Montreal Protests Continue

[*Siren*]

Lawyers Join in 35th Consecutive Night of Protests

[*Siren*]

Has anyone else been following the situation in Montreal? Thoughts?

[KatRN05]

Well, I was gonna ask what these protests were about. I love a good protest.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Has anyone else been following the situation in Montreal? Thoughts?

Of anyone I know in real life, I follow the news pretty closely by comparison, haven't heard anything... but I do have the internet.. *clicks*

As they entered the meeting, students said they expected the government to compromise on the key issue of tuition increases that sparked their movement in the first place. They said any solution would include two elements: a retreat on tuition fees and on the emergency law, Bill 78.

I'm not sure we have an equvilant of "government funded college tuition" (we can get loans, but its not the same) in that same way so it takes a bit of research for me to grasp the irritation. I guess once you get used to something, and then they want to change it, its angering.

This here is kind of ironic:

There’s one fact that usually gets slipped into the bottom of news reports on the Quebec student protests: that the province has some of the lowest tuition rates in Canada. But how low is low? The National Post’s graphics department compares:

More general article about college tuition funding (with pretty balloons)

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/18/how-quebecs-tuition-price-tags-match-up-to-the-rest-of-canada-graphic/

[*Siren*]

Well, I was gonna ask what these protests were about. I love a good protest.

Short version:

Initially, students were protesting an 85% tuition hike. The Quebec Government tried to stop the protests with Bill 78, which made protesting without permission from police illegal. Instead of stopping the protests, Bill 78 had the opposite effect. The protests have been getting larger, gaining support from thousands of people that are pissed about their constitutional rights being taken away.

[*Siren*]

More general article about college tuition funding (with pretty balloons)

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/18/how-quebecs-tuition-price-tags-match-up-to-the-rest-of-canada-graphic/

Something about this just doesn't seem right. I think some of the figures (at least Ontario) are inflated. I remember bitching to no end when my tuition went up to $2000 per year. I know it has gone up since then, but I don't think it has skyrocketed that much. Hmm... I might have to check into this.

[KatRN05]

Short version:

Initially, students were protesting an 85% tuition hike. The Quebec Government tried to stop the protests with Bill 78, which made protesting without permission from police illegal. Instead of stopping the protests, Bill 78 had the opposite effect. The protests have been getting larger, gaining support from thousands of people that are pissed about their constitutional rights being taken away.

Thank you! And that is fucking bullshit!

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Thank you! And that is fucking bullshit!

Really? What I miss? I'm seriously curious. I try not to be biased, I just try to figure out what the "truth" is as best I can. I'm pretty confused about the whole thing other than "we are mad we don't wanna pay" which really doesnt mean much in terms of the right or wrong of a thing. Emotional outbursts rarely are an indication of truth or falsity.

Seems near impossible to know without a LOT of homework, I don't get the impression anyone was trying to screw anyone. I actually did a fair amount of reading and it seems the whole thing was a series of very hard decisions based on financial realities. I'm not sure what the "right" thing to do is/was but it doesn't seam clear at all to me, and I feel reasonably educated on the subject to a degree now.

But there is almost always a few devils hidden in the details that we tend to miss.

[*Siren*]

Seems near impossible to know without a LOT of homework, I don't get the impression anyone was trying to screw anyone. I actually did a fair amount of reading and it seems the whole thing was a series of very hard decisions based on financial realities. I'm not sure what the "right" thing to do is/was but it doesn't seam clear at all to me, and I feel reasonably educated on the subject to a degree now.

The issue is no longer the tuition hikes. It started out that way, but now it is about the Quebec Government taking away the right to peaceful protests. This is why lawyers were marching with copies of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

The issue is no longer the tuition hikes. It started out that way, but now it is about the Quebec Government taking away the right to peaceful protests. This is why lawyers were marching with copies of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

My gut reaction to most all regulations and "Infringements on freedom" is "hell no!"

But since the 2008 financial crisis , which would have been near impossible if the post-depression era regulations were still in place (after the great depression tons of restrictions were put on financial institutions, that were slowly removed making what happend in 2007-8 inevitable (and still inevitable again as they were not put back in place), my opinion about regulations been shifting. Similar to say, the right to bear arms in america... we have the right to bear arms, but we don't have the right to bear nuclear arms... why not? Devil is in the details.

Now that part of it "Bill 78" is even more complex. As to not live in an anarchy state or a fascist state you need a combination of 1. The right to protest 2. Some restrictions what is appropriate. The details of that bill I think are the issue more than the bill itself. Which I couldn't find much other than blurbs. "In and around school grounds" well , there should be some rules about where your allowed to stand and not block people that are actually trying to get to class, is that not the case already or is this something that currently isn't addressed? Just as one example.

I started reading but with all the other stuff I want to get to I couldnt find much that I thought was really helpful, mostly more of that "horse race" style reporting rather than detailed analasys which is the only real way to decide whats good or bad.