Here's another one, from McGill Daily:
[url=http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2012/03/march7protest/]Outside McGill, student protestor severely injured[/url]
Student strike against tuition fees hike
Thu, 2012-03-08 10:59
#52
Thu, 2012-03-08 13:11
#53
what is it with these anglophone schools?
The Dawson student body voted Monday and Tuesday on this issue. The results are finally in and according to Dawson Student Union’s twitter, the vote went In disfavor of the strike. The numbers went accprdingly:
On the question of a One-Week renewable Strike:
Yes (851), No (2537), Abstain (148).
On the question a 3-Day Strike:
Yes (1022), No (2065), Abstain (123).
On the questoin of a 1-Day Strike:
Yes (1285), No (2049), Abstain (163).
Thu, 2012-03-08 13:30
#54
Global national has a video showing the police breaking down their own barricades to attack the students (March7 newscast)...pretty disgusting...as the students were being contained on the other side ...shows how the police have just deteriated to a lawless gang.
Thu, 2012-03-08 13:32
#55
Unfortunately the reactionary wing tends to be better organized than the progressives at some schools. I don't have an inside report yet on what went wrong at Dawson. But if you watched the Concordia live feed yesterday, you could see a few eloquent speakers from the floor making legitimate-sounding statements, like the one on the picket-line amendment: "It is illegal to prevent people from going about their business, going to class, etc." The stupid amendment (which should have been ruled out of order, since it was not consistent with the spirit of the main strike motion) ended up passing narrowly. At a general assembly, unless the sabotage is opposed with facts and passion, it can succeed. Organization is everything.
Meanwhile, there's a demonstration about to start at Sherbrooke city hall, and more demos planned for Montréal this afternoon and evening.
Thu, 2012-03-08 15:19
#56
..unionist, my french is not very good so i am limited to what i can dig up in quebec. i was wondering where is labour in regards to the students and the austerity measures in general. here in bc there is poltential for major confrontation as a number of major contracts have/are expiring at the end of march. i believe the teachers stirke will lay bare labour's intent in bc. this is not to say that they cannot be pulled into action by events occurring in another part of the country. i get a sense of intensity coming from the bc fed. there must be pressures building and they have to come up with a plan. they can see greece very well. otherwise i see buisness as usual from them for now. like the students, teachers have public support. that's a good sign.
Thu, 2012-03-08 18:17
#57
!
Thu, 2012-03-08 18:32
#58
..unionist, my french is not very good so i am limited to what i can dig up in quebec. i was wondering where is labour in regards to the students and the austerity measures in general.
Well, labour is with the students and against the last Charest budget. Everyone was there more or less in force for the big demos last year. What I don't see is concrete joint action right now. But that's hard to do, unless you're planning something big and have really mobilized the troops. Hasn't been done.
As for words:
[url=http://www.csn.qc.ca/web/csn/communique/-/ap/comm08-03-2012?p_p_state=ma... labour central, the CSN, release dated today]: Repression of students is not the solution[/url]
The CSN is asking the Minister of Education, Line Beauchamp, and her government to renounce the increases to tuition fees and agree to undertake a debate on the financing of education.
This was November, when demos were beginning - from the FTQ, with about 600,000 members among its affiliated unions:
[url=http://ftq.qc.ca/modules/nouvelles/nouvelle.php?langue=fr&id=2139&recher... hikes: FTQ in the street with the students![/url]
Let me know if you want more info or translations.
Thu, 2012-03-08 23:17
#59
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Students+take+streets+again/6272547/... marched again today[/url] in Montréal to mark both the student strike and International Women's Day.
Camille St-Aubin took part in the march for two reasons — for International Women’s Day and the students’ protest. A student at the Université de Montréal, St-Aubin called the plan to raise tuition fees an “atrocious idea” and argued that women will be especially affected because single mothers who will want to go back to school won’t be able to do so.
Concordia student Alex Bourque, 20, said he was with the student protest in solidarity. “I think everybody should have the right to go to school,” said Bourque about why he voted in favour of a student strike. “I don’t want Canada to turn into the United States where education becomes inaccessible.”
