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Tag Archives: Denis Blanchette

More Thoughts on Quebec

25 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Quebec, Students' Strike

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Canada, Canadian Association of University Teachers, Denis Blanchette, Montreal, Parti Québécois, Pauline Marois, Quebec, War Measures Act

Pauliine Marois with Students (January 21, 2013
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois poses with students at a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the Quebec Fleur de Lys flag, Monday, January 21, 2013 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

“In March, Quebec student groups declared war on a planned tuition hike of roughly $2,000 over five years. By April, students at 11 of Quebec’s 18 universities and 14 of its 48 CEGEPs had declared “strikes” and were skipping classes. There were nightly marches in Montreal that made life miserable for many who lived and worked downtown. Students who dared go to classes, even after judges orders allowing them to return, were stopped by masked protesters. The nightly marches started turning violent and threatened the tourism industry. Something had to be done.”  (MacLeans.ca)

Back to the Students’ strike: Bill 78

During the spring of 2012, beginning on 13 February 2012, Quebec’s university and CEGEPs’ students were on strike.  The strike lasted until 7 September 2012 when Madame Marois’ newly elected government repealed the proposed hike in tuition fees.

18 May 2012:  Bill 78 is enacted 

As described in the opening quotation of this post, the strike became disorderly. Moreover, it disrupted students who wanted to finish their university or CEGEP term.  Consequently, on 18 May 2012, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 78, an “Act to enable students to receive instruction from the postsecondary institutions they attend” (Bill 78, Wikipedia) but an act that restricted the degree to which the students could create a public disturbance.

“The law makes it illegal to deny a person access to any place if that person has a right or duty to be there and further restricts “any form of gathering” that might cause such denial from assembling inside any educational building, on the grounds of such a building, and within 50 meters of the limits of those grounds. Employees of the colleges and universities may strike with accordance to the Labour Code, but they are still required to work their normal scheduled hours and carry out their usual duties” (Bill 78, Wikipedia.)
 

22 May 2012: a Demonstration

Bill 78 (L.Q., 2012, c. 12 / Laws of Quebec, 2012, chapter 12) is a temporary law which expires on 1 July 2013. However, on 22 May 2012, four days after Bill 78 was passed, between 400,000 and 500,000 individuals flooded the streets of Montreal in defiance of the new law.  Obviously this was lawlessness, but the students looked upon their limited ability to protest as an infringement on their civil rights.  They were therefore breaking the law in protest of the law, and they were not alone.

Bill 78: criticized and condemned

Bill 78 has been criticized and condemned by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), the Quebec Human Rights Commission and civil libertarians.  Moreover, lawyers organized a demonstration of their own and the law has been called  “the second worst on record next since the War Measures Act.”[i]

A Decree

As I wrote in Thoughts about Quebec, on 28 August 2012, students were again protesting the rise in tuition.  Madame Marois had become Premier on 4 September 2012 so, on 7 September 2012, three days after her election and the death, by gun, of Denis Blanchette, she and her Parti Québécois decreed to freeze tuition fees.

Quebec Premier-elect Pauline Marois and her husband, Claude Blanchet, are among the dignitaries atending the funeral services for Denis Blanchette Monday, September 10, 2012 in Montreal. Richard Bain is charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Blanchette and wounding another man outside the Parti Quebecois election night rally. . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Quebec Premier-elect Pauline Marois and her husband, Claude Blanchet, are among the dignitaries attending the funeral services for Denis Blanchette Monday, September 10, 2012 in Montreal. Richard Bain is charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Blanchette and wounding another man outside the Parti Quebecois election night rally. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Ryan Remiorz

Comments

The Strike

  • The students broke the law. One does not break the law.
  • Moreover, it would be my opinion that Madame Marois used the students to pursue her political goals.
  • The discrepancy between the increase in tuition fees ($2,168 to $3,793 between 2012 and 2017 or $325.00 per year) and the level of protest it generated is such that one could argue that at some point, earlier than later, the increase in tuition fees ceased to be the motive.  It seems that the students’ motive was self-entitlement.  I could be wrong.
  • It would be my opinion that those students who tried to prevent classmates from attending class and succeeded in doing so acted irresponsibly.
  • I do not think Madame Marois will find sufficient money to provide free tuition or continue to freeze tuition fees.

