Police protect Grand Prix events, Francofolies from demonstrators. MONTREAL - Montreal police scrambled again Friday night to keep protesters out of the Quartier des Spectacles where the second night of the Francofolies Festival was under way, as well as the Grand Prix events on Peel and Crescent Sts.
Two different protests began at 8:30 p.m.; the nightly pots and pans, or “casseroles” march against raising tuition fees and the province’s special law to limit protests began as usual at Place Émilie Gamelin behind the Berri-UQAM métro station. About 400 people, followed by dozens of police vehicles, as well as scores of officers on foot and bicycles, flooded west toward the Francofolies Festival site. Montreal police reported there were 12 arrests. Eight people were arrested for bylaw infractions and released. The other four were arrested under the Criminal Code for armed aggression, assault with a weapon and assaulting a police officer. When the marchers headed south to Ste. Protests in Quebec: Reframing the debate. Quebec Student Strike Gets Lift From Occupy. WASHINGTON -- As Quebec's "student spring" continues to blossom, inspired Occupy activists have organized their own demonstrations of support across the United States, with many hoping to draw attention to mounting student debt in both countries.
Quebec protesters explain why they march. Bill 78 condemned by national student movement. OTTAWA and GATINEAU, QC, June 1, 2012 /CNW/ - At the National General Meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students, delegates voted unanimously to condemn Québec's Law 78.
Passed on May 18, Law 78 criminalizes students' rights to assembly, association and expression in Québec. "Inspired by the resistance of students in Québec's, students' unions across Canada passed this emergency motion to support students in their fight to defend their public post-secondary education system," said Roxanne Dubois, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. The motion, served by the Graduate Students' Association of the University of Ottawa and seconded by the Dawson College Student Union, contained the following clauses: The National General Meeting is taking place in Gatineau, Québec, until Sunday June 3. The Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's largest student organization, uniting more than one-half million students in all ten provinces. If tuition talks fail, is an election next in Quebec? Quebec may budge on tuition hike.
Jean-Luc Lavallee, QMI Agency , Last Updated: 2:07 PM ET QUEBEC CITY -- Quebec is considering concessions during last-ditch talks to end a crippling student strike, including a partial rollback to the tuition increase that sparked the crisis.
Finance Minister Raymond Bachand confirmed Wednesday that the government is currently examining "all sorts of ideas" to solve the three-month walkout that threatens the summer tourist season. Education Minister Michelle Courchesne began a lengthy bargaining session on Monday in the provincial capital with four main student leaders, and the government discussed the tuition hike for the first time since the strike began. Kotarski: Students unfairly smeared. Last week, the National Post gave us the delightful story of a University of Toronto law graduate named Alex Kenjeev, who walked into the Scotiabank and put down a bag with $114,460 in cash to pay off his student loan.
Ontario students in solidarity with Quebec students. As a social crisis over tuition deepens in Quebec, students and unions in neighbouring Ontario are gearing up to join their counterparts by protesting their own tuition fees — the highest in Canada.
The groups say they’re not advocating violence, but warn there’s growing unrest among Ontario students who are frustrated with paying sky-high fees for their education. “We all support the students in Quebec and their demands,” said Sandy Hudson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “And we understand that the best way for us to support students in Quebec is to actually challenge our own government.”
Students are already taking action in Ottawa and Toronto, and there are other groups across the province who are prepared to join the cause, they said. They plan to hold a day of action June 5 with a demonstration in Toronto and other events across the province. “That’s not my goal,” Hudson said. It’s up to students to decide what they want to do, she added. Quebec government to help cover costs of Montreal protests.
Quebec Student Protests: It's Not Just About Tuition Anymore As Anger At Bill 78 Spreads. MONTREAL - The unpredictable nightly protests that helped spur a government crackdown have largely been a Montreal-only affair — until now.
Since Premier Jean Charest passed a law last week limiting protests in the province, defiant demonstrations have popped up in cities not known as hotbeds of activism. Small groups from Granby, south of Montreal, to Jonquiere, north of Quebec City, have joined Montrealers in taking to the streets with pots and pans to protest Bill 178. Their message is clear: This conflict is not just about tuition anymore. In recent days, between 50 and 200 people have been gathering to protest the law in Trois-Rivieres, an industrial city roughly halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.
"This has gone beyond the student movement," said Gaetan Bouchard, a local blogger and longtime social activist. Maclean's Quebec Cover Takes Aim At Student Protesters. The cover of the June 4th edition of Maclean's magazine will add more fuel to the fiery debate around Quebec's student protests.
The magazine features a masked protester and the headline "Quebec's New Ruling Class. " "How a group of entitled students went to war and shut down a province. Dave Kaufman: I'm Not a Quebec Protester, But Police Assaulted Me Anyway. On Tuesday evening, just before midnight, I was assaulted by a police officer.
