Student strike against tuition hike #4

Unionist wrote:

Several thousand students are marching right now in Montréal, for the 7th consecutive nightly demo. Several hundred are also marching in Québec.

And another 200-300 in Hull.

Above: Despite a court injunction, students have forced the cancellation of classes at CÉGEP Sherbrooke for a third consecutive day.

The same scene played itself out yesterday at CÉGEP St-Laurent, and it looks as if striking students at CÉGEP Maisonneuve will succeed today as well in forcing closure in defiance of an injunction.

On this May 1st, 2012, the students are in the forefront of the workers' struggle!

Fidel wrote:

The students are providing pretty good diversion for the Charest crooks and their well connected friends embroiled in corruption charges. And the newz media are playing right along.

Nice bit of solidarity, there, Fidel. Dismissing the student uprising in Quebec as a "diversion" and criticizing the MSM for giving them coverage! And on May Day, no less...

You've gone completely down the rabbit hole in your zeal to prop up the treacherous social democrats.

I've flagged this post and asked the moderators to tell you to stay out of this thread.

FECQ and FEUQ (the Cegep and university federations) have jointly announced a "counter-offer" to the government's "offer" of last week - CLASSE has said it may announce its own counter-offer on Thursday:

The key one is #7 - freeze tuition fees at 2012 levels to maintain accessibility. That of course is supposedly the non-starter for the Charest government. But the PQ was pushing for a moratorium for 2012 to give time for more talks... What if the government comes back with a freeze for 2012, postponing the start of the phased increases till 2013 - in an attempt to show flexibility, reasonableness, divide the students, etc.? Just thinking out loud.

It's unfortunate that two organizations are stepping forward with this, leaving CLASSE to its own decision.

M. Spector wrote:

Fidel wrote:

The students are providing pretty good diversion for the Charest crooks and their well connected friends embroiled in corruption charges. And the newz media are playing right along.

Nice bit of solidarity, there, Fidel. Dismissing the student uprising in Quebec as a "diversion" and criticizing the MSM for giving them coverage! And on May Day, no less...

You've gone completely down the rabbit hole in your zeal to prop up the treacherous social democrats.

I've flagged this post and asked the moderators to tell you to stay out of this thread.

I don't understand. Are you suggesting that aside from imposing higher tuitions in PQ, the Charest Government is clean otherwise? Why can't they be both neoliberals and corrupt at the same time? Is there a rule against it happening?

Corruption in Quebec widespread, watchdog says as probe expands

Quote:

Quebec's anti-corruption squad has no fewer than 16 investigations under way, in addition to the one that made headlines this week with the arrest of 15 people, including construction magnate Antonio Accurso, charged with corruption, fraud, conspiracy and bribery.

Allegations of corruption in major construction projects have tainted all levels of government from smaller municipalities to bigger cities, spreading to the Quebec government and federal officials. But statements on Thursday from the head of the province's anti-corruption unit indicate suspicions of wrongdoing in Quebec's biggest resource program, major energy projects and even social programs.

They mention a name which all the big families in Quebec are related to. Quebecers didn't trust their government in October 1970 and thought they were corrupt then, too.

Cops have arrested two fund raisers for the governing Liberal Party.

<a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/28/students-reject-offer-thousands-march-in-night-protest">Maria Peluso, Concordia teacher's union</a> wrote:

"The problem is that the debt has not been the result of any abuses of the citizens," Peluso said. She pointed to the corruption allegations swirling around the governing Liberals as one of the reasons the province is in a financial hole.

Don't sell the kids or Quebecers short, Unionist. They aren't as naive as you think.

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/02/quebec-st... student protests mark 'Maple spring' in Canada[/url]

Martin Lukacs wrote:

In the painful tumult of daily protests, an entire generation of Québécois youth is learning a political lesson no class would ever teach: violence underlies all of society's inequalities, and power doesn't yield an inch without a fight.

The students' courage and creativity in the face of such brutality has lit a fire under Quebec. Their achievement has been to begin to clarify for a broad swath of society that a tuition hike is not a matter of isolated accounting, but the goal of a neoliberal austerity agenda the world over. Forcing students to pay more for education is part of a transfer of wealth from the poor and middle-class to the rich – as with privatization and the state's withdrawal from service-provision, tax breaks for corporations and deep cuts to social programs.

The fault-lines of the struggle over education – dividing those who preach it must be a commodity purchased by "consumers" for self-advancement, and those who would protect it as a right funded by the state for the collective good – has thus sparked a fundamental debate about the entire society's future.

What Really Happened at the Montréal May Day Protest?
From Peaceful Protest to Police Brutality

quote:

Having been at the protest from its beginning, I can say that it was a peaceful march. While there were individual acts of vandalism (the worst I saw was drawing on a bank's window with a black marker), if police action were to be taken, it should be to arrest the specific vandal. Instead, they implemented collective punishment for exercising our "fundamental freedoms."

