Anti-strike students go on offensive
Petitioning government, gathering on Twitter
As the student strike gains in momentum and supporters, the division among students themselves is also growing as those opposed to the widespread boycott of classes have been trying to secure their right to an education. And not always with success. Instead of spending her time doing homework, Celina Toia now spends her time composing emails to Education Minister Line Beauchamp and Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
A law student at the Université du Québec à Montréal, her department has been striking since last month, but when it decided on Monday to no longer continue taking weekly votes about continuing the strike, opting instead to continue it indefinitely, she panicked. Now she is feeling desperate about the fate of the semester – a semester for which she already paid.
“Something needs to be done,” she said. “The Liberals aren’t backing down (from tuition hikes) but they’re not doing much to help students who don’t support the strike and whose rights are being infringed upon.”
The public face of the strike are the thousands of students who are boycotting classes and the hundreds of students who have been demonstrating in Montreal every day, demanding the government back down from its plan to increase tuition fees by $325 a year for five years.
But students who don’t support the strike are just starting to make themselves known. There is the Coalition étudiante pour l’association libre, which is encouraging students to opt out of their student unions and register their unhappiness with how strike votes have been obtained.
“We’re giving a voice to the voiceless,” said founder Philippe-olivier Daniel, who was pleased Trois Rivières MNA Danielle St. Amand supported the students’ petition.
On Twitter, students can follow @strikethestrike and there is a Facebook page devoted to Concordia Students Against a Strike.
Beauchamp’s office did not respond to The Gazette on Tuesday about how it intends to handle the growing discord among students who don’t support the strike and want to attend classes. The ministry has said universities have an obligation to provide classes, but students say that obligation isn’t being respected. There seems to be little consensus among university administrations about what can and should be done about it.
Jenny Desrochers, a communications official at UQAM, said the university – which closed four buildings on Monday – has to respect the democratic decisions made by student associations. So if a strike vote is taken by the majority, even students not supporting the strike may not have access to classes. And while teachers are obliged to show up for classes, they are not encouraged to engage in confrontations between striking and non-striking students.
At Concordia University, where there has been a lot of online buzz around students being blocked from attending classes, media relations director Chris Mota said: “The vast majority of classes have not been affected.”
She acknowledged there have been “pockets” of problems, where boycotting students prevent others from attending classes. She said faculty members have agreed to make “academic accommodations” for students who may miss classes.
“The goal is to not penalize students,” she said.
Lucie Lequin, president of the Concordia University Faculty Association, said faculty have a legal obligation to teach. “Students not on strike have a right to have classes,” she said. Some students see it differently. Lex Gill, president of the Concordia Student Union, said students who didn’t vote to strike still shouldn’t cross a picket line.
“That’s making a moral decision to disregard a democratic collective decision,” she said. “We highly discourage that.”
kseidman@montrealgazette.com