The current strike, however, is exceptional by its duration (three months); many college and university students are at risk of seeing their winter semester cancelled. The strike has also been marked by violent scuffles between demonstrators and police, including a recent one in Victoriaville that nearly killed one student.
Why are young Quebecers more determined this year than in the past?
First, the increase announced by the government of Jean Charest is, in the Quebec context, very large: $325 a year for five years. In 2016-17, a student will pay $3,793 a year compared to $2,168 today. Tuition fees in Quebec will remain among the lowest in North America.
Still, Quebec students and their supporters are convinced that the government’s policy will have catastrophic consequences, reducing participation rates and increasing young people’s debt load. It is also seen as going against the “Quebec model,” made up of generous social programs paid for by high taxes, high debt and federal equalization payments.
In the past, most student strikes have petered out as students began to fear the loss of their semester. This spring, as that scenario becomes ever more probable, the striking students show no sign of backing down.
Besides the size of the tuition fee increase, another reason for the strength of the student movement this year is the support of the many groups and individuals who, for one reason or other, are angry with the Liberal government. Unions, ecologists, artists, teachers, intellectuals and separatists have encouraged the strikers and joined them in the streets. The strike has become a protest movement against Charest, who is wearing the scars of nine years in power and whose government is submerged by allegations of corruption.
The student associations are also blessed with intelligent, good-looking and well-spoken leaders. It took many weeks for journalists to discover that the star of the student movement, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, has a more radical agenda than simply freezing tuition fees. In a speech that at first attracted little media attention, Nadeau-Dubois explained the strike would be a “springboard for a radical protest” and attacked the elite governing Quebec as “greedy, vulgar and corrupt.”
Like Nadeau-Dubois, many students and supporters see the strike as part of a larger movement to topple an unfair neo-liberal economic system, following the Occupy campaign. Many have spoken of a “Quebec Spring,” an obviously ridiculous reference to the Arab Spring that nonetheless caught on. This quasi-revolutionary atmosphere has made students indifferent to the significant compromises the government has proposed.
Frustrated by the students’ stubbornness, the minister of education, Line Beauchamp, one of the most talented members of Charest’s cabinet, resigned Monday after a last and futile attempt at reaching a compromise.
Meanwhile, Quebecers are growing tired of the violence and other problems the numerous demonstrations are causing, in particular traffic congestion and subway slowdowns. Last Thursday, the Montreal Metro was paralyzed for the entire morning rush hour after smoke bombs exploded in three stations. Four students have been charged for this stupid and dangerous act.
After a tentative agreement to end the strike fell apart last week, we are again at an impasse. Attempts to begin a new round of discussions have thus far failed. Many are insisting that the Liberal government should make the ultimate compromise, a moratorium on the tuition fee increase, so as to bring back “social peace.”
Charest wants nothing of that, if only for the reason that a majority of Quebecers, especially in the regions of the province where his electoral chances are highest, do not want him to surrender to these “spoiled kids.”
Part of Charest’s tough stance may be the result of political calculation, but he is also right. As numerous and determined as they are, the young strikers are a minority, even among students. The violent actions of the few are the only reason the movement has attracted so much attention and created so much tension. A government retreat would only encourage those who smash shop windows, throw rocks at police and block roads.
Of course, there are risks to the strike’s continuation. More people could get hurt. But if the Liberals surrender, a dangerous precedent will have been set: Those who disagree with the Quebec government’s policy will need only to create chaos, through illegal means, to win their case. The social peace that the moratorium advocates are aiming at would be short-lived.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: André Pratte
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