Law outlawing civil disobedience disrupts Quebec students

Quebec- Posted by: Anne Farrell Posted date: 17 May 2012 In: Human Rights, North America

In Quebec there are more than 200,000 students on strike – they are on strike saying that the student fee increase is stopping a lot of them access to college and university education. The students have been on strike for four months. The response of the Quebec government was to this day take Law-78 onto its books, to break the student union and to break the student’s strike.

There are thousand of students on the streets of Montreal and in Quebec city tonight and also in others cities across the entire province.

According to the students, their teachers, some lawyers, and the opposition political parties, this law goes against the fundamental right to protest and the fundamental right of association. Very likely, the law is against the Canadian constitution.

The government is saying that they want to protect the right for students to get access to their courses; as if the universities and colleges were shops where students go to buy an education! No money – no education.

Members of parliament in Quebec are debating the law tonight and as the liberals are in the majority, the law will pass.

The law states that any assembly of more than 10 people in the street to protest is illegal; that anyone needs a permit to gather.

Disobedience could mean a fine of $5,000 or more.

A second offence could mean a fine of $125,000

The minister of education will have the right to declare certain student associations as illegal.

This is a real mess. Now, small left-wing movements are growing in membership by big jumps, gaining 300 young people in one day last week!

Some Marxist groups are proposing violent protests and those groups are also growing because the students are very frustrated with some going into violence.

Civil Disobedience is going to be illegal!