<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19403">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY
style="WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space"
bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=lvpsf@igc.org href="mailto:lvpsf@igc.org">Steve Zeltzer</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=Undisclosed-recipients:
href="mailto:Undisclosed-recipients:">Undisclosed-recipients:</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, April 06, 2013 10:00 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Quebec’s “Red Square” Movement</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Quebec’s “Red Square” Movement
<DIV><A
href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/quebec-s-red-square-movement/32332">http://www.globalresearch.ca/quebec-s-red-square-movement/32332</A><BR><BR>By David
Camfield<BR>Global Research, August 13, 2012<BR>New Socialist Webzine and
Socialist Project 13 August
2012<BR>Region: Canada<BR>Theme: Culture, Society &
History, Poverty &
Social Inequality<BR> 22 0 0 268<BR><BR> <BR><IMG
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; MAX-WIDTH: 200px !important; HEIGHT: auto !important; FONT-SIZE: 15px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-TOP: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"
id=323bb58e-b23d-49a9-9627-1c11ee7dd128
class="attachment-single-post-thumbnail wp-post-image"
title="Quebec's "Red Square" Movement"
alt="Quebec's "Red Square" Movement"
src="cid:0B8132C397854F15AF3CBF50E78AC103@owneryr3fp4mcb" width=123 height=82
apple-height="yes" apple-width="yes"><BR>In 2012 Quebec has been shaken by the
most important social movement in the Canadian state[1] since the 1970s.
What began as a strike by students in Quebec’s universities and Collèges
d’Enseignement Général et Professionnel (CEGEPs, which most young people attend
after high school) against a major increase in university tuition fees –
part of capital’s international austerity drive – has become a broader popular
movement against the government of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), headed by
Premier Jean Charest, and against neoliberalism.<BR><BR><IMG
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; MAX-WIDTH: 635px; FONT-SIZE: 15px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-TOP: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"
id=f00d1bde-571a-4232-b3f3-907782531cd6 alt=""
src="cid:982DFD618DCE44768C608C0F3EF89D35@owneryr3fp4mcb" width=392 height=279
apple-height="yes" apple-width="yes"><BR><BR>Universities in Quebec
Society<BR><BR>To understand this movement, we need to look at the place of
universities in Quebec society. The Canadian constitution makes education a
responsibility of provincial governments. Before the 1960s, only a tiny
percentage of the francophone majority in the province of Quebec attended
university; university education was more common for members of the anglophone
minority, whose universities were better-funded. At the time, the
capitalist class in Quebec was largely anglophone – one feature of the national
oppression of Quebec within the Canadian state. In the 1960s, a section of
the francophone middle class launched an effort to modernize Quebec society
that became known as the “Quiet Revolution.” One of its key features was the
creation of a secular education system including new francophone
universities that charged low tuition fees. This reform was linked with popular
aspirations for national self-determination in an era that also saw a high level
of working-class struggle. Accessible university education continues to be
widely seen in Quebec as a valuable distinguishing feature of the Quebec
nation.<BR><BR>Participation in post-secondary education grew rapidly in
the 1960s. A vibrant student movement emerged, as it did in so many other
countries in that era. Thanks to student activism including strikes
in 1968, 1974, 1978 and 1986, tuition remained frozen between 1968 and
1990. The government succeeded in raising tuition in 1990 but its attempt to do
so again in 1996 was beaten back by a resurgent student movement (though
tuition for international students and other student fees were increased). In
2005 an attempt to convert over $100-million of student grants into loans was
met with a partially-successful student strike.<BR><BR>In March 2011, the
PLQ government announced a tuition increase of 75% over five years, beginning in
2012. The move was part of the government’s effort to advance neoliberalism in
Quebec by introducing new fees for public services and raising existing
ones. In Quebec neoliberal ideology isn’t accepted as ‘common sense’ –
especially in the working-class – to the same extent that it is in the rest
of the Canadian state. In the words of its finance minister, the Charest
government aims to carry out a “cultural revolution.” It wants to replace the
belief that people have a right to access public services funded by
progressive taxation with the principle of “user pay.” Elements of the student
movement had been preparing for mobilization since rumours of a large tuition
increase first surfaced. The announcement spurred them into
action.<BR><BR>The Student Movement<BR><BR>Quebec university and CEGEP students
are organized into associations, facilitated by a legal framework with no
equivalent elsewhere in the Canadian state. In Quebec there is a strong
decades-long tradition of students organizing in very democratic and
participatory ways through the general assemblies of their associations. Local
associations may choose to affiliate to a Quebec-wide organization, of
which there are four. The Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante
(ASSE), founded in 2001, promotes militant and democratic left-wing student
unionism, in contrast to the others. In December 2011, ASSE formed the
Coalition Large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante
(CLASSE), which student associations not affiliated to ASSE could join if
they accepted its platform and highly democratic way of functioning. CLASSE
was intentionally designed to coordinate a student strike and has been a
tremendous success. It is currently made up of 65 associations with a
combined membership of 100,000.<BR><BR>Student associations began to hold
general assemblies to discuss the call for a strike. The strike began on
February 13 and soon spread through universities and CEGEPs across Quebec.