Quebec within Confederation

As for the degree of separation now in place between Quebec and the rest of Canada:

  • double taxation,
  • limited validity of a Quebec citizen’s heath-insurance card, to which I will add
  • unilingualism,
  • etc.

No referendum has allowed this degree of sovereignty.  Quebec has a different Civil Code,[ii] which was a condition of Confederation.[iii]  However, a Civil Code deals with Private Law.  It does not apply to the relationship between the Province of Quebec and Ottawa, the Federal Government.  I must ask an expert to tell me, in a wealth of details, to what extent Quebec can act independently.  I suspect that by refusing to sign the Patriation of the Constitution (1982), Quebec may have given itself significant elbow room.

—ooo—

I would like my country to remain united.  Canadians are privileged.  We have social programs and people are usually tolerant of others.  We are a bilingual country, except Quebec.  Ironically, however, Quebec probably has the largest concentration of bilingual Canadians.  French-Canadian students often enroll in English-language CEGEPs and universities.

There is no police brutality.  The Mounties are a living legend.  The Canadian Armed Forces have their Royal 22nd Regiment (the Van Doos), a mostly French regiment.  Finally, at an individual level, there is very little animosity between French-speaking and English-speaking citizens.  We don’t bear arms and we pay our taxes.

I hope all of you are well.

Ad mari usque ad mareFrom Sea to Sea Canada's motto

A mari usque ad mare
(From Sea to Sea)
Canada’s motto

© Micheline Walker
25 January 2013
WordPress
____________________
[i] Blatchford, Andy (April 16, 2010). “Quebec student bill ‘worst law’ since War Measures Act: law professor”. Winnipeg Free Press.
[ii] “The Civil Code of Québec is a general law that contains all of the basic provisions that govern life in society, namely the relationships among citizens and the relationships between people and property. It governs all civil rights, such as leasing items or property, sales contracts, etc. It also deals with family law, as in the case of matrimonial regimes.” (Civil Code, Wikipedia)
[îii] Three Conferences, Confederation and Now: Civil Unrest 
https://michelinewalker.com/2012/05/27/three-conferences-confederation-and-now-civil-unrest/ 
 

Today, the temperature in Sherbrooke, Quebec is -23°C (-9.4°F).  In Victoria, British Columbia the temperature is -1°C (+30.2°F).  In Los Angeles, California, the weather is 21.1°C (+70°F).  I believe that is the reason why Canadian singer songwriter Joni Mitchell wants to go to California.

singer-songwriter: Joni Mitchell (b. November 7, 1943)
piece: “California”
Related articles
  • Three Conferences, Confederation and Now: Civil Unrest (michelinewalker.com)
  • Thoughts on Quebec (michelinewalker.com)
  • Shooter Aimed at Premier-elect Pauline Marois (michelinewalker.com)
  • The Week in Review & Louis Riel Revisited (michelinewalker.com)

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Thoughts on Quebec

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Quebec

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Canada, Canadian Press, Canadian Unity, Denis Blanchette, National Post, Parti Québécois, Pauline Marois, Thomas Hobbes

marois

— Pauline Marois.  Nelson Wyatt, Canadian Press, Jun 21, 2012 8:18 AM ET (Photo credit: The National Post)

  • See The National Post, 21 June 2012  http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/21/quebec-students-unimpressed-as-opportunist-pq-leader-pauline-marois-ditches-red-square-protest-symbol/
  • Also see MacLeans.ca, http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/tag/pauline-marois/

there are rules to everything…

President Obama is devoting so much energy to unite his country.  He is fighting what Thomas Hobbes called a “private force” and viewed as “unlawfull.”

