Five items enclosed.
1. Quebec students to vote on ending (suspending) strike action
By Sidartha Banerjee, Toronto Star, Aug 6, 2012
MONTREAL— Quebec’s student strikes, which gained international attention in the spring, now face a pivotal week as students start voting on whether to return to class. Students in the more militant CLASSE association will vote over nine days, starting Tuesday, on heading back to school when classes resume mid-month.
The voting is the latest chapter in an improbable six-month saga that saw Quebec’s tuition battle catapulted from the pages of campus newspapers into major foreign media. It comes as students grapple with an overriding strategic dilemma: to suspend the fight, or keep it up and risk helping to re-elect Premier Jean Charest’s Liberals?
The unpopular government, battered by ethics scandals, appears to have some public support for its proposed tuition increases of $1,778 — or 82 per cent over seven years — and it has made the issue a centrepiece of the election campaign announced last week. Students are now grappling with whether to take that issue off the table during the campaign.
One protest leader says students know their decision can have a major impact on the Sept. 4 election. “Students are very anxious to see what will happen during this election,” said Martine Desjardins, head of the more moderate university students’ federation. “We think that we can have a major role . . . but people will have to make very difficult choices during their general assemblies.”
On the day the campaign was launched, student federations announced they would not favour any one political party, just that they were staunchly opposed to the Liberals being re-elected. They announced plans to protest in Liberal ridings, including Charest’s. “For students, this isn’t only about whether you want to go on strike or not anymore,” Desjardins said. “The question becomes what the impact will there be if they strike during the election. In some ridings, I think the impact could be huge.”
One of Desjardins’ former colleagues, her counterpart in the moderate federation at junior colleges, is now an election candidate with the Parti Québécois. The rookie provincial politician, Leo Bureau-Blouin, 20, urged students last week to consider an election truce.
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Yesterday, as reported in La Presse, the FECQ and the FEUQ student federations presented an electoral manifesto containing these points, among others: freeze on any rise to post-secondary tuition fees, elimination of Quebec’s $200 per year medical insurance fee, struggle against the human causes of global warming, and reduction in fresh water consumption across the province. The two federations repeated their call for a defeat of the governning Liberal Party.–RA
Martine Desjardins et son homologue de la FECQ Éliane Laberge comptent être bien être présente, et critiques, durant la campagne. Leurs deux fédérations ont déposé aujourd’hui une longue liste de revendications de tout acabit, digne d’une véritable plateforme électorale. Bien sûr, l’éducation est au coeur de leurs demandes, mais y figurent aussi l’environnement, les finances publiques, l’éthique et l’économie. «Les jeunes veulent s’impliquer dans l’avenir du Québec», disent les deux présidentes.
La FECQ et la FEUQ tentent de secouer l’image de grève et de la confrontation qui leur colle à la peau. «Nos revendications ne sont pas basées sur un conflit. Le gouvernement ne sera pas élu pour une seule raison. Il doit être complet. On veut donc entendre les partis sur d’autres sujets qui nous tiennent à coeur», dit Martine Desjardins.
Parmi leurs exigences : le gel des droits de scolarité, l’abolition de la nouvelle contribution santé, la lutte aux changements climatiques, et la réduction de la consommation en eau.
2. Duchesneau next target: Charest
Former police chief supports CAQ priority of battling corruption
By Wendy Gillies, Toronto Star, Aug 6, 2012
SAINT-JÉRÔME, QUE.— Jacques Duchesneau — the Quebec man who has become the symbol of anti-corruption in a province dogged by dirty dealing — says he decided to run in the upcoming provincial election to stop Premier Jean Charest from helping his “little friends.”
Just six weeks ago, the former Montreal police chief was ruling out a career in politics, but he said Sunday he couldn’t avoid it after hearing Charest give himself a grade of eight out of 10 for his anticorruption efforts.That comment, made Thursday, made him realize that nothing would change if there was another Charest government, Duchesneau said, and that he needed to join forces with upstart party Coalition Avenir Québec. “I cannot remain silent. I cannot,” Duchesneau, 63, said at a news conference in his riding of Saint-Jérôme.
