federal politicians.
And that role doesn't involve weighing in on Quebec provincial debates, Mulcair says, even if his party now holds the bulk of the province's seats and is seen as its voice in Ottawa.....
http://www.globalnews.ca/sports/canada/ndps+policy+on+quebec+student+unr...
Wed, 2012-05-09 13:23
#11
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Tuition+deal+heading+defeat+vo... agreement doomed to fail, student votes indicate[/url]
Voting results on the tentative agreement on increasing university tuition stand at 3,200 for – and 83,250 against.
Wed, 2012-05-09 15:56
#12
Quebec Students Rejecting Tuition Deal
video & transcript
https://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&...
Wed, 2012-05-09 16:09
#13
Montreal media: What it's like to cover Quebec's student strike
quote:
Corporate media takes heat
For many protesters, the battle has grown from fighting tuition hikes into a broader fight for a new economic order – and corporate-owned media coverage has come under fire.
Santerre acknowledged that some protesters give him heat for working for La Presse, whose parent company is the corporate giant Power Corp.
The paper's chief editorialist André Pratte has come out in favour of the tuition increase.
Global’s Macdonald agreed there’s a challenge to covering the protests when you’re part of “big media”.
“There’s a sense that we can be targeted because we’re perceived to be the establishment,” she said. “Of course we don’t think we’re the establishment. We challenge the police… We try to tell everyone’s story.”
As Santerre points out though, Quebecor, one of Canada’s biggest media companies whose coverage is perceived to be anti-strike, may have the toughest time. At some marches, demonstrators have taken to chanting down the Quebecor-owned TV station TVA.
“Quebecor might have even have more challenge than us,” Santerre said. “They have columnists that are strongly against the student strike.”....
http://montreal.openfile.ca/montreal/text/montreal-media-what-its-cover-...
Wed, 2012-05-09 20:49
#14
Enfin le printemps !
video:
Festifs, joyeux mais déterminés, des dizaines de miliers de citoyens occupèrent les rues de Montréal le 14 avril 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k2Vtw3NVeQo#!
...........
Printemps québécois - Discours pour l'augure d'un temps nouveau
video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HDfifMqMx9s#!
Wed, 2012-05-09 21:06
#15
May 7: Rally against Cuts at Sydney University
video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-yC2orqQ0v8
Wed, 2012-05-09 21:19
#16
The body, the mind, and dissent
For many people, a picket line is the essence of a strike, without which a strike might as well not exist. What a picket line means, the shape that it takes, and the power that it holds will all vary depending on the moment, the place, the people, the cause. As we discovered during the student strike at Concordia (Montreal), it depends on the body as both a form of political expression but also a strategic tool. This is echoed in our course readings on feminist geopolitics, such as Sara Koopman’s (2011) description of how the presence of privileged bodies beside those threatened by violent repression in Colombia creates opportunity for hopeful change. Judith Butler (2011) discusses the prerequisite of the body in politics in the context of the Occupy movement. Although I have experienced the almost surprising power of embodied politics during the strike, it is difficult to ignore the essential role of the mind in this process. During arguments with angry students, encounters with security, or mobilizing groups of strikers when scenarios suddenly change and next actions are unclear, an agile mind and an in-depth understanding of the situation at different scales is required – not something that is possible for all bodies. Additionally, the intellectual and emotional demands that accompany picketing can ultimately deter people from participating in picket lines.
From the first General Assemblies, Geography and Environment undergrads made clear that this strike must be “peopled” (to borrow from Koopman, p. 280). Previous limited-term strikes at Concordia, such as the one-day strike on November 10, 2011, had felt like more of a ‘snow day’ than a protest and the students voting for an unlimited strike wanted to ensure this was not simply an excuse to stay home and watch TV. To some, demanding hard picket lines addressed this issue, but others found this to be too confrontational, potentially violent, and alienating to students who might not be comfortable participating in this way. To leave room for the entire range of expectations, the term used in the strike mandate was “active strike”. What form this would take would depend on the participation of students, but largely this was determined by the strike organizing committee, which included myself.....
https://geoggingclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/the-body-the-mind-and-diss...