The protest began in the Old Port of the city of Montréal, and made it's way down rue Notre-Dame, up St-Laurent, and down to the financial district. The mood was good, people were in high spirits, with music, drums, the occasional fire cracker, young and old alike.

As we entered the financial district, the presence of the riot police became more apparent. When the protest made it to McGill College Ave. - crossing a wide intersection - as the march continued in its consistently peaceful path, the riot police quickly assembled alone the street below us. The crowd quickly became nervous as the protest was declared "illegal." Before I could even take a photo of the police down the street in a long line, they began charging the crowd. Protesters dropped their signs and began up the street toward McGill University, while another section branched off along the intended direction, and others scattered.

The march had been successfully split, and the small factions were then being isolated and surrounded. Suddenly, riot police were everywhere, marching up the street like storm troopers, police cars, vans, horses, motorcycles, and trucks were fying by. As one faction of the protest continued down another street, the riot police followed behind, while another massive onslaught of riot police went around to block off the protesters from the other side. When the police first charged, I had lost one of my friends simply by looking away for a moment. After having found each other up the street, we watched as the protest which descended down the street was surrounded by police from nearly every side. It was then that we saw flash grenades and tear gas being launched at the crowd of people. There was a notable smell that filled the air.

As we stood, shocked and disturbed by what had just happened, we made our way toward McGill to see where other protesters were headed when we saw a group of riot police "escort" three young protesters whom they had arrested behind a police barricade at the HSBC (protecting the banks, of course!).

Up the street, and across from McGill, one protester who had run to get on the bus was chased down by several riot police who then threw him face-first onto the pavement, and as a crowd quickly gathered around (of both protesters and pedestrian onlookers), the police formed a circle around the man and told everyone to "get back!" and then they began marching toward us, forcing the crowd of onlookers to scatter as well. The police then took the young man over to where the other protesters were being "collected" at the HSBC.

There was one young girl, with the notable red square patch on her jacket (the symbol of the Québec student movement) who had to be taken away on a stretcher into an ambulance. We don't know what happened to her.

As more and more police gathered, we decided it was time to leave, walking down the street through which the police had chased the protesters, remnants of signs, red patches, and other debris spilled across the streets; the remains of a peaceful protest ended with police violence....

http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/what-really-happened-montr%C3%A9al-may-day...

Hi Fidel, if you'd like to open a thread about the Liberal Party of Quebec and alleged corruption, I encourage you to open a thread about it. This is not the place for that discussion.

Spector, if you have a problem with "moderators," my email address is [email protected]. I'd love to hear your suggestions that don't contain scare quotes.

Fidel wrote:

M. Spector wrote:

Unionist wrote:

I've flagged post #60 for its offensive diversionary content.

Not much point, I'm afraid.

The "moderators" are obviously content to allow trolls to divert this important thread with slanderous attacks on the Quebec student uprising by way of covering for the NDP's complete lack of sympathy for their struggle.

 

Nice try. Yes according to the progressive anti-NDPers among us the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party shouldn't be criticized for their entitlements to kick-back and graft and running up the debt while, and at the same time, raising tuition fees!! According to them the students and Quebecers should not walk and chew gum at the same time.

Note: The debt, the corruption, and the Charest Liberals raising tuition fees are all part of the same issue. Quebecers and all progressive Canadians need to get behind the students and bring down this crime gang posing as the government of Quebec.

1. You're the one who is saying the students are a "good diversion for the Charest crooks and their well connected friends embroiled in corruption charges."  It sounds like you're the one saying that Quebecers shouldn't walk and chew gum at the same time

2. Does "Quebecers and all progressive Canadians" include the NDP?  Because they don't seem to be getting behind the students.

M. Spector wrote:

I made my suggestions by the usual channel for flagging offensive posts. As far as I am concerned, that ought to be sufficient.

Here is how conversation works: you or I start us off. Let's say you do. You say something. Then I respond. This can take a number of different forms: agreement, a request for clarification, my own elaboration of your point, a challenge, a rebuttal, a refutation--any number of things, really. Then--and here's the kicker--you do the same to what I said. That's how consensus forms, change happens and understandings occur. So far I think you've only got the first step.  It doesn't happen--for example--with contemptuous sneers of self-importance and arrogance. That sort of approach ensures that such a person's vision of the world only exists inside their own petty, miserable head. 

Now: should I have put that whole paragraph in quotes?

CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador lends support to striking Quebec students

GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - May 1, 2012) - Delegates to the CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador convention have given their support to the Quebec student movement that is fighting dramatic tuition fee increases.

CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says, "These students are taking on an issue that is critical to their futures. Tuition fees create a barrier to students - especially those from lower and middle income backgrounds.

"Up until now, Quebec has been a beacon for the rest of the country by having the most affordable post-secondary education in the country. These students are fighting to protect that," says Lucas.

