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May 26, 2012 - No. 77 Support for the Just Struggle of Quebec Students Continues to Grow Courage and Determination of Students
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A heavy thunderstorm could not
dampen people's
desire to take collective action to oppose the Charest government's
Special Law and express their support for the students. Hundreds of
people marched through the downtown banging on their 
 From left, Leo Bureau-Blouin, president of FECQ, Martine Desjardins, president of FEUQ, and CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois walk into the Montreal courthouse on Friday, May 25, 2012. (CSN) |
The two actions are aimed at the suspension of the
application of certain provisions of the Special Law. The hearing to
consider the actions is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30. One of the
actions specifically seeks a judgement to have the entire Special Law
annulled on the basis that it is unconstitutional.
In their press release, the spokespersons for the student associations and the unions affirmed, "This law infringes on fundamental freedoms and rights, such as the freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and freedom of association. It does not respect judicial guarantees -- its penal provisions are vague and imprecise so as to impose excessively severe punishments. This contemptible law is for purposes of muzzling, crushing and dominating the student and other groups which wish to express themselves publicly."
Montreal's Anti-Mask Law Denounced at Ceremony for Mayor's "Award for Democracy"
The city's new anti-mask law was denounced along with
the Charest
government's Special Law and the mass police repression at the first
Mayor's Award
for Democracy ceremony, presided over by Montreal Mayor Gérald
Tremblay.
The two groups awarded the
prize -- the Montreal Women's
Centre for Education and Action and the Working Group on Urban
Agriculture -- both denounced the "draconian measures" imposed on
students
to end the conflict and urged the city to better protect democracy.
Their remarks were met with vigorous applause
from the hundreds of people attending the event at City Hall.
A speaker at the event, the Director of the city's Task Force on Democracy Dimitri Roussopoulos, criticized the city, the Mayor and the Quebec government. He noted that even with the mass anti-austerity protests in Greece, no such anti-mask law has been implemented there, nor have Greek authorities passed a law to restrict the right to protest. His remarks were also warmly applauded by the audience, many of whom wore the red square.
One audience member was escorted out by security when he donned a festive mask to protest the city's anti-mask law.
At the end of the ceremony, a protester climbed on stage to deliver a "Special Prize for Democracy" to the Montreal Police for the 2,000 arrests they have made in 102 days of the student strike.
Actions in Support of Quebec Students
March to Gatineau from Ottawa
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Students, union members, and supporters will hold a
rally and a march to Gatineau on Tuesday, May 29 at 6 pm at
Confederation Park. Their call reads:
Post-secondary institutions across the country are facing major funding shortages, and students -- already struggling with major debt loads after graduation -- are being asked to pick up even more of the tab.
But students in Quebec are fighting back in impressive style.
Over the past three months, hundreds of thousands of students and supporters have taken to the streets in Quebec, striking in protest of growing debt loads, a proposed 75 per cent hike in tuition fees, and the recently imposed Special Bill 78, which represents a disturbing violation of basic rights to freedom of assembly in Quebec.
Students in Ottawa recently took action as well, blocking access to student administration offices at the University of Ottawa campus in protest of a proposed 5 per cent tuition hike.
CUPE leaders have offered their full support to students in Quebec. To read their statement click here.
Ontario Students Announce Support Actions
 L-R: Benoit Dupuis, Ontario Public Service Employees Union; Sandy Hudson, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario chairperson; York University student Xavier Lafrance, at Queen's Park press conference, May 25, 2012. |
A group of students and staff confirmed today at a Queen's Park press conference that Ontario students are planning to take to the streets to support striking students in Quebec to oppose the Charest government's draconian Special Law and in common struggle against tuition fee increases. A rally is planned for June 5. The action is the initiative of the newly formed Student Solidarity Network, comprised of student, faculty and community activists.
The network is calling on the Ontario government to lower tuition costs, stating that since 2006 fees have been raised by as much as 71 per cent. In comparison, they pointed to the fact that Quebec's students are opposing a 75 per cent tuition hike.
"We have to turn back what has happened here in
Ontario," said Sandy Hudson, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of
Students-Ontario.
University of Ottawa, May 25, 2012
In related news, University of Ottawa students occupied the university's administration offices on May 24. Anne-Marie Roy, VP Communications of the University of Ottawa's Student Federation in an interview with Media Coop stated, "We are there in protest of the recent tuition fee increase that was adopted at the last board of governors meeting ... The University of Ottawa has yet to approve the budget; it is scheduled to be approved on Monday May 28 and this [protest] is in hopes they will reverse their decision to increase tuition fees ..." She described the tuition increases as follows: "Overall 5 per cent, for certain programs; if they are first year students or returning students, it varies between 4 and 8 per cent, but overall average is 5 per cent." She expressed support for the Quebec students and added "the success of Quebec students is very important and crucial to students in Ontario also but this is nothing new, it is not the first protest we've had here in the University of Ottawa or in Ontario."
Despite the school year being over, expressions of
support for Quebec students continue across Ontario campuses.
University of Guelph
International Support
Quebec Exchange Students Express Their Support
A website called "J'etudie la" (I study there) has been
set up where Quebec students on study exchanges around the world can
express their support for their counterparts at home and participate in
the fight for the
right to education. Students are pictured holding up a red square on
which is written the country in which they study and how much tuition
they pay. There are students studying in Latin America, Africa and
Europe. The fact that so many of the students pay no tuition and that
some are even paid to go to school shows that the Quebec students'
opposition to the tuition hike to defend the right of all to education
is both just and reasonable.
The creators of the blog point out, "The idea for
this blog came in response to the fact that in Quebec, the tuition
increase is often justified by comparing the amount of our fees to
those of other Canadian provinces and the U.S., the discussion being
'Everywhere else in Canada and the U.S., they pay more than in Quebec.
Quebec must adjust.' As exchange students, we have the chance to meet
people from around the world and have a broader view on this issue. The
idea is to share this broader vision by creating this blog. This is
our way to get involved from a distance in a cause that is dear to our
hearts."
The website is: jetudiela.wordpress.com
Chilean Students Declare "We Are All Québécois!"
On May 24, the Students' Federation at the University of
Chile issued a statement signed by academics and student leaders to add
to the growing worldwide denunciation of the persecution of Quebec's
student movement by Bill 78 of the Charest government.
They point out that this law is the most severe such attack since the War Measures Act of October 1970,
that it is an attack on fundamental rights and freedoms and as such has
been widely denounced by Quebec society.
Their statement outlines the
various ways in which the Special Law attacks students and their
defence organizations and also presents a threat to everyone's right to
express their views and freedom of association.
"The Quebec people, through their active solidarity, have stood by the
Chilean people for many years, which is why today we are called to
express our strong support for the student organizations and their
leaders, with the union centrals and with the people's movement.
"We do this not just out of solidarity but also because we understand
that such attacks on liberties in any part of the globalized world is
an attack against our own freedoms. The law known as the 'Hinzpeter
Act' put forward by the Chilean government has the same repressive and
undemocratic outlook.
"The struggle of students, academics and workers in Quebec is also
ours."
Taiwan
Students in Taiwan fighting for the right to education express support for the Quebec Students, April 2012.
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