Wed, 2012-05-09 22:09
#17
Concordia Students Occupy President's Floor - April 2, 2012
video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b5UT_OnGwJI
Concordia students occupy the admin offices on the 15th floor of the John Molson School of Business building, demanding academic amnesty for striking students and the university to state their official position against proposed tuition hikes by the Charest government. After refusing to leave the hall outside Concordia President Frederick Lowy’s office, the President came out to speak with the crowd of students.
Read full article here: http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/2943
Wed, 2012-05-09 23:18
#18
Update on the third day of voting: all general assemblies vote against the offer. Even colleges and campus not on strike took votes and voted against it.
Wed, 2012-05-09 23:33
#19
Balanced budget unveiled
Despite a $4 million funding gap left by the province, the University of Regina has passed a balanced 2012-13 budget confirming tuition increases for most programs.
quote:
Tuesday's budget set a four per-cent tuition rate increase for most undergraduate programs. However, students enrolled in undergraduate engineering and applied science, as well as business administration and most graduate programs will see a nine-per-cent tuition spike in September.
The rise reflects the current high demand for programs like engineering and applied science, as well as costs associated with maintaining laboratories, said university spokeswoman Barb Pollock.
http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Balanced+budget+unveiled/6589421/story.html#ixzz1uQy9JXi0
Wed, 2012-05-09 23:51
#20
SQ Investigation underway: violence at Victoriaville protest
audio:
http://www.cbc.ca/quebecam/2012/05/09/medic-calls-for-inquiry-into-victo...
Five days have passed since the protests last Friday night outside the provincial Liberal general council meeting in Victoriaville. Details remain unclear about what happened in the confrontations between police and protestors. Several police and protesters were sent to hospital.
Scott Weinstein is a nurse based Montreal who volunteers at protests. He treated some of the injured in the aftermath of the violence, and tells us about what he saw.
Thu, 2012-05-10 08:37
#21
Almost the entire Métro system is paralysed this morning, because of "smoke". The MSM are hinting that this is a coordinated smoke bomb attack, such as on a previous occasion, and implying that the students are to blame.
Yesterday, the CAQ's motion to use police to bust up students' picket lines at schools and force a return to class was blocked through procedural means.
Why do I see both these events being aimed at the same target - smashing the students' movement by any means possible?
There can be little doubt now, after Victoriaville and some other actions, that there are saboteurs at work providing pretext and cover to the authorities. Students have managed in recent weeks to encircle and stop the "casseurs" (vandals). Whether they are directly acting as agents of the state, or just acting on their own brilliant belief that rocks and smoke will win the students' cause, it is clear that the state is stepping up its attacks - and one of them is a desperate attempt to drive a wedge in the student-worker alliance.
Thu, 2012-05-10 10:18
#22
The [url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/M%C3%A9tro+system+paralyzed+smoke+bombs/6... hysteria[/url], predictably, begins:
During the course of the three-month-old strike by Quebec students opposing university tuition increases, the métro system has been targeted by smoke bombs several times, although it is unclear if the sabotage is related to the student unrest.
That's called "journalism". It's also "unclear" whether the sabotage is the work of retired senators, but that angle isn't mentioned - perhaps because senators never retire...
Many people affected by the subway stoppage, including transit operators, were quick to jump to that conclusion, however. One official making a service announcement about the disruptions to commuter train users said: "The students had fun this morning.”
Ha ha ha ha.
Speaking to reporters in Quebec City, Public Security Minister Robert Dutil called the attacks on the Montreal métro system “unacceptable.”
He said the sabotage was clearly a “concerted action.”
Asking if he would characterize the incident as a terrorist act, Dutil said he wasn’t ready to make that call.
“I’m going to wait until I have more information, but now we have a situation that is really intolerable,” he said.
Preventive detention without charge of students? Why not? Western democracy is at stake.
Whoever these saboteurs are, and however much they're being paid, they clearly deserve much more. They may yet accomplish what the entire machinery of the State and the MSM have miserably failed to do.
Thu, 2012-05-10 11:07
#23
Today's student strike against university fee rises in Spain. Solidarity, lets all take to the streets m12-m15 for global change.
