Canada protest spreads as arrest list hits 2,500 benchmark

Published time: May 26, 2012 09:15
Edited time: May 26, 2012 13:15
Students stage a protest against tuition fee increases on May 25, 2012 in Montreal. (AFP Photo / Rogerio Barbosa)

Ontario students have pledged to take to the streets in solidarity with their protesting fellows in Montreal and other cities of Quebec. The students are defying emergency laws the authorities are imposing to curb down the wave of dissent.

Students in Quebec have been protesting for more than 100 days now, with violent clashes between police and protesters reported on several occasions. The latest demo on Wednesday night resulted in a police crackdown on demonstrators.

About 700 people were detained throughout the province, which pushed the total number of detentions over the months over 2,500. That is at least five times more than during the 1970 crisis, when martial law was declared in Quebec in response to the actions of radical nationalists.

The protest against the hike of tuition fees was mainly focused in the province’s largest city Montreal, but it is now spreading outside of Quebec. A group of students the neighboring province of Ontario pledged their support of the movement Friday.

“The most important thing we can do in Ontario to support the struggle in Quebec is to bring the spirit of democracy and activism into the province of Ontario,” said student and activist Xavier Lafrance as cited by the Toronto Sun. “The spirit is in the air. Mr. McGuinty needs to be aware that it can and will happen in Ontario.”

Calling the rally scheduled for June 5 the “beginning in Ontario,” Sandy Hudson, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario, said the group is expecting to “build a movement and have capacity.”

On May 18, Quebec provincial government issued a controversial emergency regulation called Bill 78 designed to undermine the students’ ability to impose school shutdowns. It restricts public gatherings larger than 50 people, provides fines for protest leaders endorsing unsanctioned events and forbids covering of faces on demos, among other things.

The regulation’s effect on freedom of assembly is drawing an increasing number of older protesters to join their students. The Montreal Gazette cites Henri Fernand, 65, who took part in Wednesday’s rally in his wheelchair as saying: "The youth is our future and I'm proud of them. I'm here in solidarity with the students."

Comments (23)

Canuckism (unregistered) 03.06.2012 13:19

And the band plays on, from Cairo to New York,  London to Berlin and now Montreal, the Global Governance neo-socialist Agenda his well on it's way to achieving the objective. Am I the only one on this planet who took the oh so deliberate warning from such elite figures as Zbigniew Brzezinski, George Soros, Jean-Claude Trichet and other Globalist Ghouls who seek to put a hamper on our social advancement and justice to heart? I sure looks like it. They have warned us and now they are putting these heated warnings into action, since the mass wasn't listening, like dogs they are now endlessly chasing after their collective  tails in a vicious circle of Hegelian dialectics push by the always obedient, always willing to go the extra mile, puppet Governments and the own and controlled mass media cartel.

It's funny how Québec's  citizenry and the world for that matter has been captured by these eventful Hegelian induced neo-socialist controlled protests and have completely and purposely  been  kept in the dark that the Province of Québec has reached the $250 billion sovereign debt threshold and continues to increases by $10.2 billion per year, the equivalent of $28 million per day, $19,331 per minute, or $322 per second.  I wonder what would happen to these so called mass revolts if the unsuspecting public was educated in these matters, I'm pretty certain that the equivalent to 50 cents per day tuitions hike mass groupthink protest would be a non-issue, but what would be the point of that? The elites of this world to whom Québec owes it's skyrocketing $250 billion sovereign debt, wouldn't and couldn't have their way and imposed draconian laws design to oppress our social rights on the puppet government they own and control.   

+1

Undo

Canuckism (unregistered) 03.06.2012 13:17

And the band plays on, from Cairo to New York,  London to Berlin and now Montreal, the Global Governance neo-socialist Agenda his well on it's way to achieving the objective. Am I the only one on this planet who took the oh so deliberate warning from such elite figures as Zbigniew Brzezinski, George Soros, Jean-Claude Trichet and other Globalist Ghouls who seek to put a hamper on our social advancement and justice to heart? I sure looks like it. They have warned us and now they are putting these heated warnings into action, since the mass wasn't listening, like dogs they are now endlessly chasing after their collective  tails in a vicious circle of Hegelian dialectics push by the always obedient, always willing to go the extra mile, puppet Governments and the own and controlled mass media cartel.

It's funny how Québec's  citizenry and the world for that matter has been captured by these eventful Hegelian induced neo-socialist controlled protests and have completely and purposely  been  kept in the dark that the Province of Québec has reached the $250 billion sovereign debt threshold and continues to increases by $10.2 billion per year, the equivalent of $28 million per day, $19,331 per minute, or $322 per second.  I wonder what would happen to these so called mass revolts if the unsuspecting public was educated in these matters, I'm pretty certain that the equivalent to 50 cents per day tuitions hike mass groupthink protest would be a non-issue, but what would be the point of that? The elites of this world to whom Québec owes it's skyrocketing $250 billion sovereign debt, wouldn't and couldn't have their way and imposed draconian laws design to oppress our social rights on the puppet government they own and control.   

0

Undo

Pierre van Niekerk (unregistered) 03.06.2012 05:04

In light of all the economic drama, world markets that fail, banking fraud and Wall Street creativity, the country that will invest in her students to became world class entrepreneurs, will rule when creating jobs.
Canada have more than enough resources and talent to do just that. Free quality students van this debt burden, assist those who work hard to add value to Canadian economy. This is cancerous! Calm down and get wise! This is scandalous.  

0

Undo

View all comments (23)
Add comment

By posting your comment, you agree to abide by our Posting rules

Log in to comment in full, or comment anonymously under character-limit restriction.

100 Text

– required fields

Register or

Name

Password

Show password

Register

or Register

Request a new password

Send

or Register

To complete a registration check
your Email:

or Register

A password has been sent to your email address

Edit profile

Name

New password

Retype new password

Current password

Save

Cancel

Follow us