March 22 tuition fee protest 7

March 30, 2012

March 22 tuition fee protest 7

"Maple Spring" doesn't have the same ring, but say it fast enough, and Printemps Érable sounds like Printemps Arabe, and that's what some students are hoping to see in Quebec in the next few months.

Their tenacity is holding, too: since March 22, actions have only multiplied, with occupations of government buildings, blockages of bridges and the Port of Montreal, and several protests every day. On March 29, students held a Grand Masquerade, with four different, colorful marches weaving through downtown all afternoon.

The provincial government has responded finally, after seven weeks. On March 29, Education Minister Line Beauchamp said they are open to discussions, but on one condition: that students renounce the tuition fee freeze. Student leaders have rejected that condition:

"The strike is over tuition fee increases, and [Beauchamp] says, 'We don't want to discuss what led to the strike.' It's a bit of bad faith," said Dubois-Nadeau.