Thursday’s demonstration had a feminist theme, in keeping with International Women’s Day, with bras and symbols of womanhood adorning signs.
The students’ peaceful protest ended at the corner of Guy St. and De Maisonneuve Blvd where a smaller group began a march in the rain to mark International Women’s Day.
Fri, 2012-03-09 02:34
#60
Let me know if you want more info or translations.
..txs unionist. in fact there is. there's this. i'll appreciate anything you have time for.
Fri, 2012-03-09 10:45
#61
Let me know if you want more info or translations.
..txs unionist. in fact there is. there's this. i'll appreciate anything you have time for.
I had a look at it. It's basically a 7-minute ad for this [url=http://pljunet.info/proposition]proposal[/url], which the author wants students to submit as a motion at their general assemblies. The motion, if passed, would essentially create an association, or coalition, of student groups who agree to reject, in advance, any deal that would fall short of complete elimination of the government's 5-year phased tuition increases. It would require breaking relations with any association that agrees, or has agreed, to put such proposed deals before their membership. It accepts the possibility of jeopardizing the 2012 winter session as being the strongest weapon the students have and invites others to do the same. And it mandates a per capita of $0.25 toward the new coalition.
The video itself shows how the whole strike movement, like previous ones, gets played out in a tightly scripted environment. The MSM pretend to have a dialogue. The left (and he singles out QS for some reason) and the right (both right-wing ideologues among the students, and the state) use bureaucratic methods or force to limit the movement. And the movement gets betrayed and doesn't achieve its aims.
More or less.
ETA: He also talks about free tuition as a goal, and has a brief section talking about the whole socio-economic system, the gap between rich and poor, the commodification of human beings, and the need to destroy the state and its power. But the aim seems to be to encourage students to start with a concrete act - and that's the "proposal" which I described above. I don't know when he first launched it. Oh, and I think from a stylistic viewpoint, the video is very well done, though the sound track is a bit jarring in places. He's a 27-year-old immigrant from France...
Fri, 2012-03-09 12:32
#62
..tres bon. merci unionist.
Sat, 2012-03-10 11:38
#63
[url=http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/education/201203/09/0... profs want to get involved in the student strike[/url]
The problem, of course, is that any teacher strike would be illegal during the term of a collective agreement. Still, several dozen CÉGEP and university teachers met on Tuesday to talk about a broad range of actions, from symbolic ones to a one-day strike on March 22 (planned as a general strike and demo day for all students) - and an informal group have written to colleagues to plan more discussion.
The National Federation of Québec Teachers has to choose its words carefully because of the legal situation, but is wearing its partisanship clearly:
Jean Trudelle, president of the FNEEQ-CSN, supports his militant colleagues, and he himself participated in the Tuesday gathering. "We're looking at many different actions", said the union leader. "We want to show that we're not only in support of the students, but that we consider this as a social issue of absolutely primary importance."
Sat, 2012-03-10 12:09
#64
The winter of students’ discontent
Quebec students heightened their protest activities this past week, now moving ahead with a strike (or boycott) in an effort to dissuade the provincial government from planned increases that will see tuition swell by 75 per cent over the next five years.
Reaction to the tuition hikes – and to the ensuing student protests – has been predictable, in particular in the national media. The reasoning goes something like this: the hikes are simply common sense; everyone must pay their fair share; students in Quebec are whiners who should simply get over it.
Whether the strike/boycott action will be effective is open to question, but I would argue that the students are right. Increasing tuition is a bad idea, born of the worst impulses and economic ideas. The notion that this is just “the way things have to be” is simply not true. Here are a few of the basic arguments for tuition hikes – and why they’re wrong-headed....
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/winter+students+discontent/6272650/story.html#ixzz1ojbt9x00
Sun, 2012-03-11 13:06
#65
La CLASSE publie un journal Ultimatum spécial secondaire « Bloquons la hausse
La CLASSE publie aujourd’hui un journal Ultimatum spécial secondaire. En 2005, de nombreux étudiants et de nombreuses étudiantes ont rejoint le mouvement de grève des cégépiens et universitaires. Rappelons que ce sont les plus jeunes qui subirons l’entièreté de la hausse des frais de scolarité....
