Article parue dans le Rebel Youth, revue de la YCL-LJC
par Johan Boyden et Moi même
Quebec students hit the streets
par Johan Boyden et Moi même
Quebec students hit the streets
Les Étudiant-e-s
descendent dans la rue
The arrest of over 100 protesting Montreal students, and their brutal attack by the police – with injuries like broken bones, sprained legs, and cuts – made headlines across Quebec in early November. But few students in English Canada know anything about the recent protests, or what is planned next. In this issue, Rebel Youth presents a special report, asking: what happened on the week of November 12? And – are Quebec students in revolt?
---
In English, Rebel Youth presents a special report on the Quebec student strike. Read a detailed analysis of Act 43, a key piece of legislation threatening students today.
Rebel Youth présente un rapport spécial sur la grève étudiante au Québec. Lisez les details sur la loi 43, un element-clé de la legislation qui menace les étudiant-e-s aujourd’hui.
---
Are Quebec Students in Revolt?
In spring 2005, Quebec students inspired people across Canada with a magnificent struggle against student loan and bursary reforms. As the news began to get out, stories came forward about a divided student movement that had come together with several trade unions and had held a series of mass demonstrations, strikes, and even occupied campuses and the Montreal port. The protests were the biggest in Quebec history.
Almost three years has passed. Now, the trade union movement is de-mobilized. Elections for the National Assembly have returned the pro-corporate Quebec Liberal Party to office, but with the ultra-right Action Démocratique du Quebec as opposition. And once again, the students’ limited victories are threatened, this time by a government proposal to raise tuition.
The Strike
Early in September, many university as well as CÉGEP (college) students with the Association for Solidarity Among Student Unions (ASSÉ) ambitiously called for a general unlimited strike. But following poor turn-outs by membership, the strike votes failed. ASSÉ shifted and re-thought its plans, proposing in October a peaceful three-day strike through-out Quebec from November 12th to 14th and a national demonstration on November 15th
This time, the proposal gained more support in the strike vote, and two radical major poles of activism emerged – at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) and CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal. Organization and agitation began across Quebec.
By Monday, November 12th, students were in action for the peaceful three-day strike. The art students occupied the stock exchange for several hours. The majority of students stayed at home. At UQAM several hundred declared the campus a ‘People’s University.’ They gathered for conferences on topics like politics and economics, free education, organizing – and prepared to occupying the campus.
And so about 150 students began to bed down for the night.
But, breaking from tradition, the University Administration refused to negotiate beds. Despite the students appeal to do the occupation in a peaceful way, around midnight the riot squad suddenly arrived, panic swept the campus, barricades were built and then broken, and the squad expelled them.
Nobody, however, was arrested. The next night, at CÉGEP Vieux-Montréal, the occupation continued. This time, almost 400 students crowded into the campus, and built barricades. For the first time in almost seventeen years with many occupations and actions at Vieux-Montréal, the university administration called the police to disperse the students.
Around 9:30 to 10 pm, with students leaving evening class, a cat-and-mouse game began with the police. At 1:00 am, the riot squad stormed the barricades with pepper spray and clubs. The students battled back. They used fire extinguishers, but were forced to flee. By the end of the night, 50 students had been wounded: glass cuts, pepper spray, sprained and broken legs, bruises – and 102 students were in jail.
The unexpected police clamp-down worked. The media presented the protestors as delinquents. Most protesters were first-years. They were intimidated. In both UQAM and Vieux-Montréal, the students with the professors launched local campaigns for the resignation of leading administrators.
But the occupations had resulted in more police violence than students had seen in many years. While the membership had shown record support of three-day strike, there was big disagreement about the next step. And solidarity between the various student organizations had not been strengthened.
Student Revolt?
But are the students in revolt? Unfortunately, not enough.
In Quebec, all students were united in one organization until the early 1980s. Then, for a variety of factors, the student movement split. Today, a number of student organizations are independent of any union. A few campuses are organized into the Canadian Federation of Students. ASSÉ, the most militant of the student unions which is anarchist-led, has also organized a number of CÉGEP and University student unions. The majority of CÉGEP and university students belong to the joint Fédération étudiante collegiale du Québec (FÉCQ) or Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FÉUQ), which are both linked to the Parti Québequois.
Concretely, the differences between the two main student groups (ASSÉ and the Federations) are seen clearly in their demands. FEUQ-FECQ opposes lifting the tuition freeze, but it also puts forward demands that are quite tepid. It proposes measures like paying a post-university tax to re-finance post-secondary education, which places the burden of education on the people – not the corporations who benefit from that education.
