Historic Montreal Protests, Once About Student Tuition, Now Decry an 'Unconstitutional' Government Response. Early summer in Montreal always brings with it the Jazz Festival, Sundays spent lazing on the mountain that gave the city its name and an audible rejoicing. But not this year, as the familiar routine has collided with unprecedented skirmishes between police and protesters. That the downtown core is finally snowless is far less striking than the fact it has become clogged with demonstrators, primarily students, who maintain a rigorous schedule of marches.
Every evening they alter the regular soundtrack of the season, shouting slogans and banging pots and pans in what has become the longest, and also the loudest, strike in Quebec's history. These scenes of unrest and outrage such as Montreal has never seen have now been repeating themselves for more than three months.
The protests can be traced back to a tuition proposal put forth by Premier Jean Charest's Liberal government, which would raise post-secondary fees by 82%, or about $1,700, over five years of schooling. Quebec’s Students Revolt - Charles C. W. Cooke. In Quebec, the students are revolting. This is both surprising and utterly predictable: surprising because college students in French Canada have by far the best financial deal in the country and should thus be the last people to complain, predictable because the Québécois have a long history of being difficult and demonstrate adroitly that, even when surrounded, the French will be the French.
The student protests in the province are now into their third month and, last week in Victoriaville, flared once again into spasmodic violence. Of the 2,000 protesters, 106 were arrested after eleven people — four of them police officers — were injured, and widespread property damage was inflicted. The agitators opted for a mixture of tactics, combining classics such as smashing windows and setting off pyrotechnics with some more creative criminality, such as throwing billiard balls at the cops. Despite their “Human Rights” rhetoric, the students are ultimately angry at economic reality. Students protest in Montreal against tuition hikes. Thousands unhappy with planned tuition hikes in Quebec protested Tuesday afternoon in Montreal. NEW: Six arrested in evening protestsTens of thousands of students protest in MontrealThe students in Quebec province are unhappy about planned tuition hikesTuesday's protests follow weekend clashes in which 300 were arrested (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of protesters unhappy with planned tuition hikes in Quebec took to the streets Tuesday afternoon in Montreal to mark 100 days of demonstrations.
After a weekend of clashes, tension at first subsided because organizers of the downtown rally provided an itinerary in advance, as required by an emergency law passed late last week, police said. Still, the protesters, many wearing red, split into three groups, with only one column following the prescribed route. Montreal Police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere said there had been no arrests in the afternoon protest. "Luckily it's been raining," he told CNN. Montreal students riot over tuition hike "It's day by day. Quebec Vows New Law to End Student Strike. Quebec Toughens Stance On Protesters.
Class Warfare Is Weighing on Quebec. What the hell is going on in Quebec? Quebec student protests continue. Our Not-So-Friendly Northern Neighbor.