This has always been the essence of our strike and our mobilization: a shared, collective vision whose scope lies well beyond student interests. In our campuses, in our workplaces, in cities and villages across our province, people have come together like never before: to talk, to debate, and to imagine a new society with us. And we are making new alliances, overcoming old divisions, all across Canada.
At the upcoming provincial summit on the future of education, the Parti Québécois will aim to increase tuition fees by indexing them to the cost of living, their stated policy. But we think the time has come for free post-secondary education.
This is what we demanded on Saturday, marching as we have on the 22nd of each month since the spring. If we have demonstrated anything in Quebec, it is that a condition for social change is not that people should hunger for it — we know they do. It is that they believe their actions matter.
Quebec students aren't stopping at their fees being frozen at the election - they're continuing their joined-up fight for free tertiary education.
Post from a UK student organisation going over the strike start to finish, and explaining a few reasons it was particularly successful. Highlights:
organising on a departmental/faculty basis strengthened the overall organisation of the strike, and helped them hold their unions and executives to account
linking in well with other unions and groups
called on workers and local neighbourhoods to join in nightly pots and pans protests, the casseroles, pushing the student movement into a wider popualr struggle
after the biggest demo they called for a week of economic disruptions, which mobilised 30,000 parents and the two largest public sector unions to support
active solidarity with locked-out Rio Tinto Alcan workers and with hundreds of Aveos employees who recently lost their jobs after the government dug in their heels
students stormed a conference centre where Charest (leader on the fee hike) wanted to sell off indigenous land for mining, whilst also attacking a meeting involving anti-gay anti-immigration minister Jason Kenney
the students kept pushing their message over the summer break to other citizens and to election rallies, linking their fight into the main election narrative
definitely my favourite ongoing student movement! I wonder whether they'll last on...
I missed your response before, but in Quebec the tactics split is between FEUQ and FECQ, which are into lobbying, and CLASSE/ASSÉ, which prefers combat syndicalism - basically student strikes and civil disobedience, and is much more invested in transparency and direct democracy - if their speakers say something their members voted to support that. When the government asked assos to condemn all violence, CLASSE members condemned only physical violence not in self-defence which didn't go over well
I am a student in a French-language program in Quebec that went on strike back in February. I can believe that some student associations have everyone speak once before they repeat, but mine doesn't, and we don't alternate men and women (this would favor the men, given that our association is more than half women) but some assos, including CLASSE, do. General assemblies can take 3+ hours, and transparency is variable (CLASSE is good, not so much FEUQ). There's also a split around tactics.
ooh, great to know, thanks for sharing!
what sorta split around tactics, if you don't mind providing more info?
Great case study of what it took for an Anglophone university in Quebec to join the growing student movement that was largely Francophone.
Their build-up looks amazing: the information (check out their step-by-step 23 Answers for Students booklet), the town hall meetings, the mobilisation boot-camp with Francophone students, the joint demos.
Interesting also for their take on why Francophone culture sparked the uprising:
a lack of infighting (e.g. about goals)
a spirit of syndicalism and the solidarity and autonomy that comes with it
the efficient meeting structure (the inner process nerd in me <3s the bit the most)
(a) "no one speak twice before everyone got a chance to speak once, speakers alternate in gender, and nominated facilitators be approved by a vote"
(b) "Occupy exerts great effort to ensure that all participants feel like their concerns have been heard, while Montrealers focus more on productivity and yet few seem to feel hurt or excluded."
Love the closing point about how ideas are individual, but culture is a demonstration, a mix of ideas and practice (praxis in action!). I'll just quote the whole last bit:
Spreading ideas helps people understand Occupy, but sharing culture helps people become Occupiers. A reorientation toward crafting a culture of accessible activism may allow students to learn by doing.
American students need to create their own organizing culture, perhaps incorporating Quebecois syndicalism but without ignoring the principles of radical horizontalism employed by Occupy to address the uniquely American inequalities engraved into our identities — or else suffer terminal fractures like movements past.
It's not just relevant to Americans, but definitely us in the UK too.
“In the Street for Social Strike,” Montreal, Night 110 (by Cindy Milstein)
I personally love Cindy (saw her speak once and read her Anarchism and its Aspirations out on AK Press) so I was stoked to find out she's been blogging her way through the Montreal strikes.
