QUEBEC STUDENT STRIKES HEAT UP

UNCLAS QUEBEC 000038

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON CA
SUBJECT: QUEBEC STUDENT STRIKES HEAT UP



1. The student movement in Quebec against cuts in education
funding was background noise just a few days ago but is now
front and center as student action gains support across the
province. Close to 200,000 students - from secondary school
through university - voted in favor of unlimited strikes. On
March 24, thousands of resolute young Quebecers, from regions as
far as the Saguenay and Gaspe, gathered before the National
Assembly and Education Ministry buildings to vent their anger.


2. University, CEGEP (junior college),and now high school
students are raucously protesting $103 million worth of Liberal
government cuts in student grants. The cuts announced by former
Education Minister Pierre Reid (since removed in a cabinet
reshuffle) convert student grants into student loans. While
Quebec students pay the lowest tuition fees in Canada ("in the
world," according to Premier Charest),the students argue that
Charest's cuts penalize the least fortunate students and are a
reversal of Quebec's hard-won success in making education
accessible to all. (Francophone Quebecers are quick to recall
that, historically, they were the least educated Canadians and
consequently shut out of higher paying jobs.)


3. Most of the well-oiled demonstrations are being led by the
"Federation etudiante universitaire du Quebec (FEUQ) and the
"Coalition de l'Association pour une solidarite syndicale
etudiante elargie (CASSEE)." They have made their case through
the media and via unannounced roadblocks, the occupation of
government offices, sit-ins, hunger strikes and open defiance of
riot police. As momentum picks up, the education ministry is
reminding students that if agreement with the provincial
government is not reached by April 1, students will be forced to
take additional classes during the summer. The new Education
minister, Jean-Marc Fournier (who inherited the student grant
problem from his predecessor) is urging students to come back to
the table.


4. Comment: Public support for the students is founded not so
much on the merits of the case (most Quebecers agree that
tuition fees in Quebec are low) as on opposition to Charest's
government in general. The Premier is having a tough time
selling his vision of "less government," be it ending government
grants to students; initiating public/private partnerships;
reducing energy subsidies; or reducing the number of government
workers. Latest polls indicate opposition to the Charest
government stands at 76 percent. Even if Education minister
Fournier manages to negotiate a compromise with the students, we
expect further unrest and resistance from other sectors of the
Quebec population in the months ahead as Charest tries to
implement government reform.






FRIEDMAN