Conséquences de la grève

[samy]

Si vous voulez mon avis, les universités vont trouver un autre moyen pour recharger les 125$/année en frais X-Y-Z qui seront facturés autrement. Ça ne changera pas grand chose.

[Capucine]

Ouin je ne sais pas comment ils peuvent faire pour s'assurer que les universités n'ajoutent pas des frais ailleurs.

 

De toute façon ce n'est que remettre le problème à plus tard ; à la session d'hiver, il y aura encore le problème de la hausse... Mais on aura changer de gouvernement (ou en tout cas il y aura eu des élections), on verra si ce sera encore Charest le premier ministre (j'ose espérer que non)

[Robin Hood]

Ouin je ne sais pas comment ils peuvent faire pour s'assurer que les universités n'ajoutent pas des frais ailleurs.

 

De toute façon ce n'est que remettre le problème à plus tard ; à la session d'hiver, il y aura encore le problème de la hausse... Mais on aura changer de gouvernement (ou en tout cas il y aura eu des élections), on verra si ce sera encore Charest le premier ministre (j'ose espérer que non)

 

Selon les sondages, la majorite de la population appuient la position du gouvernement, j'espere que c'est faux.

[Capucine]

Selon les sondages, la majorite de la population appuient la position du gouvernement, j'espere que c'est faux.

 

J'espère aussi... Mais quand je parle avec des personnes plus âgées, beaucoup appuient le gouvernement et ont des tonnes de préjugés sur les étudiants («C'est juste des chialeux», «c'est juste les étudiants en philo qui font la grève», «y font juste briser des vitres», «ils pensent juste à eux en allant en grève», etc...) Ça me décourage. J'espère que ce n'est pas une attitude généralisée de toute la population vis-à-vis des étudiants.

[Robin Hood]

J'espère aussi... Mais quand je parle avec des personnes plus âgées, beaucoup appuient le gouvernement et ont des tonnes de préjugés sur les étudiants («C'est juste des chialeux», «c'est juste les étudiants en philo qui font la grève», «y font juste briser des vitres», «ils pensent juste à eux en allant en grève», etc...) Ça me décourage. J'espère que ce n'est pas une attitude généralisée de toute la population vis-à-vis des étudiants.

 

Deja, c'est facile pour les plus ages de voire les jeunes comme etant des voyoux et chialeux, comme si qu'on vit pas des difficultes dans nos vies nous les jeunes.

[future_doc]

Pas tous les élèves sont d'accord.

[willz]

De toute façon ce n'est que remettre le problème à plus tard ; à la session d'hiver, il y aura encore le problème de la hausse... Mais on aura changer de gouvernement (ou en tout cas il y aura eu des élections), on verra si ce sera encore Charest le premier ministre (j'ose espérer que non)

 

Hahaha, il pourra pas envoyer les étudiants travailler dans le nord aussi

[Hieu]

Les cols bleus de la ville de Montréal aussi sont victimes de préjugés,

les fonctionnaires du gouvernement, les policiers, les travailleurs de la construction etc.

 

En fait, tous les groupes qui sont assez nombreux et puissants peuvent être victimes de préjugés.

[Robin Hood]

Les cols bleus de la ville de Montréal aussi sont victimes de préjugés,

les fonctionnaires du gouvernement, les policiers, les travailleurs de la construction etc.

 

En fait, tous les groupes qui sont assez nombreux et puissants peuvent être victimes de préjugés.

 

Et les medecins, mais je ne connais pas comment les medecins sont vus au Quebec, surtout vis-a-vis le reste du Canada.

[willz]

Et les medecins, mais je ne connais pas comment les medecins sont vus au Quebec, surtout vis-a-vis le reste du Canada.

 

et surtout les médecins de famille...

[Paper.Mango]

Line Beauchamp démissionne

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/14/quebec-education-minister-beauchamp-quits-politics.html

 

Quebec education minister quits over tuition disputeMichelle Courchesne sworn in as new minister as Charest vows to push ahead

CBC News Posted: May 14, 2012 3:37 PM ET Last Updated: May 14, 2012 5:52 PM ET

 

Quebec Treasury Board President Michelle Courchesne was sworn in as education minister Monday afternoon — just a little over an hour after Line Beauchamp's surprise announcement that she was quitting her education post and giving up politics.

 

Courchesne was education minister from 2007 until 2010, and as the minister responsible for the Treasury Board, she participated in recent failed negotiations with striking student groups.

 

Beauchamp resigned her cabinet position — and her seat — just hours after a conference call with student leaders, in an apparent last-ditch effort to kickstart negotiations once again.