CLASSE has published a special edition if its newspaper aimed at Quebec high school students (equivalent to grades 7-11 in Ontario). During 2005, high school students joined the general strike and CLASSE is calling on them to do it again this time.
Sun, 2012-03-11 13:25
#66
[url=http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/education/201203/11/0... strike: Using music to rally people[/url]
Next weekend will see a 48-hour musical marathon, with some 175 artists performing, in support of the student strike!
Sing and play for victory!
ETA: More than 145,000 students are now on strike. And also this from the article (my translation):
Moreover, the FEUQ and the FECQ (university and CÉGEP student federations) will get involved in community activities throughout the week all over Québec. Mme Desjardins said that by so doing, students wish to "give back what Québec society has invested in them".
Mon, 2012-03-12 14:51
#67
Students hold silent protest downtown as UQÀM shuts four buildings
MONTREAL – Students continued protesting rising tuition fees today with a group of about 1,000 demonstrators sitting silently in front of Premier Jean Charest's office on McGill College Ave., holding their hands up in peace signs.
The demonstration lasted until about 11:30, with the last protester leaving and the street re-opening just before noon.
Earlier in the day, the administration at the Université du Québec à Montréal shut several of the buildings on its downtown campus Monday morning to prevent student protesters from occupying the pavilions.
Student protesters had been blocking entry to some buildings on the campus since 7 a.m.
The Thérèse-Casgrain, Hubert-Aquin, Paul-Gérin-Lajoie and Judith-Jasmin buildings were declared off-limits by the adninsitartion.
The university said its other facilities will remain ope
Mon, 2012-03-12 14:53
#68
Students hold silent protest downtown as UQÀM shuts four buildings
MONTREAL – Students continued protesting rising tuition fees today with a group of about 1,000 demonstrators sitting silently in front of Premier Jean Charest's office on McGill College Ave., holding their hands up in peace signs.
The demonstration lasted until about 11:30, with the last protester leaving and the street re-opening just before noon.
Earlier in the day, the administration at the Université du Québec à Montréal shut several of the buildings on its downtown campus Monday morning to prevent student protesters from occupying the pavilions.
Student protesters had been blocking entry to some buildings on the campus since 7 a.m.
The Thérèse-Casgrain, Hubert-Aquin, Paul-Gérin-Lajoie and Judith-Jasmin buildings were declared off-limits by the adninsitartion.
The university said its other facilities will remain open.
Tue, 2012-03-13 01:51
#69
..this video was released mar 5th so the totals number is up now. very well done is why i'm posting it.
Almost 125,000 Quebec students are on strike against a 75% tuition hike. Take a photo of yourself wearing or holding a red square, along with a solidarity message, and email to [email protected], and a video will be made for the March 13 day of solidarity. Organized by Solidarity with the Quebec Student Strike (on.fb.me/w7stBj). For more information visit www.stopthehike.ca
Wed, 2012-03-14 08:42
#70
McGill Arts undergrads last evening voted 55% against joining the strike.
McGill Post-Grad Society previously voted to go on a 3-day strike leading up to the March 22 one-day national strike.
Thu, 2012-03-15 00:04
#71
Anglo students transcend old divisions
The student strike has revealed an important generational divide within Quebec anglophone communities. While I'm admittedly not born in Quebec, I think in many ways I am representative of my generation of anglos. The only Quebec we've ever known is post-Bill 101, and we don't have the same baggage and hangups as those from past generations - the people who represent the anglo community in the media, at city halls, and at the National Assembly. We're bilingual and bicultural, we have both anglo and franco friends, and we live our lives not on one side of a solitude, but constantly in between.
I am currently a master's student in urban planning at the Université de Montréal. My student association has been on strike for over a week, joining associations representing more than 130,000 students. At our general assembly, I spoke and voted in favour of the strike, seeing it as our responsibility to do our part to fight a destructive government that from Day 1 has attacked public services and placed the interests of its wealthy friends ahead of those of the general public....