Thu, 2012-05-10 11:25
#24
M. Spector
The [url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/M%C3%A9tro+system+paralyzed+smoke+bombs/6... hysteria[/url], predictably, begins:
During the course of the three-month-old strike by Quebec students opposing university tuition increases, the métro system has been targeted by smoke bombs several times, although it is unclear if the sabotage is related to the student unrest.That's called "journalism". It's also "unclear" whether the sabotage is the work of retired senators, but that angle isn't mentioned - perhaps because senators never retire...
Which was exactly my reaction to your comment immediately above that one:
Why do I see both these events being aimed at the same target - smashing the students' movement by any means possible?
I'm glad to see you are taking a more reflective viewpoint once you discover the MSM is agreeing with you.
Thu, 2012-05-10 14:05
#25
Montreal police have released images and descriptions of four suspects in the co-ordinated smoke bomb attack in the metro system at the height of rush hour this morning.
The photos, which police say were taken by citizens and witnesses, include shots of three young women riding together on the metro as well as shots of one young man.
All four suspects are described as around 25 years old.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/10/montreal-metro-s...
Thu, 2012-05-10 14:27
#26
Humm.......1o years in our crowded prisons for wearing a mask
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/conservative-mps-double-maximum-...
Thu, 2012-05-10 14:42
#27
Why do I see both these events being aimed at the same target - smashing the students' movement by any means possible? There can be little doubt now, after Victoriaville and some other actions, that there are saboteurs at work providing pretext and cover to the authorities. Students have managed in recent weeks to encircle and stop the "casseurs" (vandals). Whether they are directly acting as agents of the state, or just acting on their own brilliant belief that rocks and smoke will win the students' cause, it is clear that the state is stepping up its attacks - and one of them is a desperate attempt to drive a wedge in the student-worker alliance.
Well it wouldn't really matter now one way or another would it? A few out of sync students throwing rocks, or the police making it up on their own as pretext. Either way such things are inevitable, one out of frustration or even mischief perhaps, and the other being the standard operating procedure of the economic managers and their enforcement arm. Ultimately it will come down to the success of multiple efforts at negating the disturbances, mostly in favour of the government position through a variety of non-violent suggestive means, or the violent suggestive forms as only the police know best how to execute if need be. The decisions in that regard appear to be at hand.
Thu, 2012-05-10 16:40
#28
The Liberal government and its allies throughout the 1% continue to be shocked, daily, that students are not buckling to intimidation and blackmail and fear of losing their session and phony "offers"...
The more I think about outcomes, the more I see the state relying on provocation as a pretext for violent suppression. "Violence" includes what CAQ is demanding - "forced" return to class, which means using riot squads to bust picket lines, declaring them "illegal assemblies", charging students with criminal code violations under the riot provisions - besides the naked physical violence we've already seen directed at them.
Thu, 2012-05-10 17:03
#29
Whoever these saboteurs are, and however much they're being paid, they clearly deserve much more. They may yet accomplish what the entire machinery of the State and the MSM have miserably failed to do.
Democracy is a terrifying possibility as far as the status quo is concerned.
Thu, 2012-05-10 17:07
#30
It's the only logical outcome that an illogical system can arrive at. Cuts are going on everywhere these days. If the government 'caves' here it sets a precedence it can't hope to sustain across the board as other austerity related confrontations with the population arise, as it will going forward. This is merely the beginning. When Europe crumbles and drags Canadian investment down with it, the resulting shortfalls and bailouts will have to come from somewhere. If the G20 was a dry run for what will follow, then in Canada at least, Quebec represents the first large scale incident on the road to austerity. As you can see, now that outright chicanery has failed, the government seems poised to determine if hundreds of arrests and beatings will be sufficient in resolving the dispute.
Thu, 2012-05-10 19:52
#31
Andrew Coyne and the Quebec Students
quote:
I found myself wondering whether Quebec was still standing. And whether Coyne had to hire a squeegee kid to wipe all that demagogic foam off his face.