 

The premier at her side, Beauchamp said has done all she can to resolve the 14-week student strike over tuition fee hikes.

 

Beauchamp says she believes she no longer has the goodwill of student leaders in talks to end the walkout by tens of thousands of students.

 

"I would never have reached a compromise with the students," Beauchamp said. "So I am making the biggest compromise I can make."

 

Beauchamp denies she is leaving as a result of violent demonstrations which have erupted over the past several weeks of the conflict.

 

"To all those who might be tempted to read into my resignation a confirmation that their tactics of destabilisation worked, I say this," Beauchamp went on, "You'll find me on the street as an ordinary Quebecer, armed with the respect of the Quebec people ...and the courage of my convictions."

 

Premier determined to push ahead

 

Premier Jean Charest appeared emotional as Beauchamp made her announcement in Quebec City.

 

"All that Line did she did with the support of her colleagues," said Charest, adding her decision is a personal one. "I would have preferred that she stay on. But that is something she must determine."

 

"I want to say to you that we — from the outset — worked on the premise that those on the other side of the table were in good faith. We listened," Charest said. "We moved on a number of things. And quite frankly, I don't think there is anyone who could question the good faith of our government."

 

Charest said his government remains determined to push through the tuition fee hike.

 

"We believe in this policy," Charest said. "This policy is going to go ahead."

 

Student leaders taken aback

 

Student leaders expressed their surprise at Beauchamp's resignation. Key leaders spoke to her earlier today in another effort to return to negotiations — but they said she gave them no hint of what she had planned.

 

"We had no clue," said Léo Bureau-Blouin, the president of the federation representing college students.

 

"The problem for us was never Beauchamp, it was the tuition increases," said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for CLASSE, the most radical of the student federations. "Changing the minister won't necessarily change that."

 

Bureau-Blouin echoed that.

 

"The problem was the office of the premier did not give enough [room to maneuvre] to Mrs. Beauchamp to solve this conflict," he said, denying that student groups were not ready to make any compromises on the issue of tuition fee hikes.

 

Beauchamp ends 14-year political career

 

Beauchamp was first elected to Quebec's national assembly in 1998, as the Liberal member for Bourassa-Sauvé. She was named to the education post in August 2010, and she became deputy premier on Sept. 7, 2011.

 

Her replacement in the education portfolio was education minister when the Charest government first indicated it planned to hike tuition fees in 2007. Courchesne has also served as minister of family, and minister of immigration, employment and social solidarity.

 

The MNA for Fabre since 2003, Courchesne was named Treasury Board president as well as minister of government services in 2010.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/15/student-protest-quebec-.html

 

Quebec standoff at college ends in arrests

Tear gas used as police tactical squad moved in to control students, teachers and parents

CBC News Posted: May 15, 2012 9:39 AM ET

Last Updated: May 15, 2012 10:41 AM ET

 

A tense standoff has ended at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, Que., this morning, after provincial police tactical officers moved in on a group of students, teachers and parents blocking the school's entrance.

 

The protest was declared illegal at around 8:30 a.m. ET and protesters were told to disperse.

 

Authorities were trying to enforce a court injunction allowing some students to return to class. Similar scenes have played out at colleges across Quebec in the past few weeks.

 

The tactical officers began moving in on the group just after 9 a.m., pulling people out from the mass of demonstrators and arresting them. Tear gas was also fired.

 

Students flashed peace signs at officers as the group was forced from the entrance, and pushed back across the property by the advancing line of police.

 

Parents of some of the students watched on in tears as the officers, dressed in heavy tactical gear, moved toward the campus.

 

Traffic disrupted in another protest

 

Earlier in the morning, demonstrators briefly blocked the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, temporarily disrupting traffic.

 

Montreal police moved in quickly, chasing some of the demonstrators through a nearby park before making 19 arrests.

 

More student demonstrations are planned throughout the day.

 

The latest protests come a day after Quebec's education minister resigned and another member of Premier Jean Charest's cabinet stepped in to take her place.

 

Treasury board chair Michelle Courchesne is taking over the hot file, including talks with student groups that began protests over univeristy tuition hikes 14 weeks ago.

 

Courchesne is expected to meet with student groups and school administrators Tuesday night.

[future_doc]

Fresh protests across the province.

 

College Lionel Groulx had a confrontation between students. Riot police used tear gas. Teachers are unsure if they will return to work.