ASSÉ, on the other hand, advocates for the abolition of tuition fees and proposes a massive re-investment in education. ASSÉ also champions a flexible daycare system for the students, abolition of anti-labour Law 43, and opposes raising tuition, demands that the Federations support as well. (In Quebec, tuition fees are the lowest in the country, the result of decades of student militancy.)
January 2008
Heading into the new year, some general points can be made. ASSÉ’s membership is demobilized. While battles with the police brought attention to their issues, even among leadership, not all affiliates are in favour of strike action. We shall have to see what happens with proposal for a demonstration to support the arrested students on February 14th, and for a limited strike in the spring, but nobody is holding their breath. The Charest Liberal government is standing firm – and ASSÉ represents a minority of the students.
In contrast, the feeling among university students is much more rebellious. Here, there is widespread opposition to existing corporate funding of programmes, as well as opposition to cuts to courses, and rising tuition. There are also specific issues – like the complex real estate scandal at UQAM that has cost millions. Not only UQAM, but also many others are all going to hold strike votes, that will most likely produce ‘yes’ results.
For this reason, the struggle is far from over. For its part, ASSÉ decided in its December convention plan of action to support the movement at the universities. It will try to launch actions in January with the rather illusory goal of an unlimited general strike. ASSÉ also asserted that ASSÉ will not compromise its main demand of free tuition – a position the Federations will never agree to, although common ground could be found over tuition hikes.
While ASSÉ’s impatient plans for unlimited general strikes would not bring new organizations and greater numbers into the struggle, the Federations are not interested in playing ball at all. Most student militants in Quebec still feel that in 2005, the Federation negotiated for demands that were too low, lower than the long-time demands of the students – and now they are not agitating their membership to hit the streets. November negotiations between ASSÉ and the Federations yielded few results, in fact it is an open secret that the two organizations are in competition and neither is interested in working with the other.
Perhaps a strike call from a third-party might be successful. The experience of 2005 shows that FECQ-FEUQ will likely follow a big strike movement – although in 2005 the CÉGEPs were the major force, while this time the universities are shaping up to take on that role.
What is clear, however, is that now, perhaps more than ever, unity in action is needed among the student organizations. Facing an aggressive assault by the Charest Liberals as well as the Harper Tories, a student defeat at this point could lend tremendous impetus for substantial tuition hikes and for more neo-liberal education cutbacks and privatization policies to come crashing down on the students. Moreover, raising tuition in Quebec would likely lead to a hike tuition across English Canada.
The stakes are very high. If unity has not yet been found – how can this be allowed to last?
The arrest of over 100 protesting Montreal students, and their brutal attack by the police – with injuries like broken bones, sprained legs, and cuts – made headlines across Quebec in early November. But few students in English Canada know anything about the recent protests, or what is planned next. In this issue, Rebel Youth presents a special report, asking: what happened on the week of November 12? And – are Quebec students in revolt?
---
In English, Rebel Youth presents a special report on the Quebec student strike. Read a detailed analysis of Act 43, a key piece of legislation threatening students today.
Rebel Youth présente un rapport spécial sur la grève étudiante au Québec. Lisez les details sur la loi 43, un element-clé de la legislation qui menace les étudiant-e-s aujourd’hui.
---
Are Quebec Students in Revolt?
In spring 2005, Quebec students inspired people across Canada with a magnificent struggle against student loan and bursary reforms. As the news began to get out, stories came forward about a divided student movement that had come together with several trade unions and had held a series of mass demonstrations, strikes, and even occupied campuses and the Montreal port. The protests were the biggest in Quebec history.
Almost three years has passed. Now, the trade union movement is de-mobilized. Elections for the National Assembly have returned the pro-corporate Quebec Liberal Party to office, but with the ultra-right Action Démocratique du Quebec as opposition. And once again, the students’ limited victories are threatened, this time by a government proposal to raise tuition.
The Strike
Early in September, many university as well as CÉGEP (college) students with the Association for Solidarity Among Student Unions (ASSÉ) ambitiously called for a general unlimited strike. But following poor turn-outs by membership, the strike votes failed. ASSÉ shifted and re-thought its plans, proposing in October a peaceful three-day strike through-out Quebec from November 12th to 14th and a national demonstration on November 15th
This time, the proposal gained more support in the strike vote, and two radical major poles of activism emerged – at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) and CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal. Organization and agitation began across Quebec.
By Monday, November 12th, students were in action for the peaceful three-day strike. The art students occupied the stock exchange for several hours. The majority of students stayed at home. At UQAM several hundred declared the campus a ‘People’s University.’ They gathered for conferences on topics like politics and economics, free education, organizing – and prepared to occupying the campus.
And so about 150 students began to bed down for the night.