This is a great overview of how they set up their temporary autonomous "social strike" space, what could have gone better, and why they did it. We - as radicals - should do more write-ups like this. As she says:
I often think we forget to document our own histories of how we remake the world, even in little ways, or maybe especially in all these micro-experimental ways (a picket line at one school; professors coming to stand by their striking stands at another; parents forming a baby bloc at a demo; and on and on for these many months until there’s a full-fledged social movement). But I also lingered on the preparation because it illustrates that fine, magical line between what seems a given — that parking spots are for cars — and what is possible — that an official-looking orange chair can reclaim space for something far more enlivening.
I think there could be a bit more critiquing of the benefit of their location being in an 'upscaling' (gentrified?) area but still a great article.
Worth the read, and it's peppered with great pictures!
The Quebec Spring - When the People Awaken (Mario Jean for Nous Autres)
VIDEO:
The Quebec Spring - When the People Awaken
[Sans la nommer lyrics]:
I would like, without naming her, to speak of her to you.
Like of a loved one, of a faithful one.
A quite lively girl who's awakening
To tomorrows singing under the sun
(CHORUS)
She's the one who's being clubbed, being chased, being tracked
She's the one who is stands up, who suffers, who goes on strike,
She's the one we put in jail, who we betray, who we abandon,
Who makes us want to live, who makes us want to follow,
Till the end, till the end.
She's the one who's being clubbed, being chased, being tracked
She's the one who stands up, who suffers, who goes on strike,
She's the one we put in jail, who we betray, who we abandon,
Who makes us want to live, who makes us want to follow,
Till the end, till the end.
[...]
(CHORUS)
She's the one who's being clubbed, being chased, being tracked
She's the one who stands up, who suffers, who goes on strike,
She's the one we put in jail, who we betray, who we abandon,
Who makes us want to live, who makes us want to follow,
Till the end, till the end.
I would like, without naming her, speak of her to you.
Beloved, or ill-loved, she is faithful.
And if you wish for me to introduce her to you,
We call her Permanent Revolution.
(CHORUS)
She's the one who's being clubbed, being chased, being tracked
She's the one who stands up, who suffers, who goes on strike,
She's the one we put in jail, who we betray, who we abandon,
Who makes us want to live, who makes us want to follow,
Till the end, till the end.
(REPEAT CHORUS X 8)
The Quebec Spring is a dream built upon dreams, a gateway into the overwhelming emotion that carried the youth of Quebec, of all those who marched, all those who questioned, all those who were tired of the political lies, and all those who inspiredly danced instead of mumbling sombre, aggressive and sad neoliberal chants. It takes standing up in order to learn to dance, and in the Spring of 2012 in Quebec, a considerable portion of the population stood up, never stopped surveying the streets, bellowing its anger, loving the future it was projecting upon each and every screen of its own political wishes. A ballet of public solidarity, anonymous heros of crowds swelled by an exasperation with the present, the QUEBEC SPRING speaks to all human beings, sings the elegance of a creative, peaceful and intelligent revolution.
A grandiose portrait of historical events, this video depicts the exact sensation felt in the chest of all protesters and student activists during those months of deadlock, of police brutality, and of political manipulation. Each one of us has an imperishable memory of a solidarity more beautiful than hope, more firm than any electoral program. What makes us sometimes want to weep, what inspires us all to live without bowing our head, what makes us belt out our dismay and embrace the cause is all there, it's present, it all interwoven, the cameraman having taken the care to transform his camera into a waltzing hand that tenderly and patiently slides, dives, and gathers with the assurance of a father, this child of us all, this marvelous visionary dream, our lovely québécois child of the maple spring.
Bertrand Laverdure
---
The Quebec Spring.
3 months of social movement.
The beauty of an awakening people.
All images were filmed by Mario Jean, in over 40 demonstrations, between March 22 and June 22 2012.
---
Direction, camera and editing: MARIO JEAN, for MADOC and Nous Autres.
Musical arrangements and production: JAHANZAIB MIRZA
"Sans la nommer" by Georges Moustaki.