 

The Premier said he won’t back down. It’s a mess and government is to meet student groups tonight.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/15/student-protest-quebec-.html

 

Quebec college to remain closed after tense standoff

 

Tear gas used as police tactical squad moved in to control students, teachers and parents

CBC News Last Updated: May 15, 2012 4:05 PM ET

 

Tuesday's tense standoff at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, Que., has forced college administrators to give up on plans to reopen the school for a handful of students for the time being — and possibly for the remainder of the week.

 

Early Tuesday morning, provincial police tactical officers moved in on a group of students, teachers and parents blocking the school's entrance.

 

The protest was declared illegal at around 8:30 a.m. ET, and protesters were told to disperse.

 

Authorities were trying to enforce a court injunction allowing some 50 students to return to class. Similar scenes have played out at colleges across Quebec in the past few weeks.

 

The tactical officers began moving in on the group just after 9 a.m., pulling people out from the mass of demonstrators. Tear gas was also fired.

 

Five males, aged 17 to 41, were arrested. Provincial police later confirmed they face charges of mischief for blocking access to the building.

 

Students flashed peace signs at officers as the group was forced from the entrance, and pushed back across the property by the advancing line of police.

 

Blasted with chemical irritants, some of the protesters hugged and wept.

 

"It's easy to repress," screamed one of the last remaining protesters, taunting the row of riot police guarding the school.

 

"In 30 years they'll be saying you were a disgrace! You were a disgrace!

 

"People will say we were repressed!... [You were] hitting people with billy clubs, gassing young people."

 

Parents of some of the students watched on in tears as the officers, dressed in heavy tactical gear, moved toward the campus.

 

Sebastien Fontaine, who attends Lionel-Groulx and supports the students' right to study, said he was disappointed with the Tuesday morning confrontation.

 

"It's not something you look forward to seeing," he said, adding the security was necessary given the building tension.

 

"I don't blame them for coming in. I mean, both of them have a part of truth, but you can't really establish who is right and who is wrong. It's all part of a debate, people have different values. You can't really just decide who is right and who is wrong."

 

Traffic disrupted in another protest

 

Earlier in the morning, demonstrators briefly blocked the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, temporarily disrupting traffic.

 

Montreal police moved in quickly, chasing some of the demonstrators through a nearby park before making 19 arrests.

 

Another group of about 200 protesters tried to get into a Power Corporation of Canada meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Montreal before riot police pushed them back.

 

Many of the protesters wore masks and red squares, the symbol of the student movement, and chanted anti-police and anti-capitalist slogans as they continued their march through the city's core.

 

The latest protests come a day after Quebec's education minister resigned and another member of Premier Jean Charest's cabinet stepped in to take her place.

 

Treasury board chair Michelle Courchesne is taking over the hot file, including talks with student groups that began protests over university tuition hikes 14 weeks ago.

 

Courchesne is expected to meet with student groups and school administrators Tuesday night.

[Robin Hood]

L'UdeM a reporté la date limite pour obtenir le DEC pour les nouveaux admis:

 

"4 mai 2012 – Admission

 

Premier cycle : la date limite à laquelle un candidat doit avoir satisfait aux conditions d'admissibilité d'un programme est reportée d'un mois, du 15 septembre au 15 octobre. "

 

http://www.umontreal.ca/mouvements_etudiants/

[Paper.Mango]

Oh wow Robin Hood, tu mérites un cyber hug! Merci!

[xyzzy]

Question:

 

Est-ce que les étudiants en médecine à l'UdeM sont en grèves?

Will the strike affect the students starting their degree in the fall?

[Capucine]

Question:

 

Est-ce que les étudiants en médecine à l'UdeM sont en grèves?

Will the strike affect the students starting their degree in the fall?

 

Nous avons été en grève seulement 2 semaines, donc la grève ne devrait pas affecter les étudiants qui commencent à l'automne.

Le seul problème pourrait être avec les cegepiens qui risquent de voir leur session repoussée à l'automne =/ Avec la charmante et merveilleuse *SARCASME* loi de Charest.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/17/quebec-student-protest.html

 

Quebec education law to impose fines in tuition crisis Student groups make plea for new talks

CBC News Last Updated: May 18, 2012 1:31 AM ET

 

Quebec's legislature has gathered for a late-night debate on emergency education legislation Thursday night, as student protests were held in five of the province's biggest cities.

 

The special law, known as Bill 78, was crafted by the Liberal government to defuse the turbulent student tuition crisis.

 

The proposed law lays out strict regulations governing student protests and contains provisions for stiff fines.

 

Fines range from $7,000 to $35,000 for a student leader and between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations if someone is prevented from entering an educational institution.