Because he could eh? He's the son of a one-time Bank of Canada Governor, and he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
So he could never understand what it's like to be a poor student, burdened by debt, unable to find a job in an economy where the youth unemployment rate is twice the national average. Or what it's like to face a bleak future in the kind of capitalist jungle Coyne wants us all to believe in.
You know, I'm worried. I fear Coyne is turning into some kind of holy roller preacher for primeval capitalism, and that one of these nights he's going to go on the excruciatingly boring Mansbridge panel, start screaming this kind of crazy bullshit:...
Thu, 2012-05-10 20:12
#32
Strange Media Consensus on the Student Strike
Pundits, especially pundits in the rest of Canada (ROC), were already having a hard time making heads or tails of the Québec student strike, which had lasted 12 weeks by the time a “deal” had been struck between protesters and the government. But in the wake of the deal’s rejection by masses of students who have chosen, at great risk to their own careers, to continue the social struggle, the opinion-makers are really scratching their heads.
Today, both the rightwing Andrew Coyne and the “moderate” Chantal Hébert (who represent what passes for the spectrum of opinion on CBC’s The National "At Issue" media panel) have put forward some strange ideas about the motivations of Québec student protestors. Perhaps we can learn from their befuddlement....
Thu, 2012-05-10 20:19
#33
CLASSE rejects government offer
The so-called radical student group CLASSE said its members have overwhelmingly rejected the Charest government's latest offer to help end the student conflict over university tution increases.
CLASSE spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said it's no surprise the group's members overwhelmingly rejected the offer, something they told the education minister at the negotiating table last week would likely happen.
"This offer does not talk about the increasing of tuition fees which is the main issue of this strike," Nadeau-Dubois told reporters.
"Now the ball is in the field of the government."
Nadeau-Dubois said their members believe the Charest government is trying to get out from the hot seat and buy peace and quiet without resolving the main issue of tuition increases and without making concessions.
He said their group was not responsible for the actions that shut down the metro and was even inconvenienced by it themselves, adding they don't encourage people to do that.
But what they are encouraging is more protests, including a big one on May 22.
"Starting today we are back in the streets, we are back to mobilizing."
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10382216
Thu, 2012-05-10 21:01
#34
Amir Khadir has been condemning the random violence perpetrated by a handful of individuals, saying that it serves the interests of the government, not the students - whether it's smashing of windows, or smoke bombs in the Métro.
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/M%C3%A9tro+system+back+online+after+... the Gazette:[/url]
Amir Khadir, the sole Québec solidaire MNA, and a co-sponsor of the joint motion condemning the métro closure, said later the action was “criminal,” putting lives in danger, not “civil disobedience” used by figures such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi as a form of non-violent protest.
But Khadir also asked whether one day after he called for an inquiry into police action at the Victoriaville riot last Friday, it was possible someone trying to discredit the students was behind the smoke bombs, recalling past incidents of agents provocateurs working for the police.
“Let’s pray it isn’t that,” Khadir said, saying a public inquiry could dispel that possibility and adding that it is also possible someone misguided was behind the action.
“Stupid people exist,” he said.
But Khadir did say the students had no interest in taking such action, which would reflect badly on their cause and could help the Charest government win votes.
Thu, 2012-05-10 21:59
#35
Over 500 artists speak out in support of Quebec student strike
As student associations vote one after the other to reject the most recent government offer, and as questions are increasing exponentially about how and when a solution to the current political crisis will come, the student movement received another wave of support today as 500 artists signed on to a public letter supporting the strike.
Including the likes of comic artist Julie Doucet, well known directors Sylvie Van Brabant, Hugo Latulippe and Paule Baillargeon, and certainly students and teachers of the arts, it's another indication that as the strike stretches through a 13th week, support continues.
The letter was published today on http://artistescontrelahausse.org. It reads in part:
The dramatic tuition increase being imposed by the Liberal government will further threaten equitable access to education and will bury future generations under massive debt. It represents a neoliberal policy of austerity economics that targets the social infrastructure of Québec and reinforces systemic social inequalities.
The assault on education is also an assault on culture. Artists and cultural workers also produce knowledge, they engage in the vitality of public discourse and ideas. The ideology underlying the current changes in the universities, of which the tuition hike is only one aspect, is the same ideology that aims to privatise and commodify our cultural production.
