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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
The real victims in Quebec
(DALE CUMMINGS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
The idea that the Quebec student protests are rooted in political thuggery is said to be simplistic and cliché, but it also has the odour of truth.
For over three months, university students in Montreal and other Quebec cities have been staging strikes and street demonstrations to protest a modest increase in tuition, even though the province already has the lowest rates in Canada.
The proposed increase was originally $325 a year for five years, but the Liberal government of Jean Charest succumbed to pressure and offered to reduce the hike to just $254 a year for seven years. In addition, student fees for other services would be dropped by an equal amount, meaning the cost to students would be effectively frozen.
The deal was rejected by the protesters, showing that the tuition increases were never the real issue. But if not that, then what?
Some Quebec commentators and pundits claim the events of the last three months have to be understood in the context of the Quiet Revolution, when Quebec nationalists sought to be masters in their own house, particularly a progressive, socialist house.
The idea that post-secondary education should be free has been a recurring theme in Quebec politics since then, which explains why tuitions have risen at a much slower pace than in the rest of Canada.
Other thinkers say the protests draw their inspiration from the Occupy Movement and the quest for social change and equality.
If that's the case, it may be impossible to appease the angry students, who do not represent the majority of students.
Premier Charest had public opinion on his side until he introduced a bill requiring street demonstrators to obtain a police permit. The legislation was hurried and poorly written, but there is nothing unusual or undemocratic about asking anyone planning a parade on public streets to submit a plan outlining which streets will be used and when.
The worst part about the legislation was the timing. It merely incited the protesters and turned public opinion against the government.
Various factions and unions from across Canada and around the world have joined in solidarity with the protesters, even sending money which could ultimately be used to defeat the government in the next election, replacing it with the separatist Parti Québécois.
Political thuggery seems a perfectly fine description for what is happening in Quebec, and the real victims are democracy and the rule of law.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 26, 2012 A18
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