 

Bill 78 also lays out strict regulations governing student protests. Any group of 10 persons or more to give at least eight hours notice to police for any demonstration. They must include the time, place and itinerary. Police may change any of the above.

 

The overnight debate at Quebec's legislature is expected to lead to a vote on the legislation on Friday.

 

Student leaders call for new talks

 

Student groups held a news conference ahead of Thursday night's debate to slam the special law. They called for new negotiations, while urging return to "social peace."

 

The new law, announced late Wednesday night by the Liberal government, will suspend the winter semester while enforcing "access" to campuses.

 

Premier Jean Charest described the emergency legislation as a way to provide a cooling-off period for both sides in the tuition hike battle in Quebec.

 

But the province's most prominent student leaders blasted the legal solution, accusing Charest of playing partisan politics.

 

"Let him come sit with us, and negotiate a solution to this crisis," said Martine Desjardins, spokeswoman for university student association FEUQ. "Let him come show us that he is a head of state, not just a party leader."

 

CEGEP college student leader Léo Bureau-Blouin also pleaded for a "negotiated" solution to the tuition crisis, while calling for restraint from students across the province.

 

"Emotion and the desire for vengeance among some can't override reason," he said in French at the Thursday afternoon news conference. "We are this close to arriving at a solution to this crisis."

 

Bureau-Blouin called on the Liberal government for an "ultimate negotiated deal" on tuition hikes to "pacify this conflict," that he estimates could take "hours of negotiations," not "days and weeks."

 

The FECQ spokesman also addressed concerns about social peace, saying he's "concerned" about the impact student actions have had on public order.

 

"I'm concerned that the strike has a huge impact on thousands of students across the province, and it's not a matter of being in favour or against the strike, it's a question of saving some part of students' lives.

 

"We are more ready than ever to compromise."

 

The tuition movement's nightly Montreal protest turned ugly late Wednesday night, ending with the arrest of 122 people.

 

The government made another appeal for calm Thursday morning in the wake of the tumultuous protest.

 

Students marched in Montreal again Thursday night, the 24th consecutive daily protest against tuition hikes.

 

The Liberal government says it has exhausted all other options in the 14-week student strike, which has garnered international attention.

 

Quebec's tuition plan

 

Under the latest version of its tuition plan, the Charest government would increase fees by $254 per year over seven years and then peg future increases to the level of inflation.

 

That would mean tuition increases of more than 75 per cent for Quebec students, who pay the lowest rates in Canada.

 

The change would still mean some of the country's lowest rates.

 

Charest's legislation would temporarily halt the spring semester for the minority of faculties paralyzed by the walkouts; push up the summer holidays; and reconvene students in August so they can complete their session before starting the fall one in October.

 

Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, who was sworn in late Monday to the role, reiterated those details on her way into caucus Thursday morning, but had little comment on the events of the night before.

 

She said that students have the right to protest and to free expression in Quebec.

 

"But that protest must be done peacefully, without violence," she said, before walking away from the cameras.

 

Ads purchased in papers

 

Polls suggest Charest's unpopular government, facing a long-shot re-election bid, might actually have public support for its tuition hikes. But the premier has responded angrily in recent weeks when accused of encouraging a climate of confrontation for his own political benefit.

 

Bracing for more of that criticism, the Charest government has bought ads in Thursday's newspapers explaining how it has already made several adjustments to its tuition plans to soften the impact on the poorest students.

 

The ads emphasize another point Charest is keen for people to understand: the majority of Quebec students have quietly finished their semester and aren't boycotting classes.

 

International attention

 

The tumult in Quebec has repeatedly made international news. Foreign media picked up reports about groups of protesters storming into Montreal university classes and forcing students to get out Wednesday morning.

 

The three-month conflict has caused considerable damage – with numerous injuries, countless traffic jams, a few smashed windows, subway evacuations, clashes with law enforcement, a heavy police bill, and of course disruptions to the academic calendar.

 

The protests have even mushroomed beyond the cause of cheap tuition.

 

They have attracted a wide swath of other participants who dislike the Charest government and represent a variety of disparate causes — ranging from environmentalism, to Quebec independence, anti-capitalism and anarchy.

 

They have also prompted one of the most intense left-versus-right ideological clashes in recent Quebec history.

 

The dispute claimed the province's education minister, who announced her resignation from politics earlier this week. Her replacement, Courchesne, said Wednesday she'd noticed a hardening of demands from student leaders.

 

The antagonists in the dispute are casting this as a battle of principle as of public policy.

 

To the hike defenders, it's about improving the quality of universities, about students' personal responsibility, and about sparing Quebec's long-suffering taxpayers from an even heavier burden.