Thu, 2012-03-15 00:07
#72
Big nod of support for striking students
The student movement against rising tuition is getting bigger once again. A couple of union centrals have now thrown in their support.
The CSN and the Quebec teachers' union the CSQ say they stand behind the students and their cause.
Léo Bureau-Blouin is with the Federation of CEGEP students. He says this shows the whole community is rallying behind them.
"Teachers will now walk side by side with the students," he says. "I think this shows that this not just a student movement anymore but a social movement."
Meanwhile with the Quebec budget being tabled next week, the group has some suggestions for the government on how they can fund education without increasing tuition. One idea is to increase corporate taxes and the other is to bring back the capital gains tax.
But one thing is clear Blouin says, the students will not stop protesting until the education minister opens the lines of communication....
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10359327
Thu, 2012-03-15 00:27
#73
Striking students on the move
video
Striking students are on the move once again through downtown Montreal this afternoon, disrupting traffic along Rene Levesque around Peel, and reportedly throwing fireworks at police. Organizer refuse to give police their intended route.
The rally was organized by the Coalition large de l'Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE). They're the same group that managed last week's protest outside Loto-Quebec offices, on Sherbrooke Street. One demonstrator, Francis Grenier, was seriously injured in the eye, allegedly by debris from a stun gun.
More than 140,000 students in Quebec are currently on strike , frustrated with the Charest government's decision to raise tuition by more than $ 1,600 within five years.
Monday, hundreds of students had a sit-in for several hours on St. Catherine Street at the corner of Sanguinet Street.
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10359433
Thu, 2012-03-15 01:08
#74
Nuit de la création - Sit in à l'UQAM du 12 mars 2012
video
En prévision de la Nuit de la Création des grévistes, la direction de l'UQAM a bloqué l'accès à plusieurs pavillons par mesure de sécurité. Loin d'être découragé(e)s, les étudiant(e)s ont investi la rue Sainte-Catherine, et en ont profité pour revendiquer en s'amusant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OVwEpB-p0qg
Thu, 2012-03-15 01:09
#75
..dp
Thu, 2012-03-15 18:36
#76
Reflections on the AUS General Assembly
I initially thought this article would be written for, and read by, a campus on strike. I didn’t believe that the AUS would vote to strike, but there was always hope. The AUS GA was six hours of exhausting political soul sucking that snatched that hope away from me. These are my thoughts on the AUS GA and where those who voted ‘yes’ to a strike can go from here.
1. I’m very impressed with the turnout at the AUS GA. Thanks to Mob Squad’s ability to mobilize students for accessible education, and ModPAC’s ability to spread good old fashioned fear about the strike in the hearts of students, 1,120 voted on the strike resolution. This is approximately 15 per cent of Arts students. In comparison, just five per cent of Concordia voted to put their entire school on strike....
5. Another thing that will live on is Quebec’s anti-increase movement. History has shown that Quebec universities and CEGEP’s do not need McGill’s participation in order for strikes to be succesful, and with this strike shaping up to be one of the largest in history, there’s a good chance the government will buckle to the student movement’s demands. This reality makes McGill’s current lack of participation less crushing than it could be....
Thu, 2012-03-15 18:54
#77
Social Work Student Association joins unlimited student strike
The McGill Social Work Student Association (SWSA) voted to go on unlimited general strike yesterday in opposition to upcoming tuition increases ordered by the Quebec government.
The SWSA, which represents the 242 undergraduates in McGill’s School of Social Work, is the first McGill student association to join the unlimited general strike, which currently has over 180,000 students participating across the province....
Thu, 2012-03-15 18:57
#78
CKUT Off The Hour: The First Edition of the Red Square Report
News on the Student Strike in Montreal
audio
This is the first edition of the Red Square Report. There are currently over 108 student associations representing 130 thousand students on strike in Quebec right now, and that number is growing. They are striking to stop the planned tuition hikes by the Charest provincial government, which will amount to a total hike of $1625. For more information check out the main strike website:
http://www.mediacoop.ca/audio/ckut-hour-foirst-editon-red-sqare-report/1...
