*Republished article from March 1st, 2012 Vol 40 Issue 17

Alexandra Herrington

Staff Writer

The Dawson student population is currently at odds debating whether or not to

vote in favor of going on an unlimited general strike, beginning March 1, açains

Jean Charest’: plan for university tuition fee hikes, a decision to be made by the Dawson student body at tonight’s Special General Assembly. 

It will take place in the third floor cafeteria and will begin at 5.30 p.m. There will

be four motions. The first for an unlimited general strike, the second for a three-day strike, the third for a one day strike and lastly, a motion for no strike whatsoever.

Five percent of the student population, roughly 530 students, must show up to the

Special General Assembly for it to proceed and each motion must have over a 50 percent majority for the motion to pass.

According to CBC, the many student-led demonstrations during the present and

past semester were triggered after Jean Charest’s mid-2011 announcement regarding the Quebec government’s decision to raise university tuition fees by $1,625, or by 75 per cent, over the next five years.

The protests have since gathered momentum from over 200,000 Quebecois

Students  province-wide, reported CBC, including students at Dawson.

Last semester, Dawson students went on a simple one day strike, led by the Dawson

Student Union (DSU), during mid-November, picketing at every Dawson entrance.

This semester, however, the ‘Yes’ Committee is driving for an unlimited general strike, which potentially could cancel the rest of the semester in its entirety. The ‘Yes’ committee has been met so far with fierce opposition from the ‘No’ committee.

“Yes” Committee elected representatives Alexandra Bondar and Farah Noun argued for their committee’s views by commenting that “strikes are historically the best way to get your point across […] Education is a right, not a privilege, and we’re determined to make (the strike) happen.”

‘No’ Committee elected representative Alex Magder refuted these arguments and

elaborated on the ‘No’ Committee’s stance. “When you’re going on an unlimited strike, basically what you’re doing is postponing your graduation. Not only that, it causes so many other problems like messing up exam schedules. Why would you want to do that,” Magder said. “There are other ways of approaching the issue.”

The “Yes’ committee has been particularly vocal in voicing their concerns that

people aren’t fully educated about the tuition hike and that they are worried the misconceptions about the increase in fees may be what mold students’ opinions

One of the misconceptions they speak of is the Charest Government’s insistence that universities are underfunded and the tuition fee hike will aid this problem.

In actuality, according to Free Education Montreal, “public subsidies and contracts for research to universities have more than doubled between 1995-1996 and 2005-2006, making university revenue jump from $721 million to $1,276 billion over a ten year period.” 

Essentially, the  problem is not underfunding but that the universities are not allocating their money to the right places:

The real question however, is does the population of Dawson even care?

“The tuition hike will raise [fees] by

$1625 over four years. That’s around four hundred more a year, two hundred more a semester,” Elizabeth Cavanagh, a second semester General Social student, said. “If you’re motivated to go to school, you’ll find a way to make it work.”

“Who exactly is the strike punishing? I’m positive the government officials’ graduation dates won’t be affected. Students need to reconsider the many possible consequences of the strike,” Cavanagh added.

Patrick Marois, a second semester Civil Engineering student, agrees and said,

“This whole fight has been prolonged for so long, that now, not only is it kind of desensitizing people to the actual importance, it’s making people lose interest in the cause.”

Other students, however, still strongly support the protest. “This fight is important. Tuition fees

were $527 when Jean Charest was in school,” Rachel Giulione, a second semester Child Studies student said, “How could he understand how hard it is for a modern day student? We need this strike to show him how students feel.”

DSU Deputy Chairperson, Mira Katz, urges students to show up to the vote, regardless if their opinion has been made or not.

“Il you’re still undecided, like many people are because they’re not sure of the facts, just show up. There’ll be a debate and you’ll get to hear both sides and you can make your decision there.”

“It’s a decision that’s going to affect all of us and everyone has an opinion. Everyone at least needs to be there to hear both sides and make an informed decision,”Léo Fugazza, Director of Internal Affairs and Advocacy for the DSU, said.

“If you voluntarily don’t show up, you basically give up your vote and your voice.

People fought for so many years for the right to vote and it’s time to exercise it,” he added.