Accessing Higher Education/Quebec

Quebec university and CEGEP students have returned early to classes in an attempt to catch up on time lost last spring when many university and college students, supported by their unions, decided to 'strike' in protest of the provincial Liberal government's plan to increase tuition costs to more closely reflect reality.  Though the tuition increase had the support of the public, nothing was resolved.

The new fees are in effect.  The students are still striking.  The new premier-presumptive of a minority PQ government urges the students not to bother sending in their tuition fees until after the election.  When, presumably, she will take steps with her governing party, to forgive student tuition altogether.
 One small step for student 'democratic' rights, one big step for tax increases.

The striking students who represented a small proportion of the province's student body, were vociferous, angry, disruptive and obnoxious in their bid to draw attention to their rejection of the increase.  They termed it an assault against democracy that the government had the audacity to raise tuition at a time when provincial coffers are badly strained.

They considered themselves to be demonstrating democracy in action when they blocked highways and bridges, destroyed public property, held up traffic, threatened other students and called them 'scabs' and worse, leaped onto desks, smashed computers and stopped classes from proceeding.  As they practised their version of democracy, the majority of the province's students who wanted to continue classes were restrained from doing so.

That majority of students decided to invoke a lawful procedure to ensure that the strikers refrained from interrupting classes and the law agreed with them, issuing an injunction.  Which the democracy-obsessed striking students simply ignored, continuing to be obstreperous and disruptive, disallowing other students from pursuing their studies.

Now that classes have resumed, the striking students who have been relatively quiescent all summer, have resurrected their outrage to re-commence their predations on their fellow students, violently interfering with their right to an education.  In response to which, a class-action lawsuit is being organized by Quebec university students over their frustration by the student strikes.

There will be 25 universities and junior colleges named in the class-action suit, along with the Quebec government.  The plaintiffs claim that action taken was insufficient to allow them access to classrooms and to complete their courses. Damage includes lost work experience, lost tuition fees, lost summer jobs.

Not to worry: with the upcoming election in a few day's time, there will be a new government in power, one whose head is anxious to support the student strikers to the benefit of all.  A new Parti Quebecois government will see to it that more stringent rules will be imposed on language restrictions so that graduates from Quebec universities will be more unprepared than ever to join the workforce.

Confined to one language,with little-to-no-proficiency in the universal language of North American business, perhaps the students will consider in the future the possibility and efficacy of suing the new PQ government for restricting their opportunities for full and well-remunerated employment in the outside world of real life.