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Quebec

From 1968 to 2007 post-secondary tuition fees in Quebec were frozen at approximately $540 per year. In 2007, Jean Charest, the leader of the Quebec government and the Liberal Party of Quebec (Parti Libéral du Québec) announced that provincial universities are lacking financial resources and the implementation of a fiscal policy change that increased tuition costs was required to overcome this deficit. Four years later on March 18, 2011, the Liberal Party of Quebec announced a new budget plan that included a 75% increase of post-secondary education tuition fees from $2,168 to $3,793 over five years from 2012 to 2017 raising the average annual cost of university to $2,519. The Charest government publicly disclosed that an increase of tuition is needed for the province’s global competitiveness and that educational institutions are still lacking adequate finances.

In 2001, 11% of students in Quebec (44,000) from 18 post-secondary schools emerged from an anti-globalization movement to form a left-wing democratic student union referred to as The Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSE). In December 2011, ASSE, which contained approximately 60,000 students, created a coalition referred to as La Coalition large de l'Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE), which is currently contains about 100,000 members from 65 different associations. The organization of CLASSE intends to mobilize and represent the interests of students. It operates as a grassroots democracy where decisions are made through discussions held within a local assembly and then coordinated by representatives in national assemblies.

Maple Spring (Printemps érable)

The members of CLASSE resisted the Charest government’s plan to increase tuition fees and voted to go on strike, generating the largest strike in Canadian history known as Maple Spring. Maple Spring contained 2 to 3 demonstrations a day, with 160 protests in total, lasting 72 days from February 13, 2012 to September 7, 2012. The name of the strike was derived from the reference of Arab Spring, which was a political protest in North Africa and the Middle East that began in December 2010. "Maple" was a Canadian reference derived from the symbol of the maple leaf. The demand of Maple Spring was to eliminate tuition hikes and freeze the current tuition fees.

By 13 February 2012, the majority of the provincial student organizations including, Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ) and Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ) joined the movement and participated in the emerging development of the strike. Each week representatives from each association met to vote for the continuation of the strike and to democratically discuss the political actions they wanted to execute to express grievances and apply pressure on the Charest government. CLASSE, FECQ and FEUQ agreed to assemble a lobbying strategy to convince the government to implement a policy that catered more towards the financial interests of students. The representatives of the student unions were unsuccessful with this approach and failed to negotiate an agreement with the Liberal Party of Quebec. By March 2012, 75% of CEGEP students and university students in the province (3000,000 out of 400,000) were on strike. On March 22, 2012, CLASSE organized a rally in Montreal that mobilized the participation of 200, 000 citizens from across the province including students from the University of Ottawa. Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) transported a bus of students to participate in this mass demonstration that is now considered the largest protest in the history of Quebec.

The Red Square Symbol

The symbol of Maple Spring was a red square that student wore on their clothing that represented being squarely in the red, or squarely in debt by tuition costs. The movement experienced more national and international exposure when a local Montreal band, Arcade Fire, showed support for the movement by wearing the red squares while performing on Saturday Night Live. Other celebrities such as Paul Piché, the band, Les Cowboys Fringants, music producer Guy A. Lepage and director Paule Baillargeon also showed their support for Maple Spring by publicly wearing the red square.

Opposition to Maple Spring

Students in opposition to the strike formed an association called Mouvement des étudiants socialement responsables du Québec (MÉSRQ) (Socially Responsible Student Movement) which contained 4, 000 members. Citizens and students that refused to join the strike wore a green square on their clothing during the massive rally on March 22 in Montreal to display their support for the Charest government and opposition to the continuation of Maple Spring. The picket lines and protest demonstrations by the students on strike have restricted students from attending their classes, which resulted in the loss of the 2012 academic term. Article 6 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms states that every citizen contains the right to peaceful enjoyment and free disposition of property and being denied access to class is a violation of this right. On August 30, 2012 students in opposition of the strike filed a class action lawsuit against 25 post secondary institutions. Several students attending Collège Montmorency and Université Lavall were represented by lawyer Michel Savonitto for the losses they have endured for these institutions failure to provide them their education. To resist the interruption of the strike, one hundred opposing students were granted court injunctions that allowed them to freely pass picket lines and attend classes. These requests were the first court orders of this kind seen the history of strikes in Quebec. The University of Montreal was granted a court injunction that allowed them to prohibit protests and the formation of picket lines that interfered with students’ access to lecture halls, buildings and parking lots. Concordia University also took measures to prevent interference by the strike on students and staff on campus by hiring riot police and a private security firm, Maximum Security Inc., to confiscate protesters and patrol campus.