This isn't the first time artists have spoken out. Earlier in the spring, a short video was produced featuring 15 or so well known Quebec artists, during the Jutra awards for the best in Quebec cinema, several artists wore red squares on stage, and on May 1 another 153 artists also signed on to another open letter.
Thu, 2012-05-10 23:38
#36
Fri, 2012-05-11 11:47
#37
Open Letter to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS)
quote:
Quebec has shown, again and again, that the only way to force concession from governments is to mobilize on a mass basis through a strike campaign and confront the government, not with postcards, but with action! Students and youth, as well as the working population in general, have been inspired by the Quebec movement.
We are therefore asking that our representatives at the CFS and affiliated locals immediately begin a campaign for free post-secondary education, and make preparations to carry out a strike ballot in the Fall of 2012.
A massive student movement in Ontario would show the Quebec students that they are not alone. It would strengthen the movement for free post-secondary education across Canada, and it would cut across the divisions created by the pro-business politicians and corporate press to weaken the student movement.
Our response to the race to the bottom; tuition fees across Canada should be immediately lowered to the levels in Quebec, as a step towards abolishing all tuition fees in the country.
Prepare for an Ontario-wide strike vote in the Fall of 2012!
Signed by (email us to sign on):
Fri, 2012-05-11 14:41
#38
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Courts+asked+again+keep+classes+open... receive 8 new requests for injunctions to keep CEGEP classes operating[/url]
More than 30 injunctions have been issued by courts in Quebec, ordering schools to keep classes open for students who are not taking part in the protests. In general, however, the injunctions have been ignored by demonstrators, who have blocked access to CEGEP buildings.
And:
[url=http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10382576]Police visit home of smoke bomb suspects [/url]
Fri, 2012-05-11 14:53
#39
..today's cover
Fri, 2012-05-11 15:02
#40
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/CEGEP+student+association+rejects+Quebec+... student association rejects Quebec's offer[/url]
After the CLASSE on Thursday, the association representing CEGEP students in the province has formally rejected the offer arrived at with the government last weekend while protests in Victoriaville degenerated into violent clashes.
The Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec said Friday that after a series of consultations with its members, the agreement arrived at with the help of big union negotiators has been deemed “incomplete.” It was rejected by a margin of 83%.
Fri, 2012-05-11 15:24
#41
Quebec Students Demand Education as a Right, Continue Strike
J Bedard: Students almost unanimously reject government deal, willing to lose year if necessary
Fri, 2012-05-11 18:45
#42
Sat, 2012-05-12 14:23
#43
YES!!!
CLASSE adopts anti-racist/anti-colonial mandate:
Whereas more than 300,000 students have been on strike in Quebec this spring, representing the largest student movement in Quebec’s history;
Whereas visible minority and Aboriginal peoples account for more than 10% of Quebec’s population ;
Whereas visible minority and Aboriginal students are positioned at a disadvantage in society due to ongoing systemic racism as well as historic and contemporary colonial practices, as evidenced by examples such as:
The earnings gap between Quebec Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals is more than 33 percentage points;
Individuals of Arabic ethnicity are more likely disadvantaged in the workplace, are less likely to be able to find gainful employment, and will have a lower annual income than the Canadian average;
Irrespective of age, education, language abilities, or occupation, Black women have lower total incomes than all other groups;
Whereas visible minority and Aboriginal students face discrimination in accessing university education, as well as marginalization within university environments;
Whereas visible minority and Aboriginal students are disproportionately affected by tuition hikes and student debt;
Whereas CLASSE represents and defends the interests of ALL students in Quebec;
Whereas CLASSE holds a public voice and decisive role in popular education at this critical moment in Quebec’s history;
BIRT CLASSE adopts an official position of anti-racism and anti-colonialism in education;
BIFRT CLASSE adopts anti-racist and anti-colonialist discourse in all communications, including but not limited to publications, media relations, speeches and congress proceedings.
Sat, 2012-05-12 18:27
#44
Montreal subway sabotage accused face terror-hoax related charges
MONTREAL—The gravity of the actions alleged against four young people accused in connection with Thursday’s subway smoke bombings became much more apparent Saturday with the addition of an anti-terror related charge.