He attacked Charest even further in an interview published Sunday (online) in the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir, saying he had to stop Charest from continuing to serve his “little friends.”
Duchesneau is widely respected in Quebec for leaking his explosive, government-ordered report on corruption and collusion in the construction industry, something that ultimately forced Charest to order a public inquiry. Duchesneau also authored a second report, tabled with the Charbonneau commission handling the inquiry, that apparently shows that 70 per cent of money raised by Quebec political parties was raised illegally.
But he put a stop to suggestions he would reveal the apparently damning information, saying he would never share the findings for fear of interfering with the ongoing probe. “I will not be in the way of the Charbonneau commission. They have my report, they know what to do,” he said, adding that his job as investigator is over.
He did put his investigation chops to work a few days earlier, however, assigning lawyers to pore over the CAQ’s books before signing on with the party to make sure it was “whiter than white,” as promised by party leader François Legault. Duchesneau is convinced now Legault and the CAQ — a party that has made stamping out corruption its first priority — will not tolerate unethical behaviour.
On Friday, one of the party’s top staffers, Marc Deschamps, resigned amid allegations he was connected to a construction industry scandal in Montreal, saying he did not want to be a “distraction” for the party. Legault later said the resignation only proved the CAQ was devoted to being a clean party.
Duchesneau’s candidacy with the third-place CAQ could change the outcome of the election. The announcement put both Charest and Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois on the defensive. At a stop in Levis, Que., Charest called Duchesneau irresponsible for previously saying that political parties relied on dirty money. If Duchesneau knows of specific examples, he should tell the authorities and give those affected the ability to defend themselves, Charest said. “Instead, he is casting a stain on everyone.”
Charest suggested Duchesneau’s recent criticism of the Liberals was a 180-degree reversal from the more complimentary remarks he made a year ago. Back then, Charest recounted, the former police officer saluted the Liberal government’s efforts to deal with corruption and said the premier was going in the right direction. “He even said that the measures we put in place have had results,” Charest said.
The Liberal leader carried on, spending a full minute rhyming off the details of eight laws his government adopted to deal with the problems in the construction industry and in political financing.
Foreseeing Charest’s defence, Duchesneau said in the interview with Le Devoir that the more corrupt a state is, the more those in power introduce laws to give the appearance of dealing with the problem.
Marois avoided questions Sunday about her reaction to Duchesneau’s candidacy, which created an awkward moment broadcast live during the lunchtime news hour. Bernard Drainville, an incumbent PQ candidate, was sent out to provide a reaction instead. “No one has a monopoly on virtue,” said Drainville of Duchesneau as he outlined his own party’s efforts to fight corruption.
Later Sunday afternoon Marois took up that theme in a rousing speech to a few hundred party faithful at a rally in Montreal, where she implied what she thought of the hoopla surrounding Duchesneau. “One man alone is not enough. It takes an entire team to clean up and we have that team,” Marois said to loud applause.
She also described how her party had devoted hundreds of questions in the National Assembly to the issue of corruption and argued it was the PQ that had pushed Charest to call a commission of inquiry and then give it greater powers to act.
3. Quebec’s ‘Elliot Ness’ enters the election race
Candiate for the Coalition Avenir Québec expected to lure votes from Liberals, PQ in coming election
By Rheal Seguin, Daniel Leblanc, Globe and Mail, Aug 6, 2012
Jacques Duchesneau’s formal entry into the Quebec election quickly triggered a realignment of forces, stealing thunder from the Parti Québécois in its efforts to bring down the Liberals. The anti-corruption crusader and former cop showcased his political talents as a candidate for the third-ranked Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) on Sunday, promising to clean up the province after years of scandals in the construction industry and the municipal world.