Maple Spring Earth Day Protest

Following the rally on March 22, CLASSE organized another mass demonstration in Montreal to socially expand the movement beyond tuition costs, towards the protection of the environment. Representing 47% of the 175, 000 Quebec students on strike, CLASSE published a press release to mobilize other associations such as environmental groups and labour unions into Maple Spring. Two days prior to the demonstration on April 22, Jean Charest was interrupted by protesters while promoting Plan Nord, which sought to subsidize mining corporations by the government to retrieve mineral resources in northern Quebec, to business leaders at a conference. One hundred protesters were arrested outside the convention centre as a result of the interruption. Approximately 250, 000 people attended the Earth Day protest in Montreal on April 22 to demand government environmental protection of Quebec’s natural resources. Other demands of the Earth Day protest include the right to post secondary education without financial discrimination, the conservation of natural resources and restrictions to mining exploitation, the preservation of Indigenous people’s land, the right to a democratic government that represents the interest of the public and the right to a social economy that respects human liberties. Two days after Maple Spring’s Earth Day rally, Line Beauchamp, Education Minister, announced that the Liberal Party of Quebec agrees to negotiate tuition fees with student’s organizations except CLASSE, the organization that represents 47% of the students on strike. In response to the exclusion of CLASSE, the other students unions refused to engaged in negotiation discussions with Beauchamp and the government. The students responded to Beauchamp’s refusal to negotiate with all the student representatives by painting the outside of her office in Montreal red, which is a colour that symbolizes maple spring, during one of the nightly protests. These acts of vandalism resulted in a large amount of arrests.

On May 4th 2012, a coalition of students unions, environmental groups and worker unions from all over Quebec arrived in a city east of Montreal called Victoriaville (Ville de Victoriaville) to protest outside the hotel where the Liberal Party of Quebec was hosting a yearly convention. About 3000 protestors participated in this protest referred to as The Battle of Victoriaville. Provincial riot police were called to the scene and used several tactics to diffuse the protest such as tear gas, stun grenades, baton charges and plastic bullets known as plastic baton rounds. One student, Francis Grenier, was hit in the eye with a plastic bullet and suffered a serious injury that almost resulted in the loss of his eyesight. Protestors retaliated towards police by throwing rocks and empty tear gas cans back at them, which turned this protest into a riot. An order of inquiry was issued in 2013 to examine these incidents.

Bill 78 (Loi 78)

By the month of May in 2012, about 5% (400, 000) of the citizens of the province supported Maple Spring and participated in the political demonstrations that occurred two to three times a day across Quebec. In response to the ongoing strike, Jean Charest and the Liberal Party of Quebec passed an emergency law, Bill 78 (Bill 12) formally titled An Act to Enable Students to Receive Instruction From the Postsecondary Institutions They Attend, through the National Assembly of Quebec on May 18, 2012. The role of Bill 78 was to break the student picket lines and ensure all students adequately received their education at the institution they were enrolled in without any interference for it to be provided. In reference to national security, the bill allows enforcement to maintain public order and civil discipline by obligating protesters of 50 or more to give police an eight hour notice of their plans for demonstration including the route they are planning on taking and the duration of the protest. This Bill now makes it illegal for the practice of protest demonstrations within 50 meters of an education facility to abolish the interference of the staff attending work. The encouragement or practice of protesting violates Bill 78 and student activist organizations faced fines up to $125 000 and individuals faced fines up to $35 000 and the possibly of fines doubling with repeated offenders.

CLASSE representative, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, held a press conference to speak about the new legislation and encourage the students to remain on strike and to continue practicing their right to freedom of association through protest. On May 22, 2012, the 100th day of the strike, five days after Bill 78 was passed, provincial police arrested 518 activists in Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke during a demonstration that included 250 000 citizens for violating Bill 78. After the arrests, thousands of people gathered on the streets of Montreal to display their grievances towards Bill 78 by collectively participating in the political activist practice known as Casseroles (Cacerolazo), which is a charivari protest tactic of making noise from pots and pans commonly used in Latin America to express defiance against neoliberal austerity and fascist dictatorships. On May 31, 2012 the Charest government announced they were fully extracting their presence from negotiation discussions with the student unions. Also on May 31, the first league final game of the National Hockey League nationally publicized the continuation of the movement by referencing the game as “Casseroles Night in Canada." To support the strike, citizens across the country from Vancouver to Halifax participated in the charivari tactic of casseroles by making noise on their pots and pans. In response to the Liberal Party's retraction from the negotiating tables, the tactics employed by students in Maple Spring shifted from a civil disobedience approach towards economic interference. Car windows and the exterior of local businesses were physically vandalized and bags of rocks were thrown onto the tracks of the city’s metro system, which shut down the operation of the subway for several hours time and under the legislation of Bill 78, students faced fines of $494 each for occupying the Champlain Bridge in Montreal during rush hour. Provincial riot police used tear gas, stun grenades and baton charges to break up the crowds of protesters.