Fri, 2012-03-16 21:33
#79
Montréal calcule les coûts des manifestations étudiantes
La Ville de Montréal est à calculer combien lui coûtent les manifestations étudiantes organisées pratiquement tous les jours depuis près d'un mois afin de demander l'aide financière du gouvernement provincial. L'administration Tremblay compte revenir à la charge pour demander un financement spécial pour assumer son rôle -et surtout les inconvénients financiers- de métropole.....
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/regional/montreal/201203/15/01-4505...
..an interpretation
A message from the city of Montreal to all those who pretend that a student strike disturb no one and have no economic impact... After a month of daily demonstration, top city officials are now asking the Quebec government to help cover the mounting cost of police operations. This is the second time in a less then a week that a too city official ask the government to do something to end the strike fast (earlier this week it was the political boss of the cops who said the government needed to negotiate with the students because it was becoming just too big to manage....
Fri, 2012-03-16 21:39
#80
Open letter to the people: top 10 reasons to support the student strike
This is an open letter written by Anna Kruzynski and Eric Shragge, professors at the School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University,
Tuesday March 13th, 2012.
Two weeks ago, the undergraduate students in our School voted to go on strike; last week, our graduate students joined the ranks. This week, all students, graduate and undergraduate alike, will be boycotting classes. As Concordia faculty, we fully support the strike. Here are the top ten reasons why....
7. The strike is location par excellence for experiential learning of political processes. Collective actions and strikes in particular, are unique moments for students to develop critical consciousness, to learn to deliberate and to feel empowered. Many commentators who, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, had been lamenting youth’s apparent lack of interest in politics had a field day explaining how the Occupy Movement was all about doing politics outside of official channels. Where are these commentators now? What is going on in the student movement today is Occupy on steroids! With a clear demand!
http://geograds.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/open-letter-to-the-people-top-1...
Sun, 2012-03-18 00:23
#81
About 75 Concordia professors have signed this letter to date, supporting the struggle against the tuition hikes:
[url=http://geograds.wordpress.com/geograds-newsletter/concordia-professors-o... Professors Opposed to Privatization of Universities[/url]
Students are at the forefront of an important struggle over public education and its role in Quebec society. As professors at Concordia, we join our voices to those of our students. We call on the Quebec government to revisit the university funding plan and rescind the measures that would further privatize our universities through tuition hikes and increased reliance on corporate funding of research. [...]Historically, Quebec universities have been funded by the public on the grounds that society is enriched as a result. With public funding, tuition fees have remained low and higher education has remained accessible. Under Quebec's educational social contract, university graduates who achieve success in the labour market keep university costs low for the next generation through their tax dollars. This arrangement is a crucial part of maintaining a more equitable society in which people have access to health care and education no matter what their income is. This is what the student movement is fighting to defend today.
Sun, 2012-03-18 09:47
#82
Today, a "family" (all-ages) demonstration in support of the student struggle kicks off at Parc Lafontaine (corner Cherrier) at 1 pm.
Hope les flics don't gas the babies and elders!
Sun, 2012-03-18 10:12
#83
Hope les flics don't gas the babies and elders!
Why not? If they're complicit in student terrorist activities, they shouldn't get a free pass.
Hi lagatta!!!
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/reasons+support+students+strike/... faculty members: 10 top reasons to support the students' strike[/url]
[url=http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/... demonstrations today [including the one lagatta mentioned above][/url]
... and the Québec Federation of Women, the main housing and poverty activist organization (FRAPRU), and the National Federation of Québec Teachers will hold a joint press conference to support the students' demands and challenge the provincial government two days before the budget is tabled.
And lots more stuff!
The red is the symbol of the strike, the patch is to condemn the stun grenade attack which injured Francis Grenier.
Sun, 2012-03-18 10:18
#84
Oh, I almost forgot!