It’s too early to measure the impact on public opinion of Mr. Duchesneau’s arrival, but strategists for other parties said the third-place CAQ is slowly moving up in internal polls. If the CAQ does rise, it could cause a number of three-way races throughout the province, with its coalition of sovereigntists and federalists likely to eat into both PQ and Liberal support.
Mr. Duchesneau’s crime-fighting pedigree stretches back years and he enjoys widespread popularity in Quebec, which explains why the PQ is not planning to take him on directly. The Quebec Liberals, however, have already started to portray him as a “loose cannon” in the hopes of thwarting his attacks on their record over the past nine years.
The CAQ is hoping to capitalize on widespread disapproval with the Liberal government under the slogan: “Enough, things have to change.” CAQ Leader François Legault said Mr. Duchesneau would be his deputy premier, referring to him as “Quebec’s Eliot Ness.”
At his initial news conference, Mr. Duchesneau – who will run in the riding of St-Jérôme, just north of Montreal – did not lay out concrete new anti-corruption measures. Still, he said he was the right person to change Quebec politics, vowing to put an end to a culture of kickbacks and payoffs. “Between now and [election day] Sept. 4, every time a corrupter and a scammer will see a CAQ billboard, I hope they’ll see that we are here to clean things up in Quebec,” Mr. Duchesneau said. He said the CAQ was ideally positioned to do the job because it is the “only new party” in the race.
The PQ seem unprepared for Mr. Duchesneau’s arrival on the political scene, even though news of his announcement had been revealed by The Globe and Mail on Friday afternoon. PQ Leader Pauline Marois refused to answer questions about Mr. Duchesneau in an improvised media appearance Sunday, just ahead of the unveiling of the party’s platform, fuelling a sense of panic in PQ ranks.
She did take on the issue of corruption in a 30-minute speech to party faithful, desperately trying to gain back momentum as the party of honesty and integrity, and the only one capable of cleaning up the province. “Listen to me carefully: If ever a member of my government should fail to fulfill their duties I will be intractable. It will be zero tolerance,” Ms. Marois said.
Ms. Marois also took aim at any perception that Mr. Duchesneau’s presence ensures the CAQ can tackle the issue that resonates with Quebec voters. “I know what to do and it takes constant determination. You can’t do it alone. It takes a team to clean house,” Ms. Marois said, surrounded by her candidates.
Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest didn’t hesitate to take aim at Mr. Duchesneau, especially the assertion that 70 per cent of political financing in Quebec involved dirty money. “It’s pure demagoguery,” Mr. Charest said shortly after Mr. Duchesneau formally entered the race. “If he has specific cases, he should mention them to the authorities and they will take care of them.”
Still, Mr. Duchesneau’s candidacy overshadowed the Quebec Liberals’ plans to talk about a promised increase in funding to companies that create subsidized daycare spaces in their workplaces.
The CAQ was well behind the PQ and the Quebec Liberals in opinion polls at the start of the election campaign, and pollster Jean-Marc Léger said the party needed to make a big splash in the early days to make it a threeway race. With Mr. Duchesneau now on board, along with well-known doctor Gaétan Barrette as a potential health minister, Mr. Legault is stating that his party is ready to form the next government. “Now we can put a name and a face on our desire to clean up the province,” Mr. Legault said. “A few months ago, I was saying ‘Wait and see.’ Now you can see for yourselves.”
Mr. Duchesneau said he would not engage in any political fundraising to preserve all of his necessary leeway to combat corruption in Quebec. He added that he carried out “due diligence” on the CAQ and Mr. Legault before joining the party.
Mr. Duchesneau had promised earlier this year not to enter active politics, but he explained that a week ago he decided he could not sit on the sidelines. He added he firmly disagreed with Mr. Charest’s decision to give himself a score of eight out of 10 for his anti-corruption measures, stating that the government deserved a score of two out of 10.
