CLASSE will target ideologies in anticipated election
CLASSE, the more militant group taking part in the Quebec student protest, affirmed it will be mobilizing students against "neo-liberal" politics if a provincial election is launched.
The group was in congress this weekend to elaborate on new strategies for the upcoming provincial election.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the organization's spokesman, introduced CLASSE's new manifesto on Thursday at Laval University in Quebec City. The new guidelines discuss things like the student crisis, defending rights for First Nations people and women, and the group's opposition to Quebec Premier Jean Charest's Plan Nord.
The new manifesto focuses on four core themes: democracy, ecology, social justice and feminism, Nadeau-Dubois said.
"As young people, as a generation, we are worried about those issues and we want to talk directly to the population and tell them that we have something better to put forward than what the Liberal party has done," he said.
Nadeau-Dubois said Charest's main mistake was underestimating the power of student mobilization.
CLASSE said it wants to remain independent and will not support any particular political party.
"We will defend certain principles and criticize others, but we will remain completely independent of political parties. As a student association, our role is to defend the position adopted by the students and not to tell them what to do on voting day," said Nadeau-Dubois.
He also said that CLASSE would not be focusing its efforts on getting students to vote during the elections, but that it will promote its ideologies and be a "parallel to the elections."
"We will not tell people what to do. If they agree with the values we are expressing and see them in a particular party that can represent these values. It's their choice to go voting," he added.
The organization is expected to meet in mid-August to discuss the status of the student strike for the upcoming school year.
Another national demonstration is scheduled for July 22 in Montreal.
