2005 Quebec student strike
| 2005 Quebec student protests | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 24, 2005–April 14, 2005 |
| Location | Quebec, Canada |
| Methods |
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The 2005 Quebec student protests were a series of student strikes and student protests in opposition to budget cuts of C$103 million in the Grants and Loans program by the Charest government. It occurred between February 24 and April 2005 and involved thousands of CEGEP and universities students from across Quebec.
During the 2003 Quebec general election campaign, the Liberal Party of Quebec, led by Jean Charest, made a promise to freeze education cost. Having to deal with a rough budget, and because of the election promise, the Quebec government changed the Grants and Loans program by transforming $103 million of grants into loans, nearly doubling the debt of the poorest students.
Coalitions representing most CEGEPs and universities started to negotiate with the government. Talks and protests, in the form of marches, went on for over a year. Students from most CEGEPs and universities took the streets on April 14, 2004 (the first anniversary of the Charest government's election) and November 10, 2004.
During their January 29–30, 2005 congress, the students' unions members of the ASSÉ (Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante) and other independent students' unions decide to form the Coalition de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante Élargie (CASSÉÉ) to coordinate the upcoming strike campaign. ("Cassé" is a French word equivalent to "broke".)
The strike was initiated on February 21, by a member of the CASSÉÉ, the anthropology students' association from University of Montreal (Association étudiante d'anthropologie de l'Université de Montréal). But the real start was given on February 24 when over 30,000 students members of the CASSÉÉ, and a few other unions joined the strike.
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