This has gone too fucking far; or, an open letter to Jean Charest, First Minister of Québec
Y'know what, Charest? I was, at least a little, on your side. Am I pissed the fuck off about you raising my tuition fees? Absolutely. Do I resent it, do I think it smells like old school 1970s politiking? Yes, of course.
I went out and joined the protests, in the early days, but I wil lhave no truck with the violence and riots that followed. Vandalising the Minister for Education's house? Not okay. Setting things on fire? Not okay. I had your back, Jeanbaby. (Sort of. You're kind of a dick, but at least you're not a Péquiste)
Then you went and pulled a trick from the old Duplessis handbook. Feeling a bit nostalgic for the great darkness, Jean? Are you actually stupid? There are thousands of students like me, and we had, for the most part, been getting on with our daily lives because we need to feed ourselves and pay rent.
Then you did this
"Bill 78 prohibits freedom of assembly anywhere in the francophone province without prior police approval and requires protesters to give the authorities eight hours' notice before an event and follow a planned route.
Va dont chier mon tabarnak, you stupid fuck. I am furious. If you think this will stop the protests- it won't. All it will do is inflame the already too-heated debate, and drive more and more people to radicalism. (Seriously, Jean, were you comatose in the 1970s? When, in the history of Québec politics, has removing freedom of assembly ever ended well? Were you asleep during Duplessis' reign, or during the October Crisis? Are you really that stupid?)
Also, you're making our province look like the fucked up place that it is, on an international stage.
From the Guardian:
'Quebec's 'truncheon law' rebounds as student strike spreads'
"In its contempt for students and citizens, the government has riled a population with strong, bitter memories of harsh measures against social unrest - whether the dark days of the iron-fisted Duplessis era, the martial law enforced by the Canadian army in 1970, or years of labour battles marred by the jailing of union leaders. These and other occasions have shown Québécois how the political elite has no qualms about trampling human rights to maintain a grip on power.
Which is why those with experience of struggle fresh and old have answered Premier Jean Charest with unanimity and collective power. There are now legal challenges in the works, broad appeals for civil disobedience, and a brilliant website created by the progressive CLASSE student union, on which thousands have posted photos of themselves opposing the law. (The website's title is "Somebody arrest me" but also puns on a phrase to shake a person out of a crazed mental spell.)"
From the New York Times:
"For a change, Americans should take note of what is happening across the quiet northern border. Canada used to seem a progressive and just neighbor, but the picture today looks less rosy. One of its provinces has gone rogue, trampling basic democratic rights in an effort to end student protests against the Quebec provincial government's plan to raise tuition fees by 75 percent.
On May 18, Quebec's legislative assembly, under the authority of the provincial premier, Jean Charest, passed a draconian law in a move to break the 15-week-long student strike. Bill 78, adopted last week, is an attack on Quebecers' freedom of speech, association and assembly.
....Americans traveling to Quebec this summer should know they are entering a province that rides roughshod over its citizens' fundamental freedoms."
I went out and joined the protests, in the early days, but I wil lhave no truck with the violence and riots that followed. Vandalising the Minister for Education's house? Not okay. Setting things on fire? Not okay. I had your back, Jeanbaby. (Sort of. You're kind of a dick, but at least you're not a Péquiste)
Then you went and pulled a trick from the old Duplessis handbook. Feeling a bit nostalgic for the great darkness, Jean? Are you actually stupid? There are thousands of students like me, and we had, for the most part, been getting on with our daily lives because we need to feed ourselves and pay rent.
Then you did this
"Bill 78 prohibits freedom of assembly anywhere in the francophone province without prior police approval and requires protesters to give the authorities eight hours' notice before an event and follow a planned route.
Va dont chier mon tabarnak, you stupid fuck. I am furious. If you think this will stop the protests- it won't. All it will do is inflame the already too-heated debate, and drive more and more people to radicalism. (Seriously, Jean, were you comatose in the 1970s? When, in the history of Québec politics, has removing freedom of assembly ever ended well? Were you asleep during Duplessis' reign, or during the October Crisis? Are you really that stupid?)
Also, you're making our province look like the fucked up place that it is, on an international stage.
From the Guardian:
'Quebec's 'truncheon law' rebounds as student strike spreads'
"In its contempt for students and citizens, the government has riled a population with strong, bitter memories of harsh measures against social unrest - whether the dark days of the iron-fisted Duplessis era, the martial law enforced by the Canadian army in 1970, or years of labour battles marred by the jailing of union leaders. These and other occasions have shown Québécois how the political elite has no qualms about trampling human rights to maintain a grip on power.
Which is why those with experience of struggle fresh and old have answered Premier Jean Charest with unanimity and collective power. There are now legal challenges in the works, broad appeals for civil disobedience, and a brilliant website created by the progressive CLASSE student union, on which thousands have posted photos of themselves opposing the law. (The website's title is "Somebody arrest me" but also puns on a phrase to shake a person out of a crazed mental spell.)"
From the New York Times:
"For a change, Americans should take note of what is happening across the quiet northern border. Canada used to seem a progressive and just neighbor, but the picture today looks less rosy. One of its provinces has gone rogue, trampling basic democratic rights in an effort to end student protests against the Quebec provincial government's plan to raise tuition fees by 75 percent.
On May 18, Quebec's legislative assembly, under the authority of the provincial premier, Jean Charest, passed a draconian law in a move to break the 15-week-long student strike. Bill 78, adopted last week, is an attack on Quebecers' freedom of speech, association and assembly.
....Americans traveling to Quebec this summer should know they are entering a province that rides roughshod over its citizens' fundamental freedoms."