 

To its opponents, it's about defending universal access to education against any future attempt to whittle it away.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/18/quebec-student-protest-law-bill-78.html

 

Student leaders, unions react to proposed Quebec special law

Student leaders call law 'declaration of war'

CBC News

May 18, 2012 6:58 AM ET Last Updated: May 18, 2012 10:34 AM ET

 

Student leaders will make another public address this morning opposing the special law still being debated by the National Assembly.

 

The main student groups in the province have called at press conference for 10:30 a.m.

 

Meanwhile, the marathon debate continues in the province's legislature, where MNAs have discussing special legislation aimed at cooling tensions in the 14-week student strike since Thursday evening.

 

A vote isn't expected until this evening.

 

The debate involves bill 78, which lays out strict regulations governing student protests, including possible suspensions and provisions for stiff fines.

 

If passed, the fines would be from $7,000 to $35,000 for a student leader, and between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations if a protester prevents anyone from entering an educational institution.

 

As well, under the bill, any group of 10 persons or more would have to give at least eight hours notice to police for any demonstration, and must give the time, place and itinerary. Police may change any of the above.

 

The Opposition has been extremely critical of the bill, pounding on the Charest government during the lengthy debate.

 

Parti Québécois MNAs call the legislation completely unnecessary, draconian and a repression of the right to demonstrate and protest.

 

Student leaders were also quick to denounce the bill soon after details of legislation were released.

 

"This is actually a declaration of war against the student movement and not only against the student movement, but it restricted the liberty of speech, the liberty of association," said Martine Desjardins of the university students' federation.

 

Challenge in the works

 

Lawyers representing student organizations have been studying the law in detail and believe several provisions violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

 

Mathieu Huchete, a lawyer for the student groups, says the requirement that protests involving more than 10 people must first be reported to police is troubling.

 

"Now, the kinds of spontaneous, peaceful protests that people should make will be illegal," he said.

 

Banning protests from anywhere within 50 metres of universities or CEGEPs would effectively prevent any demonstrations from going forward in downtown Montreal, where there is a cluster of campuses.

 

Stéphane Beaulac, a constitutional expert at the University of Montreal, called the law one of the most repressive he has ever seen, but still thinks it could withstand a constitutional challenge.

 

"On the face of it, it does not constitute in my view blatant infringement of freedom of association, freedom of expression," he said.

 

Student groups said they're prepared to mount the legal challenge as soon as the law is passed and they're asking citizens to add their names to it on the website loi78.com.

 

Protests grow

 

Montreal's nightly student protests saw a swell in numbers last night as the national assembly went through the bill.

 

As many as 4,000 took to the streets for the 24th consecutive night of protests, calling the legislation anti-democratic.

 

Students say they have been re-energized by the government's latest attempt to resolve the tuition battle.

 

"Since he [Premier Jean Charest] did that, we're a lot more students in the streets and I think he's digging his own grave right now, " said demonstrator Maxime Vigeant.

 

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of the student group CLASSE said the government knows full well the law will strip away students' right to protest.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/18/quebec-student-protest-law-bill-78.html

 

 

Quebec adopts emergency law to end tuition crisis

Critics say new rules attack freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate peacefully

CBC News Last Updated: May 18, 2012 6:28 PM ET

 

Quebec's legislature has voted in favour of an emergency law aimed at cooling tensions in the 14-week tuition hike crisis.

 

After debating the special legislation overnight, members of the national assembly (MNAs) voted 68-48 on Bill 78.

 

The legislation calls for heavy fines for students and their federations, and strict regulations governing demonstrations.

 

After receiving assent from Quebec's lieutenant-governor, likely Friday night, the law will take effect.

 

Some legal experts are raising red flag about the law, while opposition leaders have called it "abusive."

 

"It's the worst law that I've ever seen, except for the War Measures Act," said law professor Lucie Lemonde, referring to the notorious legislation imposed in Quebec during the 1970 FLQ crisis.

 

"We knew something was coming, but I didn't think they would use it to change the rules of the game in terms of the rights to demonstrate," said Lemonde, who teaches at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQÀM).

 

The law attacks an individual's rights to freedom of expression, association and conscience, she said.

 

Other legal experts questioned Bill 78's legality.

 

The head of the provincial bar association, Louis Masson, said it violates constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate peacefully.

 

The law also creates many roadblocks to organizing a peaceful demonstration, and presents "so many risks that an honest citizen practically will not go there."

 

However, there were grumblings from some members of the bar that not all Quebec lawyers are opposed to the law.

