For those of you who haven't heard - the college students here have gone on strike. For 180 days. Because of proposed tuition hikes that work out to 50 cents a day.
For the last 180 days (day after day after day) they have marched through the streets blocking traffic - causing havoc and from time to time throwing bricks and stones at police .. at windows... police cars .. private cars...
People have been hurt and hospitalized. People have been arrested. People have been blocked from entering stores, businesses, and blocked from leaving stores, businesses.
Chaos has ruled.
Yesterday "someone" threw smoke bombs in our metro (subway) system. Not in one station but in many stations and managed to completely and totally shut down it down.
Yesterday afternoon our "beloved" (tongue firmly planted in cheek) mayor held a news conference. He said everyone had to get involved and talk to the students - show them the error of their ways. That was his solution. Talk to them.
I think the time for talking is over. I think it is time the police move in and clear these kids out - go to school or go to jail. pointe finale. I believe it is time that the hard working citizