Canadians Protest Tuition Increases

people arrested in the protest

Mass arrests: Over 700 Canadian protesters detained in police crackdown (VIDEO, PHOTOS) — RT

 

"against the tuition hikes of around $250 per year with a massive rally in Montreal."

If only the U.S. hikes were this much (little).

 

Indeed. I live in the next province west of Quebec - Ontario. Tuition averages $6,500 here and -I think - around $2,700 in Quebec. I wouldn't doubt one could earn a degree in Quebec majoring in social protest!

Politicians and ordinary folk there have been talking about seceding from Canada on and off for a century or more. I remember how furious then-Premier Jacques Parizeau was in 1995, when a referendum on sovereignty was narrowly defeated. He said sovereignty had been defeated "by money and the ethnic vote." He resigned as party leader and Premier the following day.

Let 'em protest. And I'll maybe book a few days in Montreal when it's all over. Wonderful city - been there quite a few times - and I hope these "firebrands" don't deface it too badly before I get there. If they mess things up entirely and ruin Quebec's ultra-important tourist industry - THEN they'll be facing tuition - and every other kind of increases - to a level that will boggle their minds!

Johann

 

I should also point out - people in Quebec pay the highest taxes in Canada. That's why tuition rates are so (artificially?) low.
You don't need a degree in economics to figure out that they can't stay that low forever...

Johann

 

Correction: highest income taxes - not all taxes ..but they enjoy $7/day childcare; much more affordable housing than elsewhere; and other benefits...

 

This is what happens over 250 dollars a year? That's Canadian money so what’s that in US dollars? $30 bucks?

 

And really, they prefer to be called "Quebecers" over "Canadians" .. and comparing protests in France with Quebec, they definitely follow the European bloodlines moreso than their Canadian bloodlines

 

I stand corrected, BlueMason. Thanks. And -- as I said before, you don't need an economics degree to see the eventual end coming, for artificially low tuition and other hallowed privileges - think Greece, Spain, Italy, France...

Although - as an Ontarian, I shouldn't criticize too much. Our Finance Minister, Mr. Duncan, has presided over the loss of a few notches in our Province's credit rating... I don't know if it has any notches left!

Amusing things happen in Quebec... I understand the feelings about preservation of the French language (though not that many French approve of the way it's spoken in Quebec) -- but the official "Language Police" keep doing ridiculous things - like demanding that merchants in Montreal's Chinatown remove all Chinese-language signs! That one made the papers, but it didn't fly!

If there's this kind of civil discontent over $250 in tuition, I don't want to be in Montreal when they have to make changes to the Q.P.P. (Quebec Pension Plan.) That could be nasty....

Johann

 

Here's a follow up story that includes a few more details:

Why The Rest Of North America Should Care About Quebec's Huge Student Protests - Business Insider

 

My dad emailed me this a couple days ago, for your consideration:

# Quebec CGEP program requires a typical undergrad to spend 3 years in University
# a student starting next year would be affected by the increase in each year: $325, $650, $975
# approx 35% of the increase will be returned to students through other streams: grants, scholarships, aid, etc.
# discounted into present value (conservative 3% discount rate) the resulting additional cost is about $1,200.
# if the student protesting worked for 31 days, 4 hours per night, @ $9.90/hr (Quebec min), they would earn approx $1,200.
# that would pay off the increase in full
# even at peak tuition fees, students will still be paying less than 17% of the true cost of their University education, still lower than seven other provinces
# perhaps, stop whining and get a job would be a better alternative

 

I hear you, Emmzee. The trouble is with the history of this thing, I guess. I'm told that years and years ago, Quebec higher ed. was controlled by the Church. Tuition was as low as the Church could make it. When Higher Ed. was entrusted to the public sector, the Quebec Government agreed with the Church that tuition should be kept as low as possible, with the ultimate goal of making it FREE.

Obviously, the "free" part never happened and never will. So -- with past promises such as these, people get upset over every increase. Politicians are far outlived by their broken promises, every time.

Your figures don't lie. Tuition is indeed higher in Ontario - and last time I checked, (a few years) I was told Ontario University students were paying about 20% of the true cost of their education. Is that still about right? I think that Quebec students will eventually have to acknowledge reality -- but I'm more than a little afraid to march down Rue Ste. Catherine in Montréal and tell 'em over a bullhorn....in my bad French. I'll let someone else do that.

Johann