2012 Quebec student protests
The 2012 Quebec student protests (movement) were a series of student protests led by students individually such as the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, and the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec against a proposal by the Quebec Cabinet, headed by Liberal Premier Jean Charest, to raise university tuition from $2,168 to $3,793 between 2012 and 2018.[1] As part of the protest movement, a series of widespread student strikes were organized, involving half of Quebec's student population by April 2012.[2] A third of Québécois students continued to participate in the strike by its 100th day,[3] while a quarter million had participated during its peak.[4] Other students continued to attend their courses.[5]
2012 Quebec student protests
Left-wing groups endorsed the student protests, which evolved into generalized demonstrations against the provincial government. Opposition parties (Parti Québécois, Québec solidaire, Option nationale), workers unions (Confédération des syndicats nationaux, Canadian Union of Public Employees) and many groups demonstrated alongside the students in April and May 2012.[6]
On May 18, the Government passed Bill 78, an emergency law forbidding picketing or protest near university grounds, and requiring police approval for large public protests anywhere in Quebec. The law was mainly repealed by the Marois government in September 2012[7] and expired in 2013.[8][9][10]
In the Fall of 2012, the Parti Québécois was elected as minority government and halted any tuition increases in line with its campaign promises and, with a new school term beginning, student participation in the strikes and demonstrations dwindled. [11]
These protests are sometimes named Maple Spring,[12] from the French: Printemps érable, which alludes to French: Printemps arabe (Arab spring) as well as the maple leaf that symbolizes Quebec and Canada.[13]
Historical context[edit]
Higher education in Quebec[edit]
In the 1960s, the provincial government took over responsibility for higher education. Changes included the creation of a separate pre-university college level, a publicly funded college system, and providing universities enough funding so that it would be affordable to anyone who wanted to attend.[14] These changes in education access gave birth to a Quebec middle class and transformed the possibility of upward mobility in the province.[15]
As a result of the Quiet Revolution, university tuition fees in Quebec were frozen at C$540 per year from 1968 to 1990. In 1994, annual tuition rose to C$1668, after which it was frozen until 2007, when it grew by C$100 per year until 2012, making it C$2168. Overall, tuition increased an average of C$37 per year or 300% between 1968 and 2012, not including other fees that are paid to universities (e.g. administration fees, student service fees, etc.).[16] The overall cost living inflation (as measured by an aggregate inflation index commonly used by Canadian economists) rose 557% from 1968 to 2012,[17] meaning that C$540 in 1968 was roughly equivalent to about C$3,545 in 2012. At the time, Quebec maintained the lowest tuition fees in Canada.[18][19]
Student protests in Quebec[edit]
The province's student associations have a mandatory membership and dues structure. These associations depend on the size and level of the institution.[20]
In smaller colleges and universities, strikes will be campus wide, but at larger schools they usually happen by department so the entire campus is rarely shut down. For example, if engineering students voted to strike, the picket lines would focus only on engineering students.[20]
Student associations usually call for strikes over local issues and set a limited time period. The student strike movement persists in Quebec because it is one of the only places where student associations hold regular general assemblies.[20]
Most student strikes in Quebec won at least a partial victory.[20] These previous student strikes demanded free tuition, democratic administration of the universities, the expansion of French instruction and facilities, elimination of more stringent aptitude tests, and an increase in bursaries.[21]
Controversies[edit]
On April 18, 2012, a group of 300 protesters broke windows, ransacked rooms and injured a security guard at the Université de Montréal. Six protestors, including the daughter of Quebec solidaire's Amir Khadir, were sued by the university for C$100,000 in damages.[48] The students were later sentenced to probation and community service.[49]
On May 23, 2012, at around 23h45, about 500 civilians suspected to be protesters were arrested by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal at the intersections of Sherbrooke Street and Saint-Denis in Montréal. They were not informed as to why they were arrested, with police claiming the protest had been declared illegal, but the victims argued that at no occasion had they been informed that the protest was illegal or that they could disperse. The 500 suspected protesters were detained inside buses for 3 to 8 hours. Documents used in court against the city describe people suffering hypothermia and hypoglycemia and being barred from using bathrooms for up to 8 hours. The police would ask people to urinate at the back of the buses because they said the number of officers was insufficient to safely bring everyone to the bathroom one by one. In the end, no one in those buses would receive any tickets or charges.[50]
On June 12, 2012, some protesters were referring to local police authorities as SS and anti-police pamphlets using the swastika were distributed. The use of the Nazi symbolism was quickly decried in the Montreal Gazette by several Jewish organizations. Although it is said that protesters were using these symbols to condemn the recent tactics use by the local police, the CLASSE has implored its members to stop using these symbols.[51]
Legacy[edit]
The protests inspired directors Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie to make the 2016 film Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves. Denis and Lavoie said they often wondered what happened to these students in later years.[52] Lavoie was particularly influenced by mug shots of four young people who placed smoke bombs on the Montreal Metro during the protests.[53]
The protests also served partial inspiration for the play When There's Nothing Left to Burn by Montreal-born playwright Sean Devine.[54][55]
The protests were profiled in Rodrigue Jean and Arnaud Valade's 2022 documentary film 2012/Through the Heart (2012/Dans le cœur).[56]