[url=http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/justice-et-faits-dive... disturb Jean Charest's dinner[/url]
While Charest dined last night at the upscale (and appropriately named) Au Pied de Cochon, about 30 demonstrators managed to drape a black flag over the front window, and shout slogans and make a racket with garbage cans behind - until police arrived and told them they could only afford to patronize cheap joints.
No bloodying of demonstrators and no arrests - for a change. Peace in our time!
Sun, 2012-03-18 12:45
#85
The Concordia faculty members write, in their list of reasons to support the strike, "A university education has become a prerequisite for most jobs." Surely this isn't true, not yet anyway. And what does this say about their attitude towards jobs in the trades?
Sun, 2012-03-18 13:24
#86
The Concordia faculty members write, in their list of reasons to support the strike, "A university education has become a prerequisite for most jobs." Surely this isn't true, not yet anyway. And what does this say about their attitude towards jobs in the trades?
Yeah, I think "many jobs" would have been more accurate. But did you find anything else in their statement worthy of support?
Sun, 2012-03-18 13:41
#87
@Unionist...oh yes, a good number of things. What I particularly like is "University education must be accessible to all, irrespective of income." I think this is an idea worth pursuing. In fact, you could argue that university education should be free, subject to a serious entrance examination (not the joke that high school grades represent). Let the best and brightest attend, regardless of income. You could also argue that it would be good to require all graduates to perform some socially useful work for a few years after graduation, as a payment in kind for their education. I don't think the students would like this much, though...
Sun, 2012-03-18 17:38
#88
Families and teachers join tuition protests
Student groups are hosting family-oriented protests across Quebec Sunday against the government's planned tuition fee hikes.
Protests and marches are taking place in Montreal, Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Alma.
Thousands gathered in Parc Lafontaine in Montreal before marching down Saint Denis Street towards the offices of the Ministry of Education.
Sunday's protests follow several hundred teachers gathering for a symbolic protest in downtown Montreal Saturday.
Teachers gathered in front of the controversial Ilot Voyageur, a building which was meant to become an integral part of l'Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM). They used a giant pair of scissors to cut a red ribbon and symbolically inaugurate the half-vacant building....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/03/18/family-tuition-p...
Mon, 2012-03-19 22:40
#89
[url=http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2012/03/striking-on-campus/]Some McGill departments join strike; students pepper-sprayed[/url]
A group of roughly 200 students demonstrated outside 1253 McGill-College on the corner of Ste. Catherine where Quebec Premier Jean Charest was scheduled to speak.
The outer doors to the building were opened by students and occupied until SPVM officers arrived from within the building to push students out. The officers used pepper spray.
U4 Arts student and Daily staffer Ethan Feldman was one of the students pepper sprayed.
Feldman said, when he arrived at the demonstration, the entranceway to the building had been “completely filled by students.”
“Eventually people who were blocking the door had to leave and go somewhere else. I stood at the door and I held it open,” said Feldman.
SPVM spokesperson Raphael Bergeron said in a recorded message that a “little group of students” tried to get inside the building, and that the police “intervened and dispersed” them.
Feldman said there were no police at the scene at the time. He said, however, police approached the students from inside the building, having entered from somewhere else.
“Police began to push the doors open, push everybody out very physically,” said Feldman, who added that he hadn’t heard any warning from police before they started advancing.
“At this point a police officer, seeing that I was opening the door or something to that effect, held pepper spray extremely close to my face…and he sprayed in my left eye, all over my face on the left side,” continued Feldman.
Tue, 2012-03-20 18:15
#90
Quebec tuition hikes not spared in budget
Unrelenting student protests did not persuade the provincial government to back down on planned tuition hikes, with the $325-a-year increase right there in black and white in the new budget tabled on Tuesday.
While the government’s uncompromising stance on tuition fees may offer some relief to struggling universities, it is guaranteed to spark even more unrest among students who have vowed not to let up their pressure tactics until the government backs down from the increase.....