Vocals and choral director: SAGE
Bass: YAN ABUD
Banjo, guitar, mandolin: DINO CHAUVETTE
Accordion, wurlitzer: SÉBASTIEN DAUDELIN
Flute: ISABELLE LANDRY
Wurlitzer: FRANCIS LAVALLÉE
Keyboards, guitars, percussions: JAHANZAIB MIRZA
Chorists: GENEVIÈVE ALIE, YAN ABUD, GENEVIÈVE BÉDARD, JEAN-FRANÇOIS BENJAMIN, CASSIOPÉE BILODEAU, RICHARD BOURDEAU, CLAUDE BRABANT, MATHIEU BRETON, GENEVIÈVE BUJOLD, LUC CHALIFOUX, DINO CHAUVETTE, AGLAË DAUDELIN, PHILIBERT DAUDELIN, SÉBASTIEN DAUDELIN, ESTÉE DAUPHIN, JULIE DE BELLEFEUILLE, MIKAËL-OR DE VOYER, KARINE DESJARDINS, CHARLOTTE DIGNARD, HUGO DIGNARD, CATHERINE EGO, JULIE FRADETTE, DORIS GIONET, MELISSA GUYADER, ALEXANDRE JEAN, MARIO JEAN, NUMBER JUAN, MATHIEU LAHAYE, CHRISTINE LAMBERT, GABRIEL LAMBERT, JOCELYN LANDRY, FRANCIS LAVALLÉE, SÉBASTIEN LAVOIE, ALEXANDRE LEDUC, MARILYN LEDUC, ZOÉ LEPAGE, HERVÉ LEROY, RICHARD LETENDRE, ISABEL MATTON, FLAVIE MESSIER SAINT-JACQUES, CÉLINE MÉTIVIER, JAHANZAIB MIRZA, JOHANNE MORRISSEAU, MISS NANA-BANANA, DANIEL PARKER, ADELINE PAYETTE BEAUCHESNE, JOSÉE PERREAULT, CHANTAL POIRIER, KRYSTIAN QUESNEL, RAYMOND RICHARD, MARTIN RIVEST, SAGE, SLAZ, LOUIS, ANTOINE SAINT-JUST, MARTIN SAUVAGEAU, SUZANNE SIROIS, NATHALIE TÉTRAULT, OLIVIER TREMBLAY, GUYLAINE VALLÉE, MYRIAM VERZAT.
－
Mario Jean is a photographer, graphic designer and videographer. He is the creator of the Nous Autres logo. It was mainly through drawing, his life's first great passion, that Mario Jean acquired the basic notion of image as expression. After having practiced photography and video, he undertook the study of film. He quickly came back to photography, which had become his preferred medium. Before founding his own creative studio (MADOC), he pursued studies in graphic design, which have further enriched his knowledge of graphic communication. Through the Spring of 2012, he poured his heart and soul into photo and video documentation of the social movement also known as the Quebec Spring.
To know more about our launch, go here. Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter.
***
Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.
*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at [email protected]. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.
Politics - An Appeal to the Nation of Québec (Le Devoir)
Pierre Curzi - Independent MNA of Borduas June 5, 2012
Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/351629/appel-a-la-nation-quebecoise
The goal of this appeal is to join forces in order to encourage the election of a progressive and democratic government.
Why join forces? Because the division of the votes, particularly the francophone vote, encourages the re-election of the Liberal Party. A common ultra-dynamic front would encourage the abstainers to vote, who are the only ones who can put the Liberals into the opposition.
Liberal Advantage
On average, that's 20 000 voters by riding who turned down the offers of the PQ [Parti Québecois] (1.14 million votes, or 35%), the QS [Québec Solidaire] (125 000 or 4%), the ADQ [Action Démocratique du Québec] (530 000 or 16%), or the Greens (71 000 or 2%). The francophones make up 79% of the 2.5 million Quebecers, and represent almost two million citizens who could potentially elect a majority government other than that of the Liberals.
Critical Mass
Throughout the course of the last four elections, the rate of participation has sagged, but the Liberals have always succeeded in maintaining a critical mass of voters, something that the PQ hasn't been able to do for two reasons. First, the PQ has lost votes to the left and the right since 1994, because the political debates have gone from having a particular political focus on Québec's position in Canada to a left-right focus. Secondly, the abstainers have done more damage to the PQ than the PLQ.
If the PQ had been able to attract a quarter of the abstainers (625 000 people) in 2008, it would have easily become a majority government. It's not the division of the vote that enabled the Liberals to win in 2008, but the abstaining. The PLQ has a trustworthy clientèle that mobilises on election day; that's its greatest strength. Despite all the scandals that the Liberals can't shake, they just might regain power because they have faithful voters who don't abstain.
Of the 66 ridings won by the Liberals in 2008, 42 were won by a majority of over 3000 votes, and 30 were won by majorities of over 5000 votes. With an average of 20 000 abstainers by riding, there's only one way to beat the Liberals - get out the vote! The key for the next election is largely with the abstainers!
What Common Front?
Since 1994, popular support for the ADQ has always been significantly greater than for the QS. The ally to beat the Liberals should have been the ADQ, because the nationalist, autonomist and identity position of the ADQ didn't go against the aspirations of the PQ for national independence. In the present context, the position of the CAQ [Coalition Avenir Québec]-ADQ runs completely contrary to all the principles of the PQ. The revamped ADQ is a carbon copy of the Liberals.
