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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Prevent classes, pay price: Charest
Bill to fine individuals as much as $35,000
QUEBEC -- The Quebec government is aiming for the pocketbook to help stamp out the turbulent student crisis that is rocking the province.
Emergency legislation provides for fines of between $1,000 and $5,000 for any individual who prevents someone from entering an educational institution.
The penalties climb to between $7,000 and $35,000 for a student leader and to between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations.
In all cases, the fines will double for repeat offenders.
Bill 78 also lays out strict regulations governing student demonstrations, including having to give eight hours' notice for protest itineraries.
Student reaction was swift -- and damning.
"This legislation strikes a blow to the freedom of expression," said Léo Bureau-Blouin, considered one of the more moderate student leaders.
As details of the legislation emerged Thursday night, demonstrators took to the streets of Montreal for their daily protest against the Charest government's plan to hike tuition fees.
Some protesters tried to block access to both ends of a tunnel on a busy thoroughfare, forcing authorities to order them back onto a nearby street. Police said on their Twitter account that the demonstrators complied.
Protesters slammed the legislation, saying it will do nothing to end the three-month crisis and will only lead to increased tension in an already explosive situation.
If passed today, the bill would also pause the current academic session for striking students and have it resume in August.
Premier Jean Charest is hoping the measures restore order after daily student walkouts and demonstrations that have turned increasingly violent.
"We hold the conviction that this decision is important -- not only for our young people, but for the future of the Quebec people," he told the legislature earlier on Thursday.
Charest announced plans for the legislation a day earlier, in a move met by swift condemnation from student leaders, left-wing opinion-makers and even the provincial bar association.
Thousands of angry protesters instantly swarmed Montreal's streets for a tumultuous demonstration on Wednesday night. Windows were smashed, protesters and police officers were injured and more than 120 people were arrested.
Polls suggest Charest's government, facing a long-shot re-election bid, might actually have public support for its tuition hikes. The premier has responded angrily in recent weeks when accused of encouraging a climate of confrontation for his political benefit.
Bracing for more of that criticism, the provincial government 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 emphasized a point Charest is keen for people to understand: 70 per cent of Quebec students have already finished their semester and aren't boycotting classes.
The Parti Québécois is no longer condemning the premier for hiking student fees but is condemning him for a non-conciliatory approach.
During a legislature debate, Charest pointed out PQ Leader Pauline Marois and her party have been wearing the student protest movement's iconic red square on their lapels. He accused her of inflaming the unrest with overheated rhetoric.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 18, 2012 A17
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