Quebec students fight tuition hike
Quebec college and university students escalated protests against a $50-per-semester tuition hike, barricading themselves inside CEGEP Vieux-Montréal and facing police repression, including pepper spray and Tasers, with 102 arrests. The Association for the Defense of College Students (ASSE) led strikes across the province, while Education Minister Michelle Courchesne dismissed the demands, calling the increase reasonable and non-negotiable.
Quebec students intensified their opposition to a $50-a-semester tuition fee hike, with the Association for the Defense of College Students (ASSE) coordinating protests across the province. On Tuesday night, over 100 students barricaded themselves inside CEGEP Vieux-Montréal, constructing a makeshift fort with chairs, plywood, and vending machines. Police responded with cayenne pepper spray and Tasers, leading to 102 arrests on charges including public mischief, assault, and armed assault, though no injuries were reported. The protests are part of a three-day strike involving students in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, and Gatineau, with a province-wide demonstration planned for Thursday. Around 600 students at Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) in Gatineau began picketing and boycotting classes on Wednesday, continuing their strike for two days. Earlier, police were called twice to Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) to disperse strikers who had blocked access to the campus. Students are demanding more than just tuition relief; they also seek increased provincial funding for higher education and a student daycare system. Education Minister Michelle Courchesne rejected their demands, calling the $50 increase reasonable and stating the government had offset the rise with expanded student financial aid. She urged students to focus on attending classes rather than protesting. Guillaume Potvin, a spokesman for striking UQÀM students, criticized Courchesne’s refusal to engage with their questions, warning of escalated pressure tactics, including a potential unlimited strike. However, support for a broader strike remains limited, with only half of UQÀM’s 40,000 students participating and other major universities like McGill declining to join. The protests mark a return to large-scale student activism in Quebec, following a major 2005 strike against cuts to the province’s loans and bursaries program. ASSE’s Hubert Gendron-Blais emphasized that police repression would not deter students from continuing their fight against the tuition hike.
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