As you probably know, in Quebec, sovereignists and indépendantistes, initially called separatists are advocating secession from Canada and have done so since the 1960s.  Pauline Marois is the leader of the Parti Québécois, the péquistes (PQ), as they are called, and, on 4 September 2012, she was elected Premier of the Province of Quebec.  It was a narrow victory.

“A Quebec election that was too close to call has turned out to be just that: less than one percentage point – about 40,000 votes – separated the Parti Québécois [separatist]and the Liberal party [federalist] in the final ballot last night, with the third party Coalition Avenir Québec close behind.”  (ANTONIA MAIONI, The Globe and Mail, Published Wednesday, Sep. 05 2012, 7:56 AM EDT. Last updated Wednesday, Sep. 05 2012, 7:59 AM EDT)

A Man Dies and a second man is critically injured.

Matters worsened.  On the evening of 4 September 2012, as Madame Marois was preparing to celebrate her victory, 62-year-old Richard Henry Bain aimed at Madame Marois whose life was saved by 48-eight-year-old Denis Blanchette.   However, the shooter killed Denis Blanchette and seriously injured a second man.

(please click on the picture to enlarge it)
uly 22 (left), May 22 (up) and April 15 (center) demonstrations and Victoriaville riots (down).

July 22 (left), May 22 (up) and April 15 (center) demonstrations and Victoriaville riots (down).  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At this point, I must step backward, as I need to tell about Madame Marois’ campaign.

Quebec students go on strike (February 13, 2012 – September 7, 2012)

The raise: (from $2,168 to $3,793 between 2012 and 2017)

In the spring of 2012, students enrolled in Quebec universities and CEGEPS[i] (numerically, Grades 12 & 13) started opposing a small raise in tuition fees (from $2,168 to $3,793 between 2012 and 2017 (Quebec student protests, Wikipedia).  At that moment, tuition fees paid by Quebec students were approximately half the fees paid by my former students in Nova Scotia.  The students’ demands were therefore unrealistic.

La Classe

The movement was soon named Coalition large de l’Association pour une  solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE).  Not only were the students’ demands unrealistic, but they organized increasingly disorderly demonstrations.  It was “[t]he largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian History,” between 400,000 and 500,000 people marched in downtown Montreal on May 22.[ii]

“On June 12, 2012, some protesters were referring to local police authorities as SS and anti-police pamphlets using the swastikas were distributed.”  (Quebec student protests, Wikipedia)

Madame Marois (Parti Québécois) steps in

Carré rouge

Carré rouge

Parti Québécois leader, Pauline Marois, stepped in and “supported” the students’ demands.  She wore their symbol, a red square, and she became very visible.  This won her a great deal of publicity.  It would be my opinion that endorsing the students’ demands benefitted Madame Marois.

Bill 78

  • The strike was problematical.  For instance, it jeopardized the completion of an academic term.
  • Therefore, on 18 May 2012, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 78, an “Act to enable students to receive instruction from the postsecondary institutions they attend” (Bill 78, Wikipedia).
  • On 27 August 2012, “[p]rotesters def[ied] back-to-school law as Quebec universities reopened]” (The Globe and Mail).
  • On September 7, “planned tuition increases were repealed by a decree from Pauline Marois‘ Parti Québécois government the very next day” (CBC News).

Yet, on November 8, 2012, Madame Marois stated that free tuition was “very difficult” (see The Globe and Mail).  (The students wanted free tuition.)  Did she not know this in the Spring of 2012?

Province of Quebec

Province of Quebec, red; Canada, white

Comments

  • The demonstrations were disorderly and had to be contained, which costs Premier Jean Charest’s government a fortune.
  • There was opposition to Bill 78.
  • In all likelihood, Madame Marois benefitted by involving the students.  She seemed a concerned mother to students who were being abused by the Liberal Party, then in power.
  • A man died in an attempt to protect Premier-elect Pauline Marois.
  • Tuition fees.  Can Madame Marois make ends meet?