On July 1st 2013, Bill 78 was overturned for being unconstitutional by violating the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Bill 78 violates the Charter by oppressing the student’s right to freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of assembly.

Outcome

On August 1 2012, Jean Charest and the Liberal Party of Quebec ordered an election to determine the majority’s opinion on the plan to increase provincial tuition fees. Leader of Parti Québécois, Pauline Marois announced that if her party was elected she would retract Bill 78 and avoid the use of any other authoritarian legislation. She also announced she would hold a conference on post-secondary education with the student unions. On September 4, 2012 the Liberal Party of Quebec lost the election in Jean Charest’s electoral district and the Parti Québécois (PQ) won the majority of the votes with 32% and an increase of 7 seats with 54 out 125, making the PQ the largest party within the National Assembly of Quebec. 20 year old, Leo Bureau-Blouin, former student leader and representative of Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec ran for the Parti Québécois. He was elected and became the youngest person in Quebec’s history to become a member of The National Assembly. As a result of the defeat, Jean Charest resigned as the leader of the Liberal Party on September 5, 2012. After the election, students associations voted to end the strike and returned to class. Pauline Marois announced on the same day in September that the plan to increase tuition fees that sparked the largest strike in Canadian history was cancelled and on September 20, 2012 Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois froze tuition fees. In March 2013, Quebec Premier, Pauline Marois, announced a tuition increase that is 80% lower than what was proposed by the Charest government and students responded through protest.

Media Coverage

Maple Spring generated national and international media coverage with more than 3000 news stories from approximately 77 countries around the world. The movement received national coverage on BBC and it was featured internationally in France on Agence France-Presse, TV5 and Le Monde. It also gained international exposure in Australia & New Zealand on Al-Jazeera and in the United States on CNN and the New York Times and appeared in the Guardian in the United Kingdom.

Student Media

Concordia University created a student media platform called Concordia University Television (CUTV) in 1969, which is a television broadcast that is owned by the non-profit organization Concordia Student Broadcasting Society (CSBS). Concordia University TV is an alternative news source operated by students that provided coverage on Maple Spring. It disclosed information provided by the student unions through the medium of online television broadcasting that was watched by up to 100, 000 viewers each day during the strike. Student journalists were not granted the same access as mainstream media journalists and several of them faced charges and arrests while covering stories. The University of Montreal’s school paper Montréal Campus de I’UQAM presented its media coverage of Maple Spring taking a supporting position of the strike. Laval University’s weekly student paper, Impact Campus, prohibited students from promoting a side in their editorial content and presented their coverage from a neutral position.

Social Media

Social media was used as a tool used by student organizations to communicate and mobilize students on the information regarding upcoming events, protests and news. Social media provided the opportunity for communication and debate regarding the strike and government action at a low cost and without the need of a spokesperson representative. The use of hashtags on the social media platform, Twitter, allowed for the possibility of updates on certain events to be contained through threads that were accessible for everyone. Three hashtags, #ggim #manifencours and #casserolesencour generated about 700, 000 tweets in one month during the protest. Facebook was another social media stage that facilitated public knowledge, updates and events that were accessible for the public to share and comment on. A Facebook event was created for every protest and demonstration, which allowed the organizers to get an estimate on approximately how many people were planning on attending. Within the platform of Facebook, each participant received the opportunity to share, comment and post in each event page keeping the communication among protests easily achievable.

National and International Mobilization Outside Quebec

On April 26, 2012 about 50 citizens in Toronto, Ontario participated in a protest downtown in the support of Maple Spring. Provincial riot police appeared on the scene. On May 23, 2012 a rally in Toronto was organized by a group of Ontario student activists that started at the Hart House of the University of Toronto and ran though the streets to Ryerson University. This rally was organized in response to the mass arrests from the implementation of Bill 78 that occurred in Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke on May 22. Student representative of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), Sandy Hudson, spoke at the rally to express support for the students on strike in Quebec. Citizens of Toronto also demonstrated support for the students on strike by giving the Liberal Party of Quebec a petition with 700 signatures on it that demands the removal of Bill 78. The Occupy Wall Street movement and the Strike Everywhere group in New York organized two demonstrations, one at the Quebec government offices at the Rockefeller Plaza and one at the Washington Park. These protests attempted to raise awareness for global anti-protest laws and build support for the Quebec student strike. Students in Taipei, Taiwan, Paris and Brussels expressed solidarity with the strike in Quebec by adopting the red square symbol in protests against the increase of tuition fees in their countries.

Link to original article: Student activism