Sunday, 28 October 2012

Student rally in Quebec as an act of civil disobedience?

Hi Class,

Here are the videos that I meant to show you last class, but couldn't because of our awesome internet connection at school :-)



Background info:
  • Tuition fees in Quebec were to be raised from $2100 to $3800.
  • Many students began organizing in Feb 2012 to protest the raise.
  • The provincial government introduced Bill 78 in May to:
    • ensure all students that want to receive education are not denied the opportunity
    • ensure that no one impedes a schools ability to provide education.
    • restrict protests/picketing near the university.
    • require organizers of a protest larger than 50 people to properly notify authorities.
  • By early Sept any students remaining on strike returned to classes after a tuition freeze was put in place.

Critical Questions:
  1. Were the events in Quebec an act of civil disobedience?
  2. What characteristics/criteria were missing/present in order to classify (or not) this event as civil disobedience?
After thought:

  • What are you thoughts about the fact that Quebec apparently has the lowest tuition fees compared to other provinces?
  • Do you feel that Rex Murphy has provided a balanced summary of the events in Quebec?


No comments:

Post a Comment