Dissent and Faction

Madame Marois’ Parti Québécois is advocating “sovereignty” or separation from the other provinces of Canada, which means dissent or faction and is not insignificant.  On the contrary!  But, I wonder whether or not Madame Marois’ Parti Québécois and fellow sovereignists, or indépendantistes are fully aware of the consequences of a separation from Canada.

My Canada & a possible separation scenario

  • Canada is an officially bilingual country.  It protects the French language.  That could end for French-speaking Canadians living outside Quebec. The Federal Government might not agree to remain bilingual and bicultural.

  • There would be a country separating the Maritime Provinces of Canada from Ontario and the rest of Canada.

  • French-speaking veterans of World War II, who landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, would be very confused.  They were serving their country, Canada.

  • There could be resentment between the two “countries.”  Many Québécois would be dissatisfied, and there could be an exodus on the part of Anglophone Quebecers.

  • If there is an exodus, there would be fewer taxpayers.

  • And, to quote The Globe and Mail once again, “less than one percentage point – about 40,000 votes – separated the Parti Québécois and the Liberal party.”

But I would go further…

Past referendums have not supported separation from Canada.  In other words, the people of Quebec have yet to agree to a separation from the rest of Canada.

  • Yet, unlike my Nova Scotia health-insurance card, which was valid everywhere in Canada, including Quebec, my Quebec health-insurance card provides limited coverage outside Quebec.
  • I pay taxes levied by the Quebec government (5%) and taxes levied by the Federal government (10%).

It would appear that the above is the price Québécois and Quebecers pay because Quebec failed to sign the Patriated Constitution of 1982.  There is a substantial degree of duplication: a government inside a government.  What I would like to know is whether or not Quebec’s government has been mandated to start walking away from  Ottawa.

As for the manner in which Madame Marois was elected to the Premiership of Quebec, it has been described as “opportunistic” (The National Post, 21 June 2012)?  There is nothing wrong with seizing the moment.  However, the goal may defeat the means and the means defeat the goal.  At any rate, Quebec now has its own flag day.  I should be very pleased (Quebec creates its own flag day; Fleur-de-lis to be feted every Jan. 21 [timescolonist.com]).

There were deaths in the 1960s and, on 4 September 2012, Denis Blanchette was shot protecting Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois.  Human life is fragile and so very precious.  I’m certain Denis Blanchette’s life was dear to him and to his family and friends.  So none of this is banal.  If Quebec does want to secede from the rest of Canada, persons whose integrity and good will are above suspicion will have to negotiate acceptable terms.

However, what remains a mystery in my eyes is just why Quebec has not signed the long Patriated Constitution of Canada (1982).  It has been 31 years since it arrived on the North-American side of the Atlantic.  A referendum held in May 1980 did not allow Quebec to negotiate a new partnership with Ottawa.  The indépendantistes were then named the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, a “forerunner” of the Parti Québécois.

There are rules to everything…

 
 
© Micheline Walker
January 23, 2013
WordPress
_________________________   
[i] Quebec students enter A CEGEP (Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel or General and Vocational College) after Grade 11 and, two years later, successful candidates obtain a Diploma of College Studies (Diplôme d’Études Collégiales).  The Vocational program is a year longer.
[ii] Schonbek, Amelia (September 2012). “The Long March”.  The Walrus: 15–16.
 
singer songwriter: Joni Mitchell  (b. November 7, 1943)
title: “Both Sides Now”
Related articles
  • Quebec demands continued federal cash to recruit police officers (macleans.ca)
  • Quebec creates its own flag day; Fleur-de-lis to be feted every Jan. 21 (timescolonist.com)
  • ‘I believe it was an assassination attempt’: Pauline Marois says there was ‘political’ aspect to attack on election night (news.nationalpost.com)
  • Shooter Aimed at Premier-elect Pauline Marois (michelinewalker.com)

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