Mass Workers' Opposition in Quebec
Quebec in an Uproar
Quebec City, April 2, 2026
The scale of public protest and outrage in Quebec is deeply shaking the ruling class. The ruling class is now clearly aware that the working class and people are categorically opposed to the actions of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government, supported by all the cartel parties represented in the National Assembly. They oppose the laws passed, the restructuring of the state that places narrow private interests at the heart of the decision-making process, the anti-worker measures, the attempts to divide the people under various pretexts, including in the name of national unity and reconciliation, the false "law of laws" called the Constitution, the cartel parties' claim to exercise parliamentary sovereignty, and much more.
During the week of March 31, the government passed three reactionary bills despite the well-known opposition and objections of people from all walks of life. These are Bill 3, an Act to improve the transparency, governance and democratic process of various associations in the workplace; Bill 7, an Act to reduce bureaucracy, increase government efficiency and reinforce the accountability of senior public servants; and Bill 9, an Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity in Quebec.
Bill 3 is a brutal attack on workers' organizations and their members. It amounts to total interference in the internal affairs of unions, undermining the collective action of Quebec workers. This interference manifests itself in the auditing of financial statements and annual reports, among other things. Bill 3 also includes a chapter to make membership dues optional for activities not directly related to the collective agreement. The government wants to turn unions into appendages of the state, regulating and controlling their activities. This is specifically aimed at breaking them, distorting them and silencing the voice of the unions and the workers they represent to prevent them from intervening in the public sphere on all issues concerning society.
Bill 7 is part of the mandate given in September 2025 by outgoing Premier François Legault to Minister of the Treasury Board France-Élaine Duranceau, who tabled the bill. Her mandate letter reads: "We need nothing less than to break free from the current system, break free from this straitjacket; we need to drastically cut back on bureaucracy. The new President of the Treasury Board will be responsible for ensuring that each ministry cleans up the bureaucracy, and she will have my full support." Duranceau introduced the bill with the goal of reducing spending by $35 million by 2029-2030, affecting at least 40 entities. The 100-page omnibus bill makes 128 changes: 78 laws are amended and three are repealed; 34 regulations are amended, two are repealed, and there is one decree. Bill 7 is part of a "shock therapy" approach to downsizing the state, leading to the elimination of certain structures and, more broadly, the elimination of 5,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions by 2027.
Bill 9 is an attack on freedom of conscience with the introduction of police powers in education and childcare services. It is linked to Bill 94, an Act to reinforce laicity in the education network and to amend various legislative provisions. Bill 9 imposes prohibitions in the name of the principles upon which the laicity of the state is based. It targets early childhood centres, subsidized childcare centres, home-based childcare coordinating offices, individuals responsible for subsidized home-based childcare services, accredited educational institutions, private health care facilities under contract, intermediate resources, and family-type resources. This bill is being denounced throughout Quebec as racist, inhumane, discriminatory, divisive, anti-women and destructive to society, and as having no place in a modern Quebec.
All these anti-people bills, regulations and measures have sparked a new wave of protests across Quebec. The first rally was held on Saturday, April 11, during the Liberal Party of Canada's National Convention, which took from April 9 to 11 at the Montreal Convention Centre, just prior to the three April 13 federal by-elections. The Carney government's aim in these by-elections was to give itself a majority to claim legitimacy for its counter-revolutionary anti-social restructuring that gives carte blanche to supranational billionaires in the health, energy, security, communications, transportation and defence production sectors to plunder Canada's resources and use public monies to enrich themselves. The second protest took place on April 12 during the CAQ leadership convention in Drummondville, where Christine Fréchette was chosen as the party's new leader, thus becoming the new de facto Quebec Premier as chosen by a minuscule number of people.
March and rally outside Liberal Party
convention, Montreal, April 11, 2026
On April 2, more than 10,000 people, community groups and advocacy organizations demonstrated in Quebec City in front of the National Assembly to demand massive investments to enable them to carry out their missions to affirm rights and meet the people's needs, and to oppose the CAQ government's dismantling of public services as well as Bill 7, which specifically targets them.
Earlier this spring, the mass movement sweeping Quebec had further intensified following the tabling of Finance Minister Éric Girard's budget on March 18, a budget deemed anti-people, anti-social, and designed to benefit the rich.
From March 23 to April 2, thousands of community workers across Quebec held a general strike to denounce the chronic underfunding imposed by the government. Under the banner "Community Workers at the End of their Rope," they demand a significant increase in their funding.
On March 28, several hundred people and their organizations gathered in front of the Château Royal in Laval, where the final debate between CAQ leadership contenders Bernard Drainville and Christine Fréchette was taking place. The people presented their own agenda on the issues facing Quebec. Paramedics, on strike for months, turned out in large numbers to demand better pay and working conditions that allow them to save lives, fully aware of their essential role in the health care system. Community organizations demanded funding and working conditions that would allow them to fulfill their responsibilities.
Environmental activists and residents of Lanaudière and the surrounding area reaffirmed that Quebec's territory belongs to the people of Quebec, not to wealthy private interests. They also represented a coalition of more than 25 citizens' committees across Quebec calling for a moratorium on wind farm development until a comprehensive public hearing (BAPE) is held on the wind energy sector.
On February 20, actions were held in nine Quebec cities to mark World Day of Social Justice, demanding that the government take immediate steps to ensure everyone has access to housing, health care and social programs -- in short, to stop the government's agenda of paying the rich and serving the oligarchs.
There were also demonstrations by thousands of people and advocacy groups on February 7 in Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and Montreal to oppose the abolition of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), which guarantees a fast track to permanent residency.
Demonstrations against abolition of Quebec Experience Program in
Chaudiere- Appalaches (top) and Montreal, February 7, 2026
The people of Quebec do not accept the restructuring plans of the CAQ, first under Legault and no doubt to be continued under Fréchette, to pay the rich and destroy society in their name. They are fed up with this corrupt government that acts with impunity, with its "law of laws" and its parliamentary sovereignty, and all the other measures that aim to silence the people, prevent them from speaking for themselves and criminalize them.
(Photos: TML, AFPC-Quebec, CSN)
This article was published in
Volume 56
Number 20 - April 15, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560201.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca