On Jan. 27, approximately 100 university and CEGEP students created a human barricade outside the Montreal offices of the Ministry of Education to protest the Quebec government’s proposed tuition fee hikes. The protest was organized by the Coalition Large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE), a temporary coalition of student associations. McGill students may vote to join this coalition in the AUS General Assembly on Jan. 31.
In addition to the vote to join CLASSE, other GA motions, if passed, would aim to make the AUS eligible to do so. For example, CLASSE requires that the AUS take an official position in favour of free education and against all tuition increases.
The motions were submitted by members of the Mobilization Committee (Mob Squad), an organization dedicated to combating inequity and defending accessible education.
Kevin Paul, U3 arts student and member of the Mob Squad, said that the benefits of joining the Quebec-wide student movement would be worth the extra steps required to become eligible. (Full disclosure: Kevin Paul is a contributor to the Tribune’s opinion section.)
“The government does not negotiate with individual student associations from one university, but it will negotiate with a coalition representing tens of thousands of students [who] are acting collectively,” Paul said. “[It] means that when CLASSE negotiates with the government, the interests of McGill Arts students will be represented.”
According to an email from Mobilization Committee members, the AUS has also accepted their petition for a Special Referendum to amend the AUS Constitution in order to make the society eligible to join CLASSE. The proposed changes would extend some powers currently held by the council to the General Assembly. Students will have the chance to vote on the referendum in early February.
However, even if the AUS GA votes on Tuesday to request to join CLASSE, Paul says that the power to strike will remain in the hands of McGill students.
“The only votes for a strike will come when there is a Strike General Assembly and students pass a motion to stop going to class,” he said.
Joël Pedneault, SSMU VP External, is uncertain whether students will vote to strike, but thinks that it would be effective at this stage in the student movement.
“I don’t know if people are convinced that [a strike’s] something that they want to do right now … but I think there might just be a critical mass of people who understand that we’re at that point right now,” Pedneault said. “The government’s still not backing down, so what’s going to work right now if going on a strike.”
-The AUS GA will take place at 6:00 on Jan. 31 in Stewart Biology S1/4. Students need a McGill arts student ID to vote.
