Huge omission in article on student strikes
Thu, 2007-02-01 06:38
#1
Huge omission in article on student strikes
Thu, 2007-02-01 06:38
#2
There is a huge omission in Jenn Watt's article "Student movement stalled in mid-'90s". She says: "... student protests [across Canada] have never reached the numbers they once did [in 1995]." The articles omits any mention of the giant student strike in Quebec in 2005:
"On March 16, 2005 students from traditionally more conservative institutions like Йcole Polytechnique de Montrйal, as well as from Concordia University joined the strike for 24 hours. Between 10,000 and 100,000 students (80,000 being the number most reported) took the streets for a peaceful march in Montreal, creating the largest student protest ever staged in Quebec history. At this height of the strike over half the entire student population (230,000 out of 450,000) of Quebec was on strike simultaneously.
"The even more conservative Йcole des Hautes Йtudes Commerciales de Montrйal and McGill University undergraduates Students' Society of McGill University joined the strike on March 18 for 24 symbolic hours, though the McGill strike went largely unobserved and further action was rejected by the student body through an online poll. This constitutes the first strike since 1967 for the HEC and the first strike in 40 years for Polytechnique.
"Another strike peak occurred on March 24 during a 10,000 people march in Quebec City."
Full: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Quebec_student_strike]http://en.wikipe...
Thu, 2007-02-01 15:36
#3
Hey -- Thanks for that point. Actually, Quebec is omitted from much of the article simply because the province operates differently from the rest of Canada regarding student movements.
It could actually make for an article on its own: How Quebec has avoided widespread demobilization.
Thanks!
Jenn Watt
[ 01 February 2007: Message edited by: Babbling_Jenn ]
Thu, 2007-02-01 15:55
#4
Oh, and I should add one other thing. The article is about CFS. CFS is only present at Concordia and, in a limited way, at McGill through the graduate students' union.
That also contributed to the lack of Quebec mention.
Point taken, though. The situation in Quebec is definitely worth nothing at the very least.
Fri, 2007-02-02 08:36
#5
For sure, the Quebec students movement is lightyears appart of the rest of Canada. And, interestingly, that's where tuitition fees are the lowest in North America.
That being said, I have heard from friends involved in Quebec students associations that demobilization is gaining strenght in La Belle Province too.
From what I have heard a majority of CADEUL (Universitй Laval's top students association) delagates favour a [i]dйgel[/i] of tuitition fees.
But that's far from my reality. There is no university in the Northwest Territories...
Fri, 2007-02-02 11:05
#6
That's really interesting. What is a degel?
Fri, 2007-02-02 14:41
#7
M. Spector
A [i]dйgel[/i] in this context is a thawing of a tuition fee freeze - in other words, an increase.