4. ‘Real adversaries’ are rich elite, Khadir says
By Kamila Hinckson, The Gazette, Aug 6, 2012
Amir Khadir says former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe is missing the mark. “I invite him to take issue with the real adversaries in our society,” Khadir, co-leader of Québec solidaire, said after Duceppe attacked Khadir, describing him as an “opportunist” and accusing the leftof-centre party of splitting the sovereignist vote.
“I invite him to unite his voice with Québec solidaire, the only party with the courage to stand up to the elite, the one per cent … that want to dictate the behaviour of our society.”
Khadir make the remarks at a news conference Saturday where the party named Will Prosper, a former police officer, activist and documentary filmmaker, to represent the party in the riding of Bourassa-Sauvé.
Prosper is of Haitian origin but was born and grew up in Montreal North, which encompasses much of the riding. Prosper told the media the dropout rate in the area remains high, despite the fact that the riding was represented by education minister Line Beauchamp for two years. He chided the Liberal Party for choosing Rita De Santis, former member of Concordia University’s board of governors, to replace Beauchamp as their candidate in the riding.
Not only is De Santis not from the neighbourhood, he said, but she sat on the same board of governors Beauchamp fined $2 million earlier this year as punishment for handing out generous severance packages to administrators who quit their posts. “We can see that the Liberals are completely disconnected and they have no values,” said Prosper, a former Mountie who quit to become a filmmaker.
Prosper was one of the founders and a spokesperson for the Montréal-Nord Républik, the group that lobbied for a public inquiry into the 2008 shooting death of Fredy Villanueva. He is also a vocal opponent of racial profiling and has been targeted by police himself.
5. Des professeurs dénoncent la loi 12
Par Amélie Daoust-Boisvert, Le Devoir, 6 août 2012
Quelques centaines de professeurs ont dénoncé la loi 12, l’ancien projet de loi 78, lors d’une conférence de presse à l’UQAM aujourd’hui. Des professeurs de cégep et d’université respecteront d’abord les décisions démocratiques des étudiants avant de se soumettre à la loi 12 (l’ancien projet de loi 78) lors de la rentrée scolaire.
Les enseignants ont rendu public un manifeste signé par 1162 enseignants québécois et par des centaines de collègues à travers le monde, pour un total de près de 2000 appuis.«Nous refusons que le respect du contrat conclu entre un établissement d’enseignement et un étudiant serve à légitimer la violence que l’État exerce à l’endroit des droits collectifs de nature politique — droit de s’associer, d’exprimer librement son opinion, de décider collectivement, de faire grève, de manifester», écrivent-ils.
Alors que plusieurs associations étudiantes statueront sur la poursuite de la grève cette semaine, le professeur de philosophie à l’Université de Montréal Michel Seymour croit «qu’il ne faut pas faire comme s’il n’y avait pas de conflit, mais plutôt mettre en évidence le côté manipulateur du premier ministre» qui déclenche le scrutin dans un contexte de crise. «C’est faire le jeu du gouvernement que de rentrer en classe», ajoute-t-il.
Si les étudiants décident démocratiquement de retourner sur les bancs d’école, le professeur de mathématique au Collège de Rosemont Paul Dumais explique que les enseignants donneront «les meilleurs cours possibles», car ils sont là pour accompagner leurs décisions. «Nous allons agir en conformité avec nos principes et nos valeurs, car mieux vaut désobéir à une loi injuste», ajoute son collègue du cégep Saint-Laurent, Mathieu Teasdale.
À écouter:
Le manifeste contre la loi 12 (l’ancien projet de loi 78) lu par le professeur de mathématique au Collège de Rosemont Paul Dumais, lors de la conférence de presse d’aujourd’hui à l’UQAM.
http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/education/356170/conflit-etudiant-des-professeurs-denoncent-la-loi-12
http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/education/356170/conflit-etudiant-des-professeurs-denoncent-la-loi-12
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