Participation was strongest in Montreal (Quebec’s largest city) and weaker
in Quebec City (the capital city).<BR><BR>The most common form of action was not
attending classes and organizing picket lines to prevent people from entering
buildings or classrooms. In March, CLASSE passed a motion in favour of
actions to disrupt the economy and the state, leading to “manif-actions” in
which students took their struggle off campus and carried out blockades of
government offices, courthouses, bank buildings, bridges and other targets.
Students also marched in support of locked-out Rio Tinto aluminum smelter
workers in the town of Alma, joined with other groups protesting austerity
measures and protested the government’s plan to “develop” Northern Quebec,
which is opposed by indigenous people and environmentalists. Art interventions
and other cultural expressions of the movement gave the strike a growing
public presence. The movement’s symbol, a red square (first used in 2005,
because higher tuition would put students “squarely in the red”), was soon being
worn by tens of thousands of people and made visible in other ways on the
streets and online.<BR><BR>On March 22, the number of strikers peaked, with
around 300,000 of Quebec’s 400,000 university and CEGEP students on strike that
day. That same day – chosen consciously to refer to the May 22nd Movement
which played a role in France’s massive student and working-class revolt of 1968
– saw a demonstration of some 200,000 people in Montreal (to put this in
perspective, Quebec’s population is about 8 million). This took the
movement to a higher level, with more students voting to take ongoing strike
action. Students usually met weekly in general assemblies to decide whether or
not to continue to strike, though some associations voted for unlimited
strike action. Support for the strike remained much stronger among francophones
than anglophones. People who experience racism have been underrepresented,
highlighting the need to strengthen anti-racist education and action in the
movement.<BR><BR>On April 14, CLASSE’s demonstration against both the Charest
government and the very right-wing Conservative Party federal government of
Prime Minister Steven Harper, called under the slogan “For a Quebec
Spring,” was a real success. This was followed on April 22 with a huge Earth Day
demonstration, where anger at the ecologically destructive actions of the Quebec
and federal governments and major corporations was notably combined with
support for the students’ cause and their anti-neoliberal militancy.<BR><BR>In
an attempt to divide a movement that showed no signs of faltering, the Quebec
government excluded CLASSE from its talks with student organizations. However,
unlike in 2005 when they had agreed to a settlement rejected by the
militant wing of the strike movement, the leaders of the other federations
responded by maintaining a common front and withdrawing from negotiations.
Charest then offered to spread the tuition increase over seven years rather
than five. This was widely seen as an insult, and marches began to take place in
Montreal every evening. Violent police repression at a demonstration
outside a PLQ meeting in the small city of Victoriaville on May 4 was followed
the next day by the announcement of a tentative deal to end the strike, brokered
with the aid of the top officials of Quebec’s three trade union
federations. When put to a vote the deal was massively rejected by
students.<BR><BR>Having failed to demobilize the movement by depicting students
as spoiled brats and offering insubstantial concessions, Charest turned to
repression. The government rushed a special law, Law 78 (now Law 12),
through the legislature in full knowledge that some of its provisions contravene
the Quebec and Canadian charters of rights. This law bans demonstrations near
universities and CEGEPs, declares demonstrations illegal if they are not
registered in advance with the police, orders a resumption of classes in
mid-August and imposes heavy fines for individuals or organizations that
transgress the new rules. Municipal government followed up with restrictive
bylaws of their own.<BR><BR>The Movement Broadens<BR><BR>This was a turning
point. Instead of putting down the movement, Law 78 became the trigger for a
transformation. What had been a student movement supported by a significant
minority of the population became a broad social movement against the PLQ
government. Already widely seen as corrupt and subservient to big business, the
PLQ’s attack on civil liberties and student protest spurred many more
people to act. On May 22, the 100th day of the strike, demonstrations took place
across Quebec. Some 250,000 people marched in the rain in Montreal. This was
followed by nightly “casserole” protests (in which people bang pots and
pans) in the neighbourhoods of Montreal and Quebec City and other cities and
towns. In some neighbourhoods popular assemblies began to meet. Mass
arrests did little to stem the tide of defiance and solidarity.<BR><BR><IMG
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; MAX-WIDTH: 635px; FONT-SIZE: 15px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-TOP: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(228,228,228) 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"
id=715ba169-fece-47a1-b269-e1c188b7ea78 alt=""
src="cid:4DB626042172453AABF4E812FCA573D5@owneryr3fp4mcb" width=350 height=260
apple-height="yes" apple-width="yes"><BR><BR>Although some students and
community activists had been calling for a “social strike” against the
government, up to this point union support for the students had mainly been
limited to giving money and participating in demonstrations (across the
Canadian state labour law puts tight restrictions on strikes, including a
prohibition of political strikes). After Law 78, discussion of solidarity action
spread among union activists. A number of federations affiliated to the
Confederation of National Trade Unions passed motions in favour of a day of
strike action, to the consternation of its top officials. Unfortunately,
the labour left is much too weak to be able to translate that sentiment into
