Two in serious condition following riot

[Doc Holliday]

Two people remain in serious condition with head trauma after a protest outside a Quebec Liberal Party convention Friday evening turned into a riot.

Six protesters and three provincial police officers were brought to hospital after the protest ended on Friday at around 9:30 p.m. Quebec health authorities said during a Saturday morning press conference. They said they feared for the life of one of the injured.

Provincial police said they arrested 106 people Friday, after one of the most violent protests since the student strike began over 80 days ago. The violence occurred despite the fact that talks have resumed between government officials and student leaders.

Police said four people were arrested outside the convention centre, while 102 people were intercepted on busses that were leaving the city. Police said those arrested could be charged with participating in a gathering deemed illegal by police and with mischief. Others could face more serious charges including assaulting a police officer and assault with a weapon.

Police said three people were arrested Saturday morning.

Quebec Liberal Party officials moved their three-day policy convention from Montreal to the town of Victoriaville, Que., about 150 km east of Montreal, in order to avoid large-scale demonstrations. The move was in vain.

Police said some of the hundreds of protesters who were bused into the city on Friday afternoon tore down a security barrier that surrounded the convention centre. The protest was then declared an illegal gathering and uniformed provincial police officers were replaced by the force's riot squad who started launching tear gas to disperse the crowd. Shortly after, police declared the protest a riot.

Police said protesters threw pieces of concrete, billiard balls and other projectiles towards riot squad officers.

Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc, who was at the convention, said someone could have been killed.

"Nothing justifies throwing concrete blocks," he said Saturday morning.

Provincial police spokesperson Jean Finet said that one officer was surrounded Friday evening by protesters and was jumped on and kicked repeatedly.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest called student leaders as well as heads of several large labour associations for a meeting in Quebec City hours before the start of the convention. Talks started at 4 p.m. Friday and continued Saturday.

Student leaders briefly left the meeting room Friday evening to appeal for calm, after learning that the Victoriaville protests turned violent.

The mayor of Victoriaville, Alain Rayes, called for calm during a Saturday morning press conference.

"The weekend is not over," he said.

The Liberal Party policy convention continues Saturday and runs through to Sunday.

Tens of thousands of Quebec students have been on strike since the government announced it would raise tuition by 75%.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/05/05/19721236.html

 

[Gentle]

As always... people had to get hurt before Charest started to negotiate properly and stop his stupid jokes.

When are we gonna get rid of this clown and the poker face in front of him ?
'Monsieur l'président, c'est la faute a Marois...non c'est la faute a Charest, non c'est Marois, non c'est Charest...'
They are like a french poodle vs a pomeranian chihuahua.

Man...we are way over due for a real Doberman !

 

[Doc Holliday]

I don't think 'getting rid of Charest' would solve anything. There aren't anybody around much better than he is, which isn't to say that he's that good himself. Politicians in the province of Quebec aren't exactly the best thing the province has to offer.

Current tuition fees in Quebec are among the lowest in the entire country. I don't know why the students are complaining. Paying $2500 on average in tuition fees for a good education is nothing compared to people who want to go to Harvard and have to fork out $40 000 in tuition fees alone.

I could sense trouble the minute i began to see people wearing masks at those demonstrations. Usually, these are signs that anarchists are beginning to integrate themselves among peaceful demonstrators & don't give a damn about tuition fees or higher education expenses, as long as they can spread their anarchy, cause chaos & destroy property. Because these anarchists have been allowed to integrate themselves among the student population, it's become a lost cause for the student body. No one will take them seriously now & they've even began to alienate the majority of the population, including even a good percentage of the student force.

 

[Gentle]

That's because Charest and his people are bad in improvisation.
They always improvise without really knowing what they're doing.

Again with this issue. They let it go thinking that since the population was for the raise that students wouldn't protest all that much.
But Charest backed down on so many issues that people are simply fed up with this guy and this gov.
We all know that they don't control much and that they owe too much to so many people.

That's why the protest kept on going and aren't only about the raise in tuition but also to blast this gov. and all their lies.

We need someone with character, determination who won't back down and will not bow to anyone including doctors, construction, criminals, the police, justice system, etc.

Which we don't have.

No party is important anymore. People don't give a sh!t about Liberals, Parti Quebecois, ADQ, etc.
Anyone of those get elected because we don't have something else.

Same happened to the last federal election.
People didn't vote for NPD.
They voted for Jack Layton.

There will be more and more of these protests.
For whatever reasons.

Same as what started elsewhere in the world and is still on-going.
Too much bullsh!t, too much corruption and too much debt is not real democracy !

Wait and see when gov. all over the so call "western world" will not only be able stop deficits but start paying back the debt for real.
It's started in Europe and will come our way !

 

[Doc Holliday]

Possible deal reached in regards to tuition fees

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/05/06/19723161.html

 

[wasisname]

Voting is for suckers. Educated people just make demands and smash shit up until they get their way.

I think next time I see a gal I fancy I will demand that she fuck me and if she doesn't I will start throwing bricks through windows in the neighborhood, smash cars, prevent her from leaving her home until she gives in. If there are any restraining orders I will of course ignore them. After all how dare a girl do an act of violence on me by saying no. This is the democratic way of engaging in alternative forms of seduction.