 

Critical reception

 

The Opposition has been extremely critical of the bill, pounding on the Charest government during the lengthy debate.

 

Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois calls the law "abusive" and promised to repeal it, if her party is elected to power in the future.

 

The law is designed to expire at the end of 2013.

 

Student leaders were also quick to denounce the bill soon after initial details of the legislation were released.

 

"This is actually a declaration of war against the student movement and not only against the student movement, but it restricted the liberty of speech, the liberty of association," said Martine Desjardins, president of university student group FEUQ.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/19/quebec-tuition-crisis-law-reaction.html

 

 

Quebec's student crisis law stokes unrest

CBC News Last Updated: May 19, 2012 3:56 PM ET

 

The adoption of emergency legislation to end Quebec's escalating student crisis stoked fiery debate across the province overnight, from highly charged street protests that lasted into the wee hours to harsh editorials and some calls for civil disobedience.

 

Legal experts, civil-rights groups, unions and student groups blasted the Liberal government's hardline Bill 78, which sets strict regulations for public demonstrations and student groups that organize gatherings, with heavy financial penalties for violations.

 

A full-page advertisement paid for by the Quebec government to explain the law was flanked by other ads from civil society groups alarmed by what they call "draconian" measures to contain the tuition hike crisis.

 

 

'They're telling us to shut up, they're telling us we can't say what we want to say, we can't do what we want to do, but I don't think it's going to work.'

—Arianne Papillon, Quebec student

One of Quebec's teachers' unions – FAE –placed an ad with Premier Jean Charest's face and a headline that says "shame has a face."

 

"We don't have that many means to express our indignation," said FAE president Pierre Saint-Germain, in an interview with CBC's French-language service on Saturday.

 

"I'll tell you, frankly, that with this bludgeon law, it's becoming harder and harder for people and organizations, from students to unions, to express themselves publicly."

 

Montreal newspaper Le Devoir published an editorial titled "Abuse of power" and called on the Liberal government to seek mediation in the ongoing student protest.

 

Constitutional lawyer Julius Grey calls Bill 78 a "terrible law" that suspends the freedom to association, express and protest, without sufficient reason.

 

"What I note in this law is that there is no opening for discussion — what kind of education we want to have, is higher education a question of preparing for the job market, or a more academic question, to promote learning? There is none of that.

 

"This is simply an attempt to end a debate, to appear strong and determined."

 

John Gomery, the former Quebec Superior Court judge, described the legislation as part of the "extreme reaction this debate has provoked."

 

Bill 78 does limit freedom of expression, Gomery said, but the question is "whether or not that limitation is reasonable."

 

Law's passage met with protests across province

 

The law has three prongs — it suspends winter semesters at schools where students have boycotted classes; stipulates steep financial penalties for those who try to block access to schools; and restricts public protests.

 

Politicians debated through the night on Thursday, finally voting the legislation in late Friday.

 

Hours later, an estimated 10,000 people took to the streets in Montreal, where nightly protests have been held during the three-month old tuition crisis.

 

The Montreal march flared up midway when police reported Molotov cocktails, and responded with tear gas.

 

But the long procession continued its winding path from downtown to the Plateau Mont-Royal, where firecrackers exploded and helicopters hovered past 2 a.m.

 

Montreal's protest was fuelled also by the passage of a controversial municipal bylaw banning masks at public demonstrations.

 

The bylaw officially takes effect Saturday.

 

Protests were also held in Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and the Saguenay.

 

Critics blast Law 78

 

Quebec's special legislation reminds the province's nurses federation of their bitter 1999 conflict with the province, when the Parti Québécois government made it illegal for members to strike.

 

Nurses faced heavy fines, both as individuals and as a union.

 

"That government was very rigid, and the openness wasn't there, and that's what we feel is creating difficulties today," said Roberto Bomba, treasurer of the Fédération interprofessionelle de la Santé du Québec.

 

"People have to sit down and find a compromise, and find a solution."

 

The current Liberal government says Law 78 will "allow our students the right to go to their classes," said Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier.

 

But many students are deeply offended by the government's ultimate response in the conflict.

 

"They're telling us to shut up, they're telling us we can't say what we want to say, we can't do what we want to do, but I don't think it's going to work," said Quebec student Arianne Papillon, who marched Friday night.

 

Student group CLASSE vows to take legal action against the legislation as early as Tuesday.

 

"It's one of the basis of democracy, that citizens are allowed to go [in the streets] whenever they want, wherever they want.

 

With this law, this government is consciously breaking, destroying this fundamental right," said CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. "It's unacceptable, and if we need to break this law, we will seriously consider it."