action.<BR><BR>Despite the arrival of summer, when student involvement in the
paid workforce increases, and a lower level of involvement at the grassroots of
the student movement, demonstrations on June 22 and July 22 were still very
large. CLASSE has organized a tour, with its activists participating in
events across Quebec to discuss the struggle and their radical manifesto, “Nous
sommes avenir,” which calls for a social strike (the English translation is
entitled “Share our future”).<BR><BR>Into a New Phase<BR><BR>The movement is
entering a new phase. Law 78 orders classes to resume at a number of CEGEPs
during the week of August 13-17, but some activists are organizing a Block
the Return to Class campaign independently of the official student
organization structures, to minimize the weight of legal sanctions on the
movement.<BR><BR>Charest has called an election for September 4. His gamble is
that low voter turnout and the division of the anti-PLQ vote will maximize his
chances of reelection. The PLQ faces its largest rival, the Parti Quebecois
(PQ, a nationalist party that coats its neoliberalism with talk of fighting
poverty and defending students’ and workers’ rights), the Coalition Avenir
Quebec (a new aggressively neoliberal party) and Quebec Solidaire (QS,
which unites much of the Quebec Left on the basis of anti-neoliberal reformism
and support for Quebec independence). In the Canadian state, the candidate that
wins the most votes wins in a constituency and the party that wins the most
constituencies forms the government).<BR><BR>The election presents a challenge
for the “Red Square” movement. Ruling-class strategists are undoubtedly hoping
that the election will finally succeed in quelling the movement, allowing a PLQ
or PQ government to claim that the disputed issues have been legitimately
resolved and to decisively marginalize CLASSE and its allies.<BR><BR>The PQ is
calling for a truce in the student struggle and, in keeping with its tradition
of consulting with the leaders of unions and community organizations while it
implements neoliberal policies, is promising a summit on university funding
if it wins the election. Despite the PQ’s record in government, there is real
pressure on students and others opposed to the PLQ to vote for the PQ as the
“lesser evil” most likely to get Charest out of office.<BR><BR>While two of
the other student federations (aligned informally with the PQ) are calling on
students to vote, CLASSE is steaming ahead with its efforts to build the
movement and prepare for the forced return to classes. CLASSE-affiliated
student associations are holding general assemblies beginning on August 7, with
a CLASSE congress scheduled for August 11-12.<BR><BR>A few words about the
Quebec Left are in order. Its main political components are QS (which gathers
together a range of forces, from social democrats to revolutionary socialists),
anarchists, and social democrats who still haven’t quit the PQ. Many
anarchists have done much to build the movement, both as students and community
activists. Although QS proclaims itself a party “of the streets and
the ballot boxes,” it is oriented and organized primarily for parliamentary
politics.<BR><BR>QS has supported the student strike in a number of ways and
many of its members have built the movement as activists. However, QS itself has
not acted as an organized force to advance the struggle among students, in
neighbourhoods and in workplaces. The movement has created a new opportunity to
strengthen support within QS for anti-capitalist politics that treat mass direct
action on the streets and in workplaces as the key to beating back attacks,
winning reforms and ultimately transforming society. However, it’s not yet clear
if people on the left wing of QS will be able to come together to do
this.<BR><BR>Whatever happens in the next phase of the struggle, a number of
things are clear. This remarkable movement has politicized Quebec society around
the question of neoliberalism in a way that is without precedent in the
Canadian state. It has radicalized many people, especially youth, many of whom
have gained very valuable experience in mass mobilization and democratic
self-organization.<BR><BR>Activists formed by the “Maple Spring,” as some have
called the movement, will be critical for the future of the Left. The movement
has also given Canadian activists both inspiration and ideas about how
to struggle more effectively.<BR><BR>Postscript<BR><BR>With classes scheduled to
resume at many strike-affected CEGEPs this week, so far two CEGEP student
associations have voted to end their strikes, one has voted to suspend strike
action until after the election on September 4th and one has voted to
continue striking. Ten CEGEP student associations and two university
associations will be holding general assemblies this week to decide on
their course of action. A number of university student associations
continue to be officially on strike; beginning on August 20 others will be
holding general assemblies.<BR><BR>Many students believe the election will
resolve the fight against the fee hike by putting the PQ in government. This
misplaced confidence in parliamentary elections and the PQ, which exerts
a demobilizing influence on the movement, is reflected in the stance of the
moderate federations of CEGEP and university students, which are putting their
efforts into getting students to vote in the election.<BR><BR>At the CLASSE
congress held in Montreal August 11-12, delegates voted to call for a
continuation of the strike and for popular mobilization against attacks on
public services, along with the creation of a pan-Canadian anti-neoliberal
coalition to unite resistance to the Harper government’s attacks. CLASSE is
mobilizing for what is hoped will be a huge demonstration in Montreal on August
22nd, in conjunction with the Coalition Against Fee Hikes and the
Introduction of Fees for Public Services and other allies. If successful, this
could put new wind in the sails of the student strike, which is crucial for
the strength of the social movement no matter what party wins the election.
•<BR><BR>David Camfield is an editor of New Socialist
Webzine where this article first appeared.</DIV></BODY></HTML>