Casseroles

Carrie and I just got back from 2 and a half hours of our manif (it was still going strong). It’s the 3rd night in a row (possibly more–we were visiting friends in Westmount Saturday, a wealthy enclave that’s hostile territory for protesters). What started as a local event with hundred of people taking up space in intersections snowballed into thousands taking over entire streets. We saw most of our neighbours, the people who staff our local business, and friends from around the area. Although there is a majority of students, of course, it’s children, the elderly, people of all colours and backgrounds.

In terms of numbers of bodies in the streets in a single place, we should at least consider that this is bigger than Occupy Wall Street, and it’s no doubt the most important student movement in North America right now–except that it’s people of all ages.

It is really moving to take a stand with your friends and neighbours against an immoral, unconstitutional and unenforceable law.

Manifestation de casseroles / Arrêtez-moi quelqu’un

So last night we’re sitting on the porch with friends and hear this noise. It gets louder and louder. Lots of banging. Finally we go investigate and find . . . the “Manifestation de casseroles” at the corner of Jarry and St-Denis a block away. Over 200 people gathered, making tons of noise with pots and pans. There was a plurality of students, but also lots of families with kids, and people out walking their dogs (including our downstairs neighbour). No visible alcohol, nobody out of control. Just lots of noise.

Under law 78, every one of us is a criminal for the mere act of being there.

Eventually the crowd starts shutting down the intersection. Buses are rerouted, cars inch through or turn around. The police show up, first watching from a distance. Eventually they move in and corral protesters back up to the sidewalks. In rebellion, protesters then decide to cross with the lights.

Some pics and videos from others who were there: here, here and a brief video here. It was pretty loud at the apex.

Eventually we headed back home, but the din went on for awhile. I’ve never seen anything like it. When I went back out at midnight it was starting to dissipate.

And now, I can proudly say, I too have broken law 78.

We’re way beyond dialogue here

Today I spoke with a journalist — Giuseppe Valiante (to give credit where it’s due) — doing a story on social media and the strike. At one point he asked me if I thought things would be better if the Charest government were on Twitter, interacting with all the protesters and their supporters who are active there under the hashtags #ggi and #manifencours

For my non-Canada readers, please know the gravity of the situation here. The provincial government has passed a law, loi 78, which effectively criminalizes legal protest and dissent, especially by students and especially around campuses. This is, of course, in response to now months of protest by hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers again proposed tuition increases.

Once you’ve criminalized the people advancing the other side of the argument, showing up somewhere to argue is kind of beside the point.

If you’re not already educated on what’s happening in Quebec, you should be. The student movement has shut down most of the universities and colleges in the province (no, not McGill, but that’s another story). They are a frequent presence downtown, and have occasionally interfered with traffic and transit. While the vast majority of protesters are peaceful, it’s not a surprise that with the protests has come some disorder like vandalism.

The provincial government, after negotiating in bad faith with the leaders of the movement, has banned the strike, criminalized the students (who number in the hundreds of thousands) and shut down school for the summer, instituting a bizarre semester system for the fall. The sheer lunacy of the plan — an unconstitutional law, a fake two-month semester, and a deferral of a fight that will obviously just start up again in August — is not what gets me. What gets me is that La Presse reported that 66% of people surveyed in the province support the law and think the police should be more severe with the protesters.

All this in Canada’s supposedly most progressive province. Congratulations, Charest government, you’ve just turned us into the most authoritarian province.

The English-langauge coverage of the Quebec situation is mostly shameful and ignorant, as newspaper columnists fall over one another to denounce the student movement. Luckily, two sites have sprung up to translate French-language coverage into English. I recommend you follow them.

http://translatingtheprintempserable.tumblr.com/ (“printemps érable” is “maple spring”). They appear to be the most active for the moment, so I’ve given their RSS feed a place of pride in my blogroll on the right for now.

http://rougesquad.org

Finally, in the tradition of We Are the 99%, there’s Arrêtez-moi, quelqu’un (arrest me, someone).

The Politics of Journal Publishing in Music Education + Harvard Goes Open Access + Quebec Student Strike

Ted Striphas did it for Cultural Studies, and now Matthew Thibault has done it for music education. It would be great for people to assemble this kind of comparative data across fields and disciplines.

And in related news one of the richest in the world–if not the richest–says it can’t afford the rising price of journal subscriptions.

If you’re not already caught up on the continuing student strike in Quebec, I recommend Lilian Radovac’s piece on the Chronicle of Higher Education site.