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/20/quebec-tuition-crisis-law-reaction.html

 

Montreal police teargas protesters, arrest dozens

Some marchers light fires during 26th day of demonstrations

CBC News Posted: May 20, 2012 1:16 AM ET

Last Updated: May 20, 2012 7:36 AM ET

 

Thousands of protesters outraged by two laws passed Friday to tamp down civil unrest marched through downtown Montreal on Saturday night, many of them wearing now-illegal masks or hoods.

 

Authorities declared the protest illegal about a half-hour after it began at 8:30 p.m. ET. Then, a little after 11 p.m., Montreal police ordered protesters to disperse and called in the provincial police force's riot squad.

 

The night ended with 69 arrests, police said.

 

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators in at least three areas of the city: near McGill University's campus, at the intersection of St. Laurent Boulevard and Ontario Street, and in a park near the Université du Québec à Montréal.

 

Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafrenière said a "hard core" of protesters was engaging in illegal acts, including a few who were throwing beer bottles at constables.

 

Student protesters were joined by others spilling out of bars and clubs.

 

Some people from both groups built fires from traffic cones and construction materials, cheering as the flames lit up the streets and sent plumes of black smoke billowing into the night sky.

 

Some protesters also complained of police violence. On St. Denis Street, a line of riot officers charged a gathering of people and started beating a man in his 50s or 60s who was retreating, but not nimbly enough to avoid them. A demonstrator told TV cameras that an officer shoved him with a bicycle, while elsewhere riot-squad units charged at peaceful street rallies.

 

"I'm drunk! I've been on a patio all evening!" one young, handcuffed woman told police, in an exchange caught on the live broadcast of Concordia University Television.

 

Riot police repeatedly warned protesters they would be incarcerated throughout the weekend unless they dispersed.

 

Estimates varied widely on the number of people in the streets, with numbers ranging from 3,000 at the beginning of the first march to 20,000 at the demonstrations' peak, when packs of protesters split up to locations around the downtown.

 

Protest spreads to Saturday Night Live

 

The protest has spread beyond Canada's borders.

 

In New York, members of the Montreal-based rock band Arcade Fire wore the movement's iconic red squares during an appearance with The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live. Jagger wore a red shirt, but no red square.

 

A day earlier, players in Quebec's film industry were sporting them at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Online, the website for the Quebec Liberal Party and the province's Education Ministry were down for most of Saturday in an apparent cyber attack.

 

While no one claimed responsibility, the hacker group Anonymous has taken an interest. The group wrote on Twitter that Bill 78 "must die" and later issued a video denouncing the law.

 

Bill 78 lays out strict regulations governing demonstrations of over 50 people, including having to give eight hours' notice for details such as the protest route, the duration and the time at which they're being held.

 

Fines up to $125,000

 

The night rally was the 26th in a row in the city, part of a province-wide surge of civil disobedience that began as a denunciation by striking students of the Liberal government's plan to hike tuition fees and has grown to encompass a wide array of social causes.

 

The most recent cause for complaint is the adoption of emergency legislation to try to end the escalating crisis.

 

On Friday, the Quebec government passed Bill 78, which comes with heavy financial penalties for violations.

 

The law:

Suspends winter semesters at schools where students have boycotted classes.

Stipulates penalties for groups who try to block access to schools, and even for organizations that don't induce their members not to.

Requires any public protest of more than 50 people to alert police at least eight hours ahead of time, with the event's start time, route and date. Groups that violate the law face fines of up to $125,000.

 

The City of Montreal passed its own measures on Friday, making it illegal to wear a mask, scarf or hood during a public protests.

 

'Draconian' anti-protest measure

 

Legal experts, civil-rights groups, unions and student groups have blasted the hardline Bill 78. A full-page newspaper advertisement paid for by the Quebec government to explain the law was flanked by other ads from civil society groups alarmed by what they call "draconian" measures to contain the tuition hike crisis.

 

One of Quebec's teachers' unions, FAE, placed an ad with Premier Jean Charest's face and a headline that says "shame has a face."

 

"We don't have that many means to express our indignation," FAE president Pierre Saint-Germain said in an interview with CBC's French-language service on Saturday.

 

"I'll tell you, frankly, that with this bludgeon law, it's becoming harder and harder for people and organizations, from students to unions, to express themselves publicly."

 

Montreal newspaper Le Devoir published an editorial titled "Abuse of power" and called on the Liberal government to seek mediation in the ongoing student protest.

 

Constitutional lawyer Julius Grey called Bill 78 a "terrible law" that suspends the freedom to association, express and protest, without sufficient reason.