The principles of the CAQ could be summarized as eternal genuflection before the federal government and brushing the question of national autonomy under the rug. On the identity question, there's a gaping hole. This is the party that supported the anti-democratic Law 78. The CAQ has the same approach as the Liberals on shale gas, the North Plan and on the petroleum privatization of Anticosti Island, that is to say, not a shred of nationalist consideration. There is no common front possible with this group. We would more likely find a coalition between the CAQ and the Liberals if the Liberals become a minority government.
The QS, ON [Option Nationale] and the PQ Hurt Each Other
In the light of the results of recent surveys, the PQ would have trouble becoming a majority or even a minority government, should the abstainers continue to resist voting. There is obviously a mobilization against the Liberals in Quebec's Printemps érable (Maple Spring), but nothing can guarantee that the abstainers will head to the polls. In fact, nobody knows if those who are in the streets are also those who abstain. Even with a very large number of new voters, the Liberals could hold onto power if these new voters split between the CAQ, the PQ, the QS, the ON and the Greens.
Imagining that a quarter of abstainers vote because of the effervescence of the Québec Spring, it's still very possible that the division of votes means that the PQ won't be able to get enough support to win a majority. Consequently, the second requirement for victory against the Liberals is to minimize the division of power against them.
Québec Solidaire and Option Nationale won't win any ridings from the PLQ. Worse, in several ridings, like Crémazie, where the PQ won by 1400 votes, the political movement of PQ voters towards Québec Solidaire will cause a Liberal Candidate to win. With the first-past-the-post system of voting, a rise in popularity of the QS will directly benefit the PLQ.
Electoral Agenda
The QS, ON and PQ want what many Quebecers want. These are parties who are independentists, to differing degrees of course, but declared independentists. The three parties want new importance to be given to Law 101. All the members of these political groups want Quebecers to reappropriate their natural resources so that the benefits gained go to the Québec nation and not to private interests.
The three parties value the protection of the environment, the transition towards alternative energies and energy independence. All of them wear the red square, which signifies unity against the drastic hike in tuition fees. All of them want to clean Québec of corruption.
Isn't this a simple and exciting political agenda to sell to the 2.5 million abstainers? Finally, all of them are interested in ousting the worst government in the history of Québec. With the nation's ultimate interest in mind, for how much longer can they remain separate?
Would Québec Solidaire be ready to recognize Pauline Marois as the head of government of the coalition? In the name of the political agenda cited above, would the co-spokespeople of Québec Solidaire be ready to strongly recommend a strategic alliance with the PQ to their members? Are the members of the QS ready to sacrifice the ideal society of their agenda for the necessity of getting rid of the Liberal government? For the PQ, are we ready to share a parcel of power with one or two elected candidates from the QS? It's easy: a small share of power in exchange for the agreement to accept an agenda that is less ideal but achievable in the short term.
Primaries for the Common Front
To avoid political negotiations, to ensure that the process is democratic, to mobilize the members of each party and to create an energy in the ridings, the primary elections of the common front need to be organized. As a worst-case scenario, independent candidates could apply. The members of each party would have the right to vote.
Obviously, the PQ has more popular support and has more members, so they start off at an advantage. However, nothing guarantees that a PQ candidate would win. For instance, in Nicolet-Yamaska, Jean-Martin Aussant, head of Option Nationale, is favoured to win even if the PQ has more members than the ON. If Québec Solidaire succeeds in scoring a massive gain in Rosemont, then its chances are greater.
Finally, the famed Count of Gouin! The experienced PQ MNA Nicolas Girard, who brought the daycare scandal to light, would go head-to-head against the co-spokesperson of the QS, Françoise David. In any event, one of these two (or maybe even both of them) would be eliminated in the election. All the more reason to get on with the elimination before voting day, as we mustn't give the Liberals a chance to sneak in a victory on the day of elections.
The Interests of the Nation
The biggest obstacle isn't the complexity of the process, but the fact of trying to make the interests of the nation take priority over the interests of the party.
We must unify the forces before the next election to simplify the choice of voters on the day of the vote. Most importantly we must create a feeling of power and force to bring the 2.5 million abstainers from the 2008 election to overthrow the government that divides the Quebec nation, in order to better govern and share with the friends of the régime.
Quebecers, let's create a common front! The nation can't afford to have another Liberal government!
***
Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.
*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at [email protected]. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.
