Students from across Quebec converge in downtown Montreal to protest against austerity
About 2,000 students from CEGEPs and universities across the province converged on downtown Montreal Thursday to take part in a protest against Quebec's austerity measures.
The demonstration began around 1 p.m. at the Old Port, at the corner of de la Commune Street and St-Laurent Boulevard. The demonstrators, whose march stretched the length of two city blocks, weaved their way through downtown Montreal throughout the afternoon.
"I'm here to protest against the rise in fees and for more investment in the public domain," said Philippe Normandeau, a student at the University of Sherbooke who traveled to Montreal for the march.
"I'm not really against cuts in the public domain, but I would like to see it more carefully done."
Teachers join march
Teachers also took part in the march in solidarity with students.
"We support students because they are fighting the same battle we do as teachers, to protect public services and have more money for education," said Alain Marois, vice-president of the Fédération Autonome de L'Enseignement (FAE), which represents some 34,000 teachers in the greater Montreal region.
"They were in our demonstration when we were on strike, so we're helping them today."
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Close to 20 student associations representing more than 50,000 students voted in favour of a strike mandate for Nov. 5.
To see the full list of participating student associations, consult the website of the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ).
More strike action ahead
Teachers and other public sector workers held a series of rotating walkouts across Quebec in the last week of October, denouncing cuts to education and stalled salary negotiations.
Earlier this week, the FAE broke off talks with government negotiators, blaming what it called the government's "ideological and inflexible" position.
More strike days are expected if there is no progress in negotiations.
The Front Commun, or Common Front – an umbrella group that represents more than 400,000 public-sector workers – has strike days tentatively scheduled in Montreal on Nov. 16 and 17, as well as Dec. 1, 2 and 3.
For a complete list of the Common Front's rotating-strike schedule and striking establishments by region, click here.