But, breaking from tradition, the University Administration refused to negotiate beds. Despite the students appeal to do the occupation in a peaceful way, around midnight the riot squad suddenly arrived, panic swept the campus, barricades were built and then broken, and the squad expelled them.
Nobody, however, was arrested. The next night, at CÉGEP Vieux-Montréal, the occupation continued. This time, almost 400 students crowded into the campus, and built barricades. For the first time in almost seventeen years with many occupations and actions at Vieux-Montréal, the university administration called the police to disperse the students.
Around 9:30 to 10 pm, with students leaving evening class, a cat-and-mouse game began with the police. At 1:00 am, the riot squad stormed the barricades with pepper spray and clubs. The students battled back. They used fire extinguishers, but were forced to flee. By the end of the night, 50 students had been wounded: glass cuts, pepper spray, sprained and broken legs, bruises – and 102 students were in jail.
The unexpected police clamp-down worked. The media presented the protestors as delinquents. Most protesters were first-years. They were intimidated. In both UQAM and Vieux-Montréal, the students with the professors launched local campaigns for the resignation of leading administrators.
But the occupations had resulted in more police violence than students had seen in many years. While the membership had shown record support of three-day strike, there was big disagreement about the next step. And solidarity between the various student organizations had not been strengthened.
Student Revolt?
But are the students in revolt? Unfortunately, not enough.
In Quebec, all students were united in one organization until the early 1980s. Then, for a variety of factors, the student movement split. Today, a number of student organizations are independent of any union. A few campuses are organized into the Canadian Federation of Students. ASSÉ, the most militant of the student unions which is anarchist-led, has also organized a number of CÉGEP and University student unions. The majority of CÉGEP and university students belong to the joint Fédération étudiante collegiale du Québec (FÉCQ) or Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FÉUQ), which are both linked to the Parti Québequois.
Concretely, the differences between the two main student groups (ASSÉ and the Federations) are seen clearly in their demands. FEUQ-FECQ opposes lifting the tuition freeze, but it also puts forward demands that are quite tepid. It proposes measures like paying a post-university tax to re-finance post-secondary education, which places the burden of education on the people – not the corporations who benefit from that education.
ASSÉ, on the other hand, advocates for the abolition of tuition fees and proposes a massive re-investment in education. ASSÉ also champions a flexible daycare system for the students, abolition of anti-labour Law 43, and opposes raising tuition, demands that the Federations support as well. (In Quebec, tuition fees are the lowest in the country, the result of decades of student militancy.)
January 2008
Heading into the new year, some general points can be made. ASSÉ’s membership is demobilized. While battles with the police brought attention to their issues, even among leadership, not all affiliates are in favour of strike action. We shall have to see what happens with proposal for a demonstration to support the arrested students on February 14th, and for a limited strike in the spring, but nobody is holding their breath. The Charest Liberal government is standing firm – and ASSÉ represents a minority of the students.
In contrast, the feeling among university students is much more rebellious. Here, there is widespread opposition to existing corporate funding of programmes, as well as opposition to cuts to courses, and rising tuition. There are also specific issues – like the complex real estate scandal at UQAM that has cost millions. Not only UQAM, but also many others are all going to hold strike votes, that will most likely produce ‘yes’ results.
For this reason, the struggle is far from over. For its part, ASSÉ decided in its December convention plan of action to support the movement at the universities. It will try to launch actions in January with the rather illusory goal of an unlimited general strike. ASSÉ also asserted that ASSÉ will not compromise its main demand of free tuition – a position the Federations will never agree to, although common ground could be found over tuition hikes.
While ASSÉ’s impatient plans for unlimited general strikes would not bring new organizations and greater numbers into the struggle, the Federations are not interested in playing ball at all. Most student militants in Quebec still feel that in 2005, the Federation negotiated for demands that were too low, lower than the long-time demands of the students – and now they are not agitating their membership to hit the streets. November negotiations between ASSÉ and the Federations yielded few results, in fact it is an open secret that the two organizations are in competition and neither is interested in working with the other.
Perhaps a strike call from a third-party might be successful. The experience of 2005 shows that FECQ-FEUQ will likely follow a big strike movement – although in 2005 the CÉGEPs were the major force, while this time the universities are shaping up to take on that role.
What is clear, however, is that now, perhaps more than ever, unity in action is needed among the student organizations. Facing an aggressive assault by the Charest Liberals as well as the Harper Tories, a student defeat at this point could lend tremendous impetus for substantial tuition hikes and for more neo-liberal education cutbacks and privatization policies to come crashing down on the students. Moreover, raising tuition in Quebec would likely lead to a hike tuition across English Canada.
The stakes are very high. If unity has not yet been found – how can this be allowed to last?
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