The 2005 Quebec student protests were a series of student strikes and student protests in opposition to budget cuts of C$103 million in the Grants and Loans program by the Charest government. It occurred between February 24 and April 2005 and involved thousands of

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, ...

and

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

students from across

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Background

During the

2003 Quebec general election The 2003 Quebec general election was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec (Canada). The Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ), led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Premier Bernard ...

campaign, the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; ...

, led by

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...

, made a promise to freeze education cost. Having to deal with a rough budget, and because of the election promise, the Quebec government changed the Grants and Loans program by transforming $103 million of grants into loans, nearly doubling the debt of the poorest students. Coalitions representing most CEGEPs and universities started to negotiate with the government. Talks and protests, in the form of marches, went on for over a year. Students from most CEGEPs and universities took the streets on April 14, 2004 (the first anniversary of the Charest government's election) and November 10, 2004.

Student strike

During their January 29–30, 2005 congress, the students' unions members of the ASSÉ (''Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante'') and other independent students' unions decide to form the ''Coalition de l'Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante Élargie'' ( CASSÉÉ) to coordinate the upcoming strike campaign. ("Cassé" is a French word equivalent to "broke".) The strike was initiated on February 21, by a member of the CASSÉÉ, the

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

students' association from

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(''Association étudiante d'anthropologie de l'Université de Montréal''). But the real start was given on February 24 when over 30,000 students members of the CASSÉÉ, and a few other unions joined the strike. The FECQ and the FEUQ, federations of CEGEP and university unions, called for a

student strike Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academ ...

on March 4 and March 9 respectively. By March 15, over 100,000 students were on strike. This turn of events surprised many, as these organizations were traditionally opposed to strikes/

boycotts A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

as a negotiation tactic. On March 16, 2005 students from traditionally more moderate institutions like

École Polytechnique de Montréal École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scal ...

, as well as from Concordia University and McGill's Post-Graduate Student Society joined the strike for 24 hours. Between 10,000 and 100,000 students (80,000 being the number most reported) took the streets for a peaceful march in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, creating the largest student protest staged in Quebec until March 22, 2012. The École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal and McGill University undergraduates

Students' Society of McGill University The Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) is the accredited representative of the undergraduate student body at the downtown campus of McGill University. Membership The SSMU is composed of all undergraduate students studying in faculties ...

joined the strike on March 18 for 24 symbolic hours, though the McGill boycott went largely unobserved and further action was rejected by the student body through an online poll. This constituted the first strike since 1967 for the '' HEC'' and the first strike in 40 years for Polytechnique.

Agreement

On April 2, the student federations and the government reached an agreement that was still left to be voted on by the individual student associations during the week. This agreement consists of a CAN $70M refunding for 2005–2006 and a return of the $103M for the next 4 years, totaling $482M. This money comes from 3 levels: the millennium grant foundation, the federal government and the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

. The FEUQ officially endorsed the agreement, while the FECQ maintained a neutral position, saying it was "interesting enough" to be voted on by the individual members' unions. The CASSÉÉ rejected it. Over the next week, the movement mostly ended, with over two thirds of the students voting for a return to class during the week. However, at least 20 unions representing over 100,000 students rejected the offer and by April 11, there were still approximately 20,000 students boycotting class. During the following 2 weeks, most associations ended or suspended the boycott to allow the students to complete their semester.

Symbol

The symbol of support for the student strike was a small square of red cloth worn upon clothing as a kind of ribbon. The

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

MNAs, then in opposition, wore the red square to demonstrate their support for the striking students. On March 30, a group of students hoisted the symbol opposed to student poverty on

Mount Royal Cross The Mount Royal Cross is a monument on top of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It stands at the northeastern peak of the mountain and overlooks the eastern part of the Island of Montreal. History Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of ...

. It took a full day before authorities were able to remove it. On its lower panel, it was written: ''"Arrêtons de sacrifier nos enfants"'', which means: "Let's stop sacrificing our children."

References

External links