Quebec student strike in perspective
General assembly to decide course of action
Wednesday, March 09, 2005 @06:11PM
by Mazin Almusharaf
The $103 million cuts to loans and bursaries proposed last March by the Charest government have since caused an upheaval of response amongst institutions in the province, most notably in the francophone CEGEPs.
Students have organized classroom walk-outs, public strikes, a massive flyer campaign and have even resorted to such random acts as the mice-in-the-office fiasco which granted them immediate media exposure on a nation-wide scale. The common belief amongst the student community, and sympathetic advisors such as la Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, is that these cuts will make education less accessible in terms of affordability to potential as well as current students.
And the ball is rolling as more schools will decide whether to join in a general student strike. A general assembly has been called for Wednesday, March 9 at Concordia to let the student population decide what course of action should be taken. The Canadian Federation of Students, FEUQ and the Concordia Student Union are all pushing for a strike.
"These cuts have had a disastrous effect on students across the province, and no one can stand idly by," said Tim McSorley, chair of the CFS-Q.
The CSU is a perfect example of the structural handicap in Concordia with only eight executives to execute jobs, according to CSU VP External Arielle Reid.
"It's not as if they could dispatch a foot soldier or two to lend a hand," she said. Reid expressed strong belief that the current student movement is making a difference and that this is the only way to go, saying "it will never work from the top, it has to come from the bottom."
FEUQ was slower to support the strike mandate, though many of its members were in favour. Nick Vikander, VP university affairs for the organization said the strike wasn't their first priority but now it is time to up the pressure.
"Last semester we had some demonstrations, and this semester we've been helping on the ground especially at CEGEPS across Quebec."
Over half of Quebec's 45 CEGEPs shut down in protest mid-November, coupled with student solidarity on the issue and dissent within Charest's own Cabinet make the situation a difficult one to ignore on the part of the provincial administration. In a dramatic political endeavour of which former Education Minister Pierre Reid was a victim, Charest shuffled his cabinet—demoting and raising positions apparently at will and effectively re-uniting his right-wing policies with similar policy-makers. Former Municipal Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Fournier was moved to the education portfolio.
According to McSorley, the new minister will not mean a cakewalk for students fighting for accessible education.
"Fournier was on the de-merger portfolio, selling that. He's good at that," he said, adding that Fournier has done more media interviews since the shuffle than Reid did during his entire mandate as Education Minister.
"Reid wasn't able to convince the public as to why they're making changes [to education]."
Fournier has already taken a firm stance against striking students, saying that they will be responsible to make up for their own lost time. Many students are concerned about lengthening their school year and not being able to get a full summer's work done.
But McSorley hopes that students can set aside individualism for the benefit of the entire education structure. "Cuts are not only a threat to students coming after [those about to graduate], but could do serious harm to Quebec society. This is an issue of a publicly funded system."
Vikander stressed that if students do vote for a strike mandate, they maintain complete control over when they want to return to class.
"Students can choose to have a one-day strike, a three-day strike or longer," he said and subsequent general assemblies will be called to renew the mandate.
McSorley also maintains that while student strikes do not operate in the same way as labour strikes, they can still be effective. "It shows strong solidarity and voice among students that they are united and are willing to give up something they've paid for. This effectively builds public support."
CFS and the CSU are in favour of a three-day strike. Two central demands will be discussed at the GA: to do away with reforms that have been made to education (and effectively reverse the change in ratio of loans and bursaries). The second is calling on McGill and Concordia to adhere to the cap on international tuition. If Wednesday's GA reaches a strike mandate, McSorley said they plan to join in the afternoon demonstration with the Université de Montréal.
The strike would officially begin on March 16 with a day of student protest. "We're exploring different actions. This will not be just a stay-at-home strike," said McSorley.
Cooperation between Montreal's universities and CEGEPs reached similar heights in 1996 and Université de Montréal and UQAM have a long history of mobilization. Meanwhile Anglophone institutions in Quebec have been slower to join the movement. At UQAM, a school-wide faculty vote finds the institution as a whole divided on the issue. Certain faculties, such as the Arts, Education, Languages and Communications, and Political Science have voted for an indefinite suspension of class. The School of Management students voted against the strike.
