Showing posts with label quebec student strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quebec student strike. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2012

Join us July 22 in the streets to celebrate five months of resistance


Join us for a huge Casseroles (Pots and Pans) Night on Sunday July 22 at 8 pm, in solidarity with students in Quebec and Canadians throughout this country who have had enough.

WHY: Because the fight is about more than tuition, debt, and fundamental rights. It is about demanding a future where the rights of people and the health of the environment are MORE IMPORTANT than the health of the economy and the rights of the elite.

This is a demonstration first and foremost about community, joy, solidarity, togetherness, and creating a democratic space for people beyond the ballot box.

It's about building grassroots connections and meeting your neighbours. Building the revolution from the bottom up!

It's about voicing your rejection to the policies of the federal and provincial governments that have repeatedly made us the greatest embarrassment in the global community.

(View recaps of our past Casseroles events downtown here, here, here, and here.)

Monday, June 25, 2012

June 22nd Mega Casseroles Recap

Hello everyone! In case you missed the Mega Casseroles pot bangin' protest on June 22nd, here are a few photos and some video footage of what went down.

To show solidarity with the Quebec student strike and opposition to Quebec's Law 78, as well as to show opposition to the federal government's Bill C-38 and the local Bill 29 (read more about Bill 29 here, here, or here), close to thirty people showed up at Harbourside Park to bang on pots and pans.

We marched down Water Street and made our way to George Street, waving red flags, carrying banners, and respecting most traffic laws and crossing streets safely for the entirety of the march.

We did block George Street, but please don't let that bit of civil disobedience discourage you from coming out and taking part. For some reason, we also found ourselves with a police escort. The police were parked across from Harbourside Park before we started, followed us down Water Street and George Street, and followed us back to Harbourside Park. This means that we were very safe, or perhaps one jay-walk away from being fined. It's hard to say, really.


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Massive student protests in Montreal

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Maple Spring is important to all Canadians, and not just Quebec. Here's why.

That's why Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, past student leader of CLASSE, has undertaken a cross-Canada speaking tour to help spread the message of resisting austerity and defeating the stranglehold of neoliberalism across this country.

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Massive student protests have been ongoing in Montreal since March 22nd, when 200,000 protesters took part in a demonstration in downtown Montreal. Exactly a month later, on Earth Day, another 200,000 people took to the streets. And yet another month later, only picking up steam, a wave of people in red packed downtown Montreal on May 22nd, more than 300,000 strong.

June 22, as expected, was a massive show of solidarity across Canada (and of course massive amounts of people on the streets of Montreal and across Quebec).

Every month has a 22nd, so here's to ongoing shows of solidarity and support! Check out the global call to resistance on the 22nd of every month.

As of Sept 20th, after the inauguration of Pauline Marois' minority Parti Quebecois government (and the defeat of Jean Charest's government (he was also defeated in his own riding)), the tuition fee hikes have been repealed.  However, the Concordia Graduate Students Association, still fighting for a very realistic goal of free education in the province, along with other student groups such as CLASSE, will show that they are still organized and come out for a demo on Sept 22.

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Click here for a refresher on what this conflict is about: The Conflict: 101 
Here is a great explanation of the context for the current mobilisation of students in Quebec. Free education is not a new idea, neither is it impossible. In fact, "it was the state’s very own idea on the recommendation of a Royal Commission, a choice that was respected and prized for four decades."

Downtown Montreal on May 22, 2012
Great recap: Ten Things Everyone Should Know about the Quebec Student Movement.

In response to the emergency law passed, Law 78, people have this to say: Arrest me!

Concordia Student Union General Assembly operates using horizontal decision making like that used by the Occupy movement, and they spearheaded the student strike originating at Concordia. More info here about how this started. View this video on the 8 Myths of Tuition Hikes.

For up-to-date and reliable info on the Montreal student movement, check out the Montreal Media Co-op and Concordia University TV (CUTV) to watch the recap videos and livestream from the student protests.

Resources

You can also visit the Concordia Student Union site. And the McGill Student Union has a Student Strike FAQ up on their site.

Visit the CLASSE website for more info as well. CLASSE is a temporary national student organization that includes, across Quebec, more than 76,000 members in many student unions from both colleges and universities. 

Visit the MobSquad website for info on the campaign against tuition hikes.

Click here for more images from the March 22 demonstrations.


ONGOING UPDATES:

Demands to Concordia's Administration from students on strike 

Here's a good overview of what's been happening since March 22. 

April 11th -- Occupy Wall Street reports on Montreal student protests

April 20th -- CUTV footage of violent police encounter with student protesters

April 20th -- Footage of protests at the Montreal Palais des Congres

April 22th-- Crowd shot of Earth Day protest

April 28th -- Montreal demonstrators march in protest of Jean Charest  (here's why)

May 4th -- Montreal Students Stage Nearly-Nude Protests

May 14th -- Quebec's Education Minister Resigns as Protests Continue

May 17th -- Montreal students occupy University of Quebec

May 17th -- Quebec announces emergency law to restore order and thousands protest in Montreal

May 19th -- Quebec steps closer to martial law to repress students

May 22nd -- Anatomy of a conflict after 100 days of student protest

May 30 -- We are immense (translated from Le Devoir)

June 3 -- Protests shine spotlight on skewed priorities

June 7 -- Canada's Maple Spring (via Aljazeera)

June 22 -- Highlights from the Streets of Montreal 

Sept 20 -- It's official: Quebec tuition hikes are history (proof that radical movements can win).
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