US embassy cable - 05QUEBEC38

UNCLAS QUEBEC 000038 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, CA 
SUBJECT: QUEBEC STUDENT STRIKES HEAT UP 
 
 
1. The student movement in Quebec against cuts in education 
funding was background noise just a few days ago but is now 
front and center as student action gains support across the 
province.  Close to 200,000 students - from secondary school 
through university - voted in favor of unlimited strikes.  On 
March 24, thousands of resolute young Quebecers, from regions as 
far as the Saguenay and Gaspe, gathered before the National 
Assembly and Education Ministry buildings to vent their anger. 
 
2. University, CEGEP (junior college), and now high school 
students are raucously protesting $103 million worth of Liberal 
government cuts in student grants.  The cuts announced by former 
Education Minister Pierre Reid (since removed in a cabinet 
reshuffle) convert student grants into student loans.  While 
Quebec students pay the lowest tuition fees in Canada ("in the 
world," according to Premier Charest), the students argue that 
Charest's cuts penalize the least fortunate students and are a 
reversal of Quebec's hard-won success in making education 
accessible to all.  (Francophone Quebecers are quick to recall 
that, historically, they were the least educated Canadians and 
consequently shut out of higher paying jobs.) 
 
3. Most of the well-oiled demonstrations are being led by the 
"Federation etudiante universitaire du Quebec (FEUQ) and the 
"Coalition de l'Association pour une solidarite syndicale 
etudiante elargie (CASSEE)."  They have made their case through 
the media and via unannounced roadblocks, the occupation of 
government offices, sit-ins, hunger strikes and open defiance of 
riot police.  As momentum picks up, the education ministry is 
reminding students that if agreement with the provincial 
government is not reached by April 1, students will be forced to 
take additional classes during the summer.  The new Education 
minister, Jean-Marc Fournier (who inherited the student grant 
problem from his predecessor) is urging students to come back to 
the table. 
 
4. Comment:  Public support for the students is founded not so 
much on the merits of the case (most Quebecers agree that 
tuition fees in Quebec are low) as on opposition to Charest's 
government in general.    The Premier is having a tough time 
selling his vision of "less government," be it ending government 
grants to students; initiating public/private partnerships; 
reducing energy subsidies; or reducing the number of government 
workers.  Latest polls indicate opposition to the Charest 
government stands at 76 percent.  Even if Education minister 
Fournier manages to negotiate a compromise with the students, we 
expect further unrest and resistance from other sectors of the 
Quebec population in the months ahead as Charest tries to 
implement government reform. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FRIEDMAN