McGill Tribune

The Quebec government’s recently tabled proposal to gradually increase in-province university tuition from $2,168 to $3,793—which would still make it 30 per cent lower than the present Canadian average—has predictably raised the ire of activists who favour free education for all, and engendered promises of walk-outs, demonstrations, and even a possible student strike next fall. The campaign got off to a shaky start last week, as media coverage of a protest involving 2,000 students focused on the violence at the end, when five activists draped in black were arrested after smashing property and facing off against tear gas bearing police officers. While the negative publicity garnered by a handful of hardliners doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on the student leaders in general, and says nothing about the legitimacy of their cause, it’s probably worth taking a step back in order to reconsider the strategy students should take in response to these tuition hikes and the tactics they should employ through the summer and next year.

The members of our editorial board hold as diverse views about the wisdom, efficacy, and necessity of tuition as the McGill student body at large. Some think the ideal of free higher education a worthy one. If students should not expect to achieve it, they should at least start from that position and negotiate from there: you can’t negotiate when your starting position is compromise, and the constant absence of youth from politics gives leaders license to ignore them. Others consider such idealism merely evidence of stubbornness: either free education is undesirable or unrealistic; the fear here is that if students take an uncritically antagonistic attitude toward decision-makers on campus and in Quebec City, they are basically asking to be ridiculed and ignored. Though we disagree on certain aspects of the issue, we are in agreement that student leaders need to develop a more diversified program of action in response to the tuition hikes.  Antagonistic threats of strikes and more demonstrations can only be part of the strategy.  But they are at worst ineffective and at best long-term strategies: if we really care about low-income students being unable to pay higher tuition, perhaps more constructive and immediately practicable ideas should be considered, too.

The recent motion passed at Students’ Society Council opposing all tuition hikes and even urging that tuition be lowered is, for some, a step in the right direction. But there need to be other steps taken in other directions. For instance, why is so much effort put into lowering tuition even for those fortunate among us who have no problem paying the current rate, and would even consider paying a little more if it meant our less fortunate friends and peers could be subsidized? There should be a greater emphasis placed on scholarships and bursaries, which would actually help students in need deal with rising tuition costs. Even the most idealistic student activists have to admit that protests and strikes have a pretty dismal chance of convincing any Quebec politicians to change their minds.

Next year’s SSMU executives need to cast a wider net in devising their strategy regarding both tuition hikes and all other areas of disagreement with the Quebec government and the university administration. This needs to be a multipronged effort. Programs like the Arts Student Employment Fund are exactly the kind of thing we need to see more of from student leaders. Moreover, if students really want their voices heard, they should vote in the upcoming election. We need to be smarter about getting those in power to not ignore us. Measures like protests, strikes, and the recent council motion merely give politicians an excuse to continue doing so—and hurt the students they claim to help.