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Quebec+tuition+hikes+spared+budget/6331885/story.html#ixzz1phKDBg3Y
quote:
And now, with the latest budget confirming what students have been battling to change, there is really no end in sight. Students say they will only ramp up pressure and plan to unveil a new action plan as early as this weekend. And they say going back to class is not an option.
Tue, 2012-03-20 18:46
#91
Catchfire
McGill Arts undergrads last evening voted 55% against joining the strike.
That's the McGill I know and love. A fearless fortress against solidarity and justice in the heart of downtown Montreal. No man, it's an island!
Also: love the eye patch!
Tue, 2012-03-20 18:50
#92
double post
Tue, 2012-03-20 22:46
#93
I can hardly wait - 220,000 will be on strike Thursday - and the demonstration!
Tue, 2012-03-20 23:33
#94
Well done, Concordia students!
[url=http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/2863]Street Party on Maisonneuve: Police said "go" but peaceful party continued[/url]
A couple hundred Concordia students gathered on de Maisonneuve Blvd. outside the Hall Building in a flash mob that blocked traffic during rush hour on March 20.
The road had been blocked since earlier in the morning as groups of students occupied the street while singing, dancing, holding workshops and discussion groups.
“The police have pretty much been here all day. I don’t think that anyone really called them in so much as they just finally got fed up,” said CSU VP External Chad Walcott. “They want us to go because this is a main artery of the city and it’s rush hour. Our answer is no.”
Wed, 2012-03-21 00:21
#95
Protest First Aid
Playing Safe with the Riots Cops
Getting hit with pepper spray or tear gas is a miserable experience. But it won’t kill you.
Follow The Link‘s advice and, as The Gazette‘s Karen Seidman put it, you’ll be back to disrupting the lives of Quebecers faster than you can say ‘fair share.’
Pepper Spray
It would be a small miracle if you’ve managed to get through the past few months of student protests without being pepper sprayed. The city is covered in such a thick layer of the stuff that on most days you could probably season a pretty decent jambalaya just by opening your kitchen window.....
Wed, 2012-03-21 14:26
#96
[url=http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10362292]High school students urged to join tuition protest[/url]
Suanne Stein Day is the chairperson of the [Lester B. Pearson School Board - English language board]. She tells CJAD that they heard through parents and staff with kids in their schools that protest organizers are using Facebook to reach high school kids.
"There were some suggestions that buses would be sent to the schools to pick up students who want to attend. We don't have confirmation of that but we decided that a precautionary note to parents was in order."
The English Montreal School Board is also taking preventive action. Michael Cohen, official at the board, says a note has been sent to the principals at all of their high schools about the situation and to be aware of any unexplained absences.
"Students should be aware that Thursday is a regular day of school and that any striking will be unacceptable," Cohen says.
Tsk tsk tsk!!
Wed, 2012-03-21 15:54
#97
Students in a number of high schools (at least five of them [schools, not students...], quite possibly more now) have voted on a one-day strike to participate in tomorrow's demonstration (which should be epic!)
The first video on this page shows a significant number of students in a Gatineau high school who participated in a demonstration despite the threats of disciplinary action brandished by the school.
Elsewhere at the high school level, information kiosks have been banned, a student has been suspended for one day for having distributed red squares (!), some schools have prohibited students from wearing them. Other schools/school boards seem to behave less hysterically: the representative from the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, to which the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie school in Outremont (the first one to vote on a one-day strike) belongs, sounds relatively sensible in the Devoir piece linked above.
Wed, 2012-03-21 15:57
#98
At the university level: Concordia University and Université de Montréal will be closed tomorrow.
Wed, 2012-03-21 16:37
#99
There are currently 239 907 students on strike.
Tomorrow, the count will reach 303 308.
Wed, 2012-03-21 16:40
#100
Catchfire
Those two 'redecoration" actions are amazing, Bärüler. Thanks for sharing.
Wed, 2012-03-21 16:50
#101
This is pretty sweet: more than 300 advertising posters around the city have been replaced/covered with strike posters.
ETA: oh, and there was also this "redecoration" of the Place Jacques-Cartier in Old Montreal that happened (last night?):