The three women and one man, all in their 20s, will each face a charge of hoax regarding terrorist activity, which carries a maximum prison term of five years, police revealed Saturday. If anyone had been injured during the hoax, the maximum sentence would be 10 years.
They have also been charged with conspiracy and mischief over $5,000. The man has also been charged with possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, in this case, police said, it was a knife.
All four, who turned themselves in to police Friday afternoon, will appear in court this afternoon via videoconference.....
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1177640--montreal-subway-sabo...
Sat, 2012-05-12 18:42
#45
WHAT: Rassemblement “Concordia Community United”
WHEN: Tuesday, May 15th, at noon
WHERE: Atrium of Library (LB building)
WHY: Because we care!
Food, solidarity and some surprises are on the menu!
Everyone from Concordia and community members are invited!
Seven campus labour unions are in indefinite negotiations over their Collective Agreements. This situation is unacceptable to the unions as well as to the rest of campus community.
Students unite in solidarity with the unions.
The negotiation situation of labour unions at Concordia was brought to light by an article in the Link:
“Concordia’s unionized workers say they’ve had more than a few rough weeks.
“Whether you’re formally at the table or not, one never stops negotiating around this joint,” said Maria Peluso, president of the Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association.
She was chief negotiator for CUPFA during a record-setting seven-year period of negotiations that finally ended in 2008 after the union began rotating strikes.
“Concordia has a reputation of delaying negotiations, protracting negotiations, seemingly forever. It’s extremely unprofessional,” said Peluso.”
On the occasion of the General strike called by various community and student groups on May 15th, Faculty and students of Concordia have united to underline the solidarity between students, faculty and employees (labour unions).
Sat, 2012-05-12 19:01
#46
Boom Boom
Anyone see the news clip of the Mayor of Montreal this week? Asking Montrealers to take back their city? Asking parents to tell their kids to get back to school?
Sat, 2012-05-12 21:09
#47
M. Spector
Montreal subway sabotage accused face terror-hoax related charges
MONTREAL—The gravity of the actions alleged against four young people accused in connection with Thursday’s subway smoke bombings became much more apparent Saturday with the addition of an anti-terror related charge.
Another victory for the "citizen" vigilantes!
Whatever happened to the "agent provocateur" theory?
Sat, 2012-05-12 22:32
#48
The fact that the four persons "surrendered" themselves to the police suggest that it's not an agent provocateur situation in this case.
But the terrorism offence charge is ridiculous—and I can only surmise that their surrendering themselves does not mean that they recognize their culpability, at least to that charge.
Sat, 2012-05-12 23:01
#49
M. Spector
The fact that the four persons "surrendered" themselves to the police suggest that it's not an agent provocateur situation in this case.
Of course it's not. Not to mention the fact that they are getting the "terrorist" book thrown at them! Yet so many were quick to suggest (as they often do) that these people were police agents.
Now the good citizens who rushed to the aid of the cops with amateur video and photos can pat themselves on the back for helping to put nasty terrorists away for a long, long time.
But the terrorism offence charge is ridiculous—and I can only surmise that their surrendering themselves does not mean that they recognize their culpability, at least to that charge.
As you well know, surrendering oneself to police is no admission of culpability whatsoever.
Sat, 2012-05-12 23:46
#50
Of course it's not. Not to mention the fact that they are getting the "terrorist" book thrown at them! Yet so many were quick to suggest (as they often do) that these people were police agents.
Well thank goodness now ALL past and future gladio ops are discredited because of this one revelation. Thanks you saved us a lot of worry over unsubstantiated fascist maneuvering. Are we ever sorry now that we never mentioned it before in this thread. How foolish of us.
Sat, 2012-05-12 23:52
#51
M. Spector
Yes, this is a rare case that is the exception to your rule - that every action that upsets somebody else is planned, co-ordinated, and carried out by a secret cabal of mischief-makers who conspire to promote radical Islam and embarrass the NDP. And anybody who doesn't believe that is a conspiracy theorist.
[img]http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/images/stonecut...
