36,000 Quebec Students Strike Over Tuition Hikes

[stockholmer]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12774/36000_quebec_students_strike_over_tuition_hikes/

An estimated 36,000 post-secondary students in Quebec http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/02/20/student-strike-grows.html have left their classrooms for strikes planned in response to proposed tuition-fee hikes. The Charest government plans to almost double tuition (the current $2,200 fee will rise to $3,800 over the next five years).

Montreal police arrested 37 people last week after the protesters occupied a downtown college, and it appears as though the police are escalating actions against the students. CBC posted a photo http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/02/20/student-strike-grows.html of police using pepper spray to disperse a crowd blocking the Delta hotel during a demonstration on Thursday. Riot police were brought in to suppress a group of people responsible for smashing furniture and windows and spraying graffiti.

While the striking students represent less than 10 percent of all Quebec students, their numbers have dramatically grown in the past few days. http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2012/02/20120220-200933.html "In just one week, the strike has more than tripled," said Jeanne Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the CLASSE coalition. "The (government) now has no choice but to take our strike seriously. If it does not (act) quickly, the Quebec education system will paralyzed even more." Thus far, Charest has shown no sign of budging. http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/94841/


He called his government's policy "fair" and well-thought-out, following consultations held over a number of years. Charest added that bursaries and loans would increase in order to guarantee student access, as part of a broader series of measures to increase funding for Quebec universities. Of course, as in the United States, loan interest rates could crush Quebec students who use them, and Charest's "solution" will surely be a bitter pill to swallow for any student who imagined they might complete their university years loan-free.

snip



Police use pepper spray to disperse a crowd blocking the Delta hotel during a demonstration against higher tuition fees Thursday, February 16, in Montreal.

[DonCoquixote]

1. Now this is the old Canada

Not the current one with Harper in charge.