 

"What I note in this law is that there is no opening for discussion — what kind of education we want to have, is higher education a question of preparing for the job market, or a more academic question, to promote learning? There is none of that.

 

"This is simply an attempt to end a debate, to appear strong and determined."

 

Others who spoke out include former Quebec Superior Court judge John Gomery.

 

Court challenge

 

The province's two main umbrella student groups, the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec and the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, said Saturday they will launch a legal challenge of Bill 78 this week.

 

Vocal denunciations of the planned tuition increases began in March 2011, but it was only in February that they ramped up into a student strike that at its peak saw 180,000 pupils boycotting college and university classes. Since then, large regular protests have touched Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, Trois-Rivières and other towns.

 

The government wants to raise university fees by more than 70 per cent over the next five years, to $3,800 annually. The province points out that that would still be among the lowest tuition rates in the country. Opposing students say it will render even more of them indebted on graduation and put higher education financially out of reach for more people.

 

Negotiations have largely been at an impasse. On Monday, Line Beauchamp cited the crisis in resigning from her cabinet post as education minister and from the provincial assembly.

[future_doc]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/20/quebec-student-protest-pepper-spray-people-on-a-bar-patio.html

 

Montreal police pepper-spray bar patrons amid protest

CBC News Posted: May 20, 2012 7:44 PM ET

Last Updated: May 20, 2012 10:01 PM ET

 

A day after a sometimes violent Montreal protest ended in a series of street fires, police were criticized for pepper-spraying patrons at a nearby bar patio.

 

Surveillance footage shows several people on the St-Bock Brasserie terrace being sprayed at close range by police in riot gear.

 

As other customers at the St-Denis Street bar scurry inside, an officer barrels through a tangle of tables and chairs.

 

Another video from a local TV station shows the officers took action after one was hit by a chair that someone threw. The chair was then flung back toward the patio.

 

"About one foot from the faces of my clients, police also threw this," said bar owner Martin Guimond, holding up an empty muzzle blast.

 

"They created panic, they destroyed the terrace and people scrambled inside, throwing themselves over each other. Everyone left without paying."

 

A waitress told him to call 911, then said, "But wait, it's the police that are doing this," Guimond recounted.

 

"That's when you realize there's a total breakdown of order."

 

Police said Sunday that a large object was thrown at officers passing by the bar, and that they are investigating the altercation.

 

The incident took place steps away from an intersection in the Latin Quarter where protesters lit several bonfires on Saturday night.

 

Saturday mayhem 'predictable'

 

The Saturday night march came as Quebec's controversial Bill 78 took effect, imposing strict rules for demonstrations involving more than 50 people.

 

Intended to restore order and settle the three-month-old student crisis, Bill 78 requires protest organizers to provide eight hours of warning for events, including a detailed itinerary, or be subject to heavy fines running into the thousands of dollars.

 

The Liberal government's legal solution to its tuition hike conflict has had the opposite effect, fuelling the growing student movement.

 

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the movement's most prominent leader, called Saturday's mayhem unfortunate but predictable.

 

"It's a direct consequence from the adoption of the law," he said. "We repeated when the law was adopted that it would create a lot more anger and confrontation — and that's exactly what happened."

 

Nadeau-Dubois said members of the umbrella student group CLASSE are discussing how they should react to Bill 78 in future protests.

 

A demonstration was held Sunday afternoon against Quebec's new emergency law and another march was planned for later in the evening.

 

Celebrities outside Canada are getting behind the cause. Activist and filmmaker Michael Moore weighed in on Twitter in support of the students and against the new legislation.

 

Members of Montreal band Arcade Fire wore the movement's iconic red square during an appearance on Saturday Night Live with Mick Jagger.

 

Last week, darling Quebec filmmaker Xavier Dolan wore the red square on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Bill 78's future enforcement unclear

 

It remains unclear to what extent police will enforce the new law — or whether they even can.

 

On Saturday, Montreal police appeared to take a tougher stance than previously seen during the nightly marches.

 

Sixty-nine people were arrested, including nine who were charged with criminal offences — five with armed aggression against police, three with assaulting police and one with arson.

 

The remainder of those arrested face fines for violating various bylaws.

 

Two police officers suffered minor injuries from projectiles, and Ouimet said that one protester also suffered a minor injury while being arrested.

 

He said the property damage included two police cruisers that had their windshields smashed.

 

Student groups aren't taking any chances with some aspects of the legislation. Several student websites had already removed schedules of future protests.

 

The schedules later showed up on a separate website, with a warning discouraging people from attending.