No warning, no explanation, just a swift swing of a nightstick to the back of my leg. It was on Rene Levesque Boulevard. I was walking west, away from the protest area, near the corner of Sanguinet. I was with one other person. Both of us are freelance journalists, and had been observing the protests from Ste. About a quarter of the way up the block two younger looking kids ran past us.
Student groups head to court to overthrow Bill 78. MONTREAL - Protests against the Charest government are moving into the courtroom.
On Friday the largest student groups filed motions against Bill 78, the emergency legislation passed last week after protesters stormed classrooms at UQAM. Lawyers say the law violates the Charter and basic human rights because of its restrictions on freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and changes made to the burden proof for those arrested. The motions will be heard next Wednesday in Quebec Superior Court. Traduction. Quebec government: We're willing to talk with students. Red squares sweep Montreal. CKUT radio: Mass Montréal protest for accessible education. Reviewed by Coop Média de Montréal editors. copyeditedfact checked [?] CKUT radio: Mass Montréal protest for accessible education audio report recorded on the streets of downtown Montreal 22/03 by Stefan Christoff Mass protest for accessible education in downtown Montreal. Listen to a radio report on the massive student protest today in downtown Montreal, a demonstration that completely filled large parts of the downtown area.
Canada News: Montreal subway sabotage accused face terror-hoax related charges. MONTREAL—The gravity of the actions alleged against four young people accused in connection with Thursday’s subway smoke bombings became much more apparent Saturday with the addition of an anti-terror related charge. The three women and one man, all in their 20s, will each face a charge of hoax regarding terrorist activity, which carries a maximum prison term of five years, police revealed Saturday.
If anyone had been injured during the hoax, the maximum sentence would be 10 years. They have also been charged with conspiracy and mischief over $5,000. Cry from the heart wrenching. Quebec students going on strike over tuition-fee hikes. QUEBEC - About 36,000 post-secondary students in Quebec are expected to desert their classrooms Tuesday amid strikes over tuition hikes. The strikes have been triggered by votes at universities and colleges, with students at some institutions choosing to use the tactic to apply pressure against the Charest government. While less than 10 per cent of the province's students have chosen to participate, the figure has grown considerably in recent days. Premier Jean Charest showed no sign of budging Monday. He called his government's policy "fair" and well-thought-out, following consultations held over a number of years. Charest added that bursaries and loans would increase in order to guarantee student access, as part of a broader series of measures to increase funding for Quebec universities.
"For example, every student who has a bursary will see their bursary increase with an equivalent amount of money of the increase in tuition fees," the premier told reporters Monday. Thousands of Quebec students march over tuition fees. Tens of thousands packed Montreal's streets Thursday to protest a tuition increase proposed by the government of Premier Jean Charest -- an increase that march organizers said is tantamount to a declaration of war on students. Though exact numbers weren't available, some estimates put the crowd at around 200,000. Many students carried signs and shouted slogans decrying the fee increase. During the largely peaceful protest, university and CEGEP students boycotted classes, and students from Dawson College in Montreal blocked the entrance to a metro station.
Multiple injuries,106 arrests at Victoriaville tuition riot. Ctvmontreal.ca Published Sunday, May 6, 2012 3:39PM EDT Last Updated Saturday, May 19, 2012 8:13AM EDT MONTREAL - A protester reportedly lost an eye after suffering head trauma, one of several injuries that occurred after events got out of hand at a tuition protest in Victoriaville that started at around 6:45 p.m. Friday. Demonstrators stormed past barriers, tossing rocks and other projectiles, while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, in a series of skirmishes that ended with 106 arrests. Another three were arrested Saturday morning after being found with objects that could be used for violence. Three SQ police officers were hurt, two seriously, and six demonstrators were also injured in the clashes. 'Important' meeting with students expected: Que. gov't. CTVNews.ca Staff Published Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:33PM EDT Last Updated Monday, June 11, 2012 6:05PM EDT After another night of protests and mass arrests in Montreal, Quebec Education Minister Michelle Courchesne suggested the government is trying once again to reach a solution with student leaders.
Courchesne said Thursday she expects to hold a "very, very important" meeting with student groups after having "positive" discussions over the phone. 14 arrested, 6 injured as students protest in Montreal. Montreal Student Protest March Declared Illegal. Will Quebec-style student protests spread to Ontario? Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty might want to start preparing himself for the pain that Jean Charest is now going through. Line Beauchamp resigns. Almost 700 arrested in Canada tuition protest. Quebec: From Quiet Revolution to not-so-quiet student riot - Canada. Photographs by Roger Lemoyne.