Protesting

Students in Quebec have been on strike for 4 months now due to the proposed increase in college fess by 50% over 5 years. Currently Quebec has the lowest college fees in all of Canada @ an average of $2,519 / year. Newfoundland and Labrador are next lowest @ an average of $2,649. Ontario are highest @ an average of $6,640 and the overall average in Canada is $5,366.

A compromise was proposed to spread the raise over 7 years and student unions rejected this. Another proposal where the Education Ministry said they would try making savings elsewhere and possibly the money to help fund the fees was rejected as it was too vague. There has been protests in the streets on and off for 4 months, but every night for the last 27 nights. The minister for education resigned during the week from the stress of it all. A by-law has passed making it illegal to wear a mask during a protest without some valid reason, to be determined by the police. The police have said they will not enforce this law yet as it is too vague.

Some students who want to go back to class got a court injunction which prevented protesters from stopping classes going ahead.

This was ignored as this video shows:



After this incident last Wednesday, along with incidents where smoke bombs were used to shut down the metro at peak hours, the Prime Minister suspended all classes until August, thus technically suspending the strike, but allowing any classes that wished to go ahead to be allowed to do so. It included fines in the thousands for individuals who tried to block a school and hundreds of thousands if any organised group, such as one of the students unions tried to block a school.

An emergency Parliamentary vote this week, which is due to last a year, makes any protest of over 50 people illegal unless the police are informed 8 hours beforehand.

Last night shortly before the protest was declared illegal and the police used gas and smoke:



Tonight where the sprayed a bar terrace because someone threw a chair at them:



Some photos from last night:

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

What ye think AF?

A spoilt generation that have never been told no? A generation that don't take $hit from no-one? No one protests like the French?

Are they taking protesting too far, or would ye like to see such sustained protesting in Ireland against things like the proposed re-introduced of colleges fees, home owner tax, water charges, austerity, the paying in full of each and every bondholder, the 'Yes' to everything Europe demands?

The result so far of this protest has been the introduction of the two laws mentioned above, no classes for 4 months, the disruption of public transport on a regular basis, the destruction of property, and extra costs in policing and other emergency services which have possibly surpassed the amount of money the increase in fees would have yielded! :pac: