Part 1: How the Quebec government ripped up the student's proposals and walked away from the negotiating table

This document reprints part one of an assessment and summary of the recent negotiations and has been widely circulated among students in Quebec. An important read also for students outside of Quebec, it shows the clash of ideas that is taking place at the negotiation table and major issues of the strike. Written the CLASSE negotiating committee and typed by Carl Oullette last night, the original text is available in French here and, again in French, in PDF here.  RY magazine apologizes for any errors in our rapid translation. The document has been edited and explanations added. We repeat again that this crisis has been created by the government's intransigence, which is shown in black and white in the comments of Quebec Premier Jean Charest below.  Part two is coming soon.

Student leaders from the three main student centrals speak to the press after negotiations
again broke down with the government yesterday following four days of talks in Quebec City.

Assessment and summary of the CLASSE after four days of negotiations.

by Carl Ouellette 
Thursday, 31 May

The CLASSE returns to Quebec for Round 4

For the fourth time, the CLASS was invited back to the negotiation table. On Thursday we recieved a call from Pierre Pilote to tell us that we would meet again after our Congress. On Sunday we had confirmation that the meeting will be held in Quebec City at 14:00. Monday morning we get on board the Justin-négo-mobile. Direction: Quebec City.

New Democrats to Queen: Let me kiss thy royal buttocks!

It is indeed an honour for me to rise on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to give a few words in honour of this tremendous celebration of her 60 years on the throne as Queen of England, Queen of Canada and Queen of the Commonwealth.  When we look at the history of Queen Elizabeth and her family, it is truly an amazing history to be able to live in the time of her life and see what she has done from June 2, 1952, on to today and for the years to come. She has been a symbol of grace and a symbol of wondrous achievement in what she has done. With her respect for all peoples, all religions, all languages, the Commonwealth, family and, above all, her faith, she has been what I would call a beacon of light and a beacon of hope for all people, not just of the Commonwealth but of the world. She has truly lived her life in the service of her country and the Commonwealth. That is much to the chagrin of many people. People in the United States, for example, would love to have someone like Queen Elizabeth as their head of state, as she truly resembles tradition from long ago. [...]    As a Canadian of 56 years old, living under Queen Elizabeth as the monarch of Canada has been truly a wondrous thing. [...] I am deeply honoured that Canada has retained the ties to the Crown, because it is the Crown that is the symbol of our history and of our direction. In fact, the chair you sit in, Mr. Speaker, comes from Westminster. With our ties to England, our ties to France and our ties to other countries, we are indeed a commonwealth of nations. Her search for justice and for peace among all nations and all religions is truly tremendous.  Who can forget her speeches when she gives the Queen's address on Christmas and New Years?  It truly is an amazing thing.  [...] On behalf of our leader and all New Democrats across the country and on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, we say God save our Queen and may she live a long and glorious life. God bless. 


Peter Stoffer, NDP MP in the House of Commons

Member of Quebec National Assembly arrested

The member for Quebec Solidaire was arrested and handcuffed for marching with peaceful citizens in absurd gesture of the Quebec police, the left-wing political party said earlier today.

Note: since this article was released the police have raided and searched Khadir's Montreal home and paraded her daughter and boyfriend out the front door in handcuffs under the eyes of the media.

Like many protesters and peaceful demonstrators, Amir Khadir was arrested during a  casseroles walk which was declared illegal by police in Quebec.

The 65 people arrested by the Police Service of Quebec will be fined $ 494 for violating section 500.1 of the Highway Safety Code.

"Decidedly, ridicule does not kill! A deputy arrested and handcuffed while participating in a peaceful march like so many others that take place every night in several cities in Quebec! Do the police in the National Capital have nothing better to do? " asked Françoise David, president and spokesperson for QS.  "I was involved myself in several pots and pans walks as well as that of May 22. Other politicians and celebrities have as well. Why this police intervention while everything went well in the streets of Quebec? " added Ms. David.

"It is clear these days that the laws are not enforced in the same way for everyone. ... The police punish the protesters and demonstrators protesting against an unjust law and arbitrary, and them, they are arrested. The people of Quebec is right to be alarmed by such a two-tiered justice and we must continue to demonstrate our disapproval," concluded Ms. David.

A picture of crisis in numbers

Is the Quebec Student Strike is leading to a new discussion and sense of solidarity among
young people across the country, objectively based on class-lines?

Richest 1 per cent increased their share of total income from 8.1 per cent in 1980 to 13.3 in 2007
Richest 0.1 per cent doubled their share from 2 per cent to 5.3
The 100 best-paid CEOs made an average of $6.6 million, 155 times the average wage of $42,988
Tax rate for richest dropped from 43 per cent in 1981 to 29 per cent in 2010
Cost of corporate tax cuts: more than $10 billion yearly

Richest 10 per cent made 24 per cent more in 2006 than the richest in 1976
Middle earners: 6.4 per cent more
Poorest: 10 per cent less

Average tuition in Quebec: $2,500
Average in rest of Canada: $5,000
Average in Ontario: $6,307
Tuition as a percentage of total university and college revenue has doubled, from 10 per cent to 21
Quebec's tuition hike: $325 a year for the next five years (amended to seven years), totalling a $1,625 increase

The finest air in the history of the Dominion!

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair:  Could the Conservatives tell us how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to monitor smokestack pollution at a Canadian coal-fired power plant?


Acting Prime Minister, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney: We will take no lessons from the NDP on this. If that member chooses to distrust the EPA or President Obama, that is his choice.


Mulcair: Usually countries try to take care of their own environment. They do not outsource it. The Conservatives claim that the cuts will not affect monitoring but they are already being contradicted by our own environment department. Environment Canada's website confirms the work done by the smokestack pollution team includes enforcement and compliance. Why do the Conservatives not realize what is going on in their own environment department? Are they so busy debunking the theories about environment and volcanoes?


Kenney: The only thing volcanic here is that member's temper. Through the Clean Air Act, through the restriction on toxins, through the increased enforcement of our environmental laws, . . .through all of these measures this government, objectively speaking, has made more progress on the quality of our environment and the air that we breathe than any government in the history of the Dominion.


Exchange in Parliament quoted in Rabble.ca about the fact that the Harper Conservative government is cutting an Environment Canada team that monitors smokestack pollution. The government has suggested that it could save much of the $700,000 it spends on this monitoring group by relying on other sources for the information such as the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

What to do if you are arrested - Quebec students make plans

A student protester is arrested by riot police

Students across Quebec are preparing for arrest, as the major student association la CLASSE has come out in defiance of notorious Law 78, which limits freedom of speech and assembly. Already, over 1600 students have been arrested since the law came into effect last week.

Exactly how the movement will response has become a major debate, with the Federations of university and college students, as well as the Quebec Federation of Labour, openly calling for the defeat of the government through elections. Both the FEUQ and FEUC have pledged to combat the government in the summer by knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors in ridings where the Quebec Liberal Party is weak.

A more radical path, supported by la CLASSE and more progressive and militant students, has been the question of a continued mobilization and escalation and a general social and political strike.

This strategy of a general strike is supported by la CLASSE as well as other left voices. The LJC-Q and the PCQ (Young Communist League and Communist Party of Quebec).  The LJC-Q has also stated that is is against the law and is calling on youth to maintain the defense of their rights and to continue to exercise them.