The convention unanimously supported a resolution submitted by CUPE Local 4554, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Students' Union.

The resolution stated in part:

"In an unprecedented show of solidarity and unity, hundreds of thousands of Quebec post-secondary students have voted to go on strike against the Quebec provincial government to oppose the tuition fee increases.

Government and university administrators have sought court injunctions to try to end the strike, and during the past several days, government crackdowns on the student strike have become extremely violent and repressive."

epaulo13 wrote:

[From the resolution:]

Government and university administrators have sought court injunctions to try to end the strike, and during the past several days, government crackdowns on the student strike have become extremely violent and repressive."

Great to have a motion of support, but that last paragraph is almost 100% inaccurate. It shows that we have a lot of work to do building communication, let alone solidarity. The injunctions have been sought [b]against[/b] universities and CÉGEP administrations and against student unions by individual students - not by government or administrators. And the violence and repression did not start, nor did it even become particularly worse, in "the past several days". The tear gassing and illegalizing of demos and stun grenades and physical injuries and mass arrests have been ongoing for almost three months. And in fact, the student demos of the past few nights in Montréal have been calm and virtually without confrontations.

Which reminds me, tonight the ninth consecutive march of thousands of students is taking place as we speak:

And there's a bit of a chronology being updated [url=http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/dossiers/conflit-etudiant/201205/02/01....

The new slogan is: [b][i]Manif chaque soir, jusqu'à la victoire![/i][/b]

Translation (taking literary liberties): [b]A demo each night, till we win our fight![/b]

No problem, epaulo - just keep up the posting and the support - what you're doing here is great!

..txs unionst! it energizes me to do so.

All right! They came, they sat, they shouted, they kindly offered Charest a job (he'll need one!), and they left. The demonstrators are now back downtown around Ste-Catherine and de la Montagne. No violence, no arrests, no "mischief". Mission accomplished!

Sorry I will bad mouth the very corrupt Liberal Government no more.

The press conference is over. Here (roughly) is the CLASSE counterproposal, in two parts. Of course, no fee increases is the underlying assumption.

Phase 1 (immediate):

1. Research budgets benefiting private enterprises comprise a higher percentage of university budgets in Québec than the Canadian average. Reducing this gap by just 50% will save $142 million, which is to be redirected to education. CLASSE notes that if the government chooses to move directly to the Canadian average, this would save $284 million, and would allow fees to immediately revert to 2007 levels, just before the then-existing freeze was first breached.

2. Eliminate commercial advertising by universities (which goes to marketing themselves vs. other institutions) - saving $18 million, redirect to education.

3. Immediate salary freeze and end of bonuses for university rectors and upper management, as well as a hiring freeze.

4. Halt on construction of "satellite" campuses - there are almost 300 of these, and their purpose again is competition for existing student populations.

Phase 2 - for long-term stable and sustainable funding of university education:

1. Capital tax of 0.7% on financial institutions, instituted in 0.14% steps over 5 years.

2. Elimination of all university tuition fees in 2016.

Sorry if I got that somewhat wrong - just going by what I heard during the press conference.

it would have been nice if the two statements had been co-ordinated, but this is a very good statement by the classe here, prefacing and rough costing is certainly more effective than just a list of demands.  i really really hope this continues strong, even if the government doesn't break, the pq eventually will, eventually forcing marois to make promises along the lines demanded by the striking students.

The above demo of about 1000 students ended just a while ago, then merged with the main nightly march which is now ongoing. Signs read: "82% indecent!", "Student body against the hike!", "We have nothing to hide!", "For a transparent government", etc. It was supposed to be entirely nude, but organizers compromised a bit when the cops mumbled something about section 174 of the Criminal Code (I believe).

.

janfromthebruce wrote:

HA HA HA The people, butt naked (just sounded better), will never be defeated" - yeah, sure hope the day was warm!

14°C in Montreal at 8 p.m., scattered showers.

Charest's Liberal Party is holding its general council this weekend in Victoriaville - they changed the venue from Montréal to try to avoid mass protests. But students know how to use Google Maps!

[url=https://www.facebook.com/Soyons200000aVictoriaville]Soyons 200,000 à Victoriaville! [note: this is a Facebook page][/url]

[url=http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2012/05/04/002-victoriavill... sur les dents[/url]

There will be a meeting between Quebec and the four student groups (CLASSE, FEUQ, FECQ, TaCEQ) this afternoon. Also convened: Fédération des cégeps, CRÉPUQ, and CSN/CSQ/FTQ.

Let's hope this won't be just a PR operation for the Liberals' meeting.

Quick follow-up on my post above: the list of invited unions is rather strange... CSN is understandable (Cégep teachers, some lecturers), CSQ... "passe encore" (a couple of lecturers, but not that many)... but the presence of the FTQ is something of an enigma.

The biggest WTF question, however, is the absence of the FQPPU—the federation of university teachers...