This protesting stuff is getting out of hand. It is really galling when they do it in the name of democracy as opposed to intimidation. So much I guess for that argument that a liberal arts education is good for democracy and makes better citizens. This whole thing and an even partial cave in by the government fills me with rage and I don't even live in Quebec.
I'd bet if a bunch of bankers and business owners were gooning in order to get anti union legislation passed or lower tax rates those same students would be having a total hissy fit.But then they have a history of being in favor of freedom of speech [as long as they approve] and democratic action [as long as they agree].

 

[Gentle]

There is different ways of gooning and Bankers always have done it in their own way to get what they want.
They don't have to throw any bricks since they can destroy entire economies with simple decisions.

 

[Siocnarf]

Possible deal reached in regards to tuition fees

There. Was that so hard?

 

[HornyForEver]

Current tuition fees in Quebec are among the lowest in the entire country. I don't know why the students are complaining. Paying $2500 on average in tuition fees for a good education is nothing compared to people who want to go to Harvard and have to fork out $40 000 in tuition fees alone.

And that is normal, because of what some universties here in Quebec have to offer in terms of education ranks among the lowest as well. I am sorry, but you cannot compare UQAM, Concordia University or even the University of Montreal to Harvard, MIT or Standford (I am sparing McGill out of this because I suspect/hope that they abide by somewhat higher standards).

 

[EagerBeaver]

McGill is very cheap by American standards and some of my friends' kids are looking at it because it is Ivy League calibre at one quarter the cost. I might have considered McGill if I had to do it over again.

 

[pokerpro]

Current tuition fees in Quebec are among the lowest in the entire country. I don't know why the students are complaining. Paying $2500 on average in tuition fees for a good education is nothing compared to people who want to go to Harvard and have to fork out $40 000 in tuition fees alone.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_Parent

You are right Doc but this was a choice done by society in the 60's when the '' Rapport Parent'' was produced after a lenghty commission on education.
Quebec decided to democratize the accessibility to higher education so everyone would have an equal opportunity.

You must agree that after no increases in the last 20 years and now a sudden increase of 75%, students (and even teachers) have a right to protest against a drastic change, specially when it is imposed by one of the most corrupted government in quebec's history.

With the amount of taxes you and me, Doc, pay here in quebec, higher than anywhere else in Canada, we should ask ourselves where our money is going.

 

[Doc Holliday]

And that is normal, because of what some universties here in Quebec have to offer in terms of education ranks among the lowest as well. I am sorry, but you cannot compare UQAM, Concordia University or even the University of Montreal to Harvard, MIT or Standford (I am sparing McGill out of this because I suspect/hope that they abide by somewhat higher standards).

Tuition fees in Quebec average $2500. Tuition fees in some of the other Canadian provinces, such as Ontario, average around $8000. Are Ontario colleges & universities that much better than the ones in Quebec?

 

[HornyForEver]

McGill is very cheap by American standards and some of my friends kids are looking at it because it is like Ivy League calibre at one quarter the cost. I might have considered McGill over UConn if I had to do it over again.

I can imagine that McGill is a much cheaper university, though this is the university where Ernest Rutherford had lectured and where Paul Erdos was a such a honored visitor.

 

[evillethings]

let's be clear, the tuition increase isn't going towards better education... it's going towards the bill to repair the road and highway infrastructure. the boys in quebec will hit up another group for funds within the next 12months.

anyway, kids should know there's no real point to higher education unless you're in a professional stream that requires certification and specific levels of training. otherwise, it's kind of one big party isn't it?

 

[Siocnarf]

Both McGill and U of M have good international reputation (but not as much as Harvard of course) and get many foreign students.

Keep kids in school as much as they want. Look what happened when Hitler got rejected from art school...

 

[themonk83]

Tuition fees in Quebec average $2500. Tuition fees in some of the other Canadian provinces, such as Ontario, average around $8000. Are Ontario colleges & universities that much better than the ones in Quebec?

depending on what field, yes by ten fold. i wouldn't consider UQAM (which i went to) much of an university. it doesn't have that feel at all. feels like more of a cegep than anything else

 

[Merlot]

And that is normal, because of what some universties here in Quebec have to offer in terms of education ranks among the lowest as well. I am sorry, but you cannot compare UQAM, Concordia University or even the University of Montreal to Harvard, MIT or Standford (I am sparing McGill out of this because I suspect/hope that they abide by somewhat higher standards).

Hello all,

It's not the name of the university that denotes a quality education necessarily, it's the quality of the staff that counts. Personally, I had classes with professors who went to Penn, Cornell, Boston College, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Providence College, Tufts, and some from foreign universities too. One professor had a masters from Brown and a doctorate from Harvard. Quality education is available in many more places than those with the top prestige, and that put you in debt nearly forever.

http://www.usnews.com/education/wor...ings/top-400-universities-in-the-world?page=2

BTW...Bravo to McGill University, which came out 17th right behind Johns Hopkins in this ranking of all the world's best universities. THAT'S PRETTY DARN FREAKING IMPRESSIVE!

Let's hear it for McGill. :hail: :whoo:

:thumb:

Merlot

 

[Gentle]

Anyway students voted against since the gov. f*cked up again making comments that the deal might not bring what Students negotiate for.

So it's not over !

 

[TheDon]

anyway, kids should know there's no real point to higher education unless you're in a professional stream that requires certification and specific levels of training. otherwise, it's kind of one big party isn't it?

Well said, higher tuitions just means less money for the beer and pot fund.....

 

[Schwarzkopf]

I think the Charest Government is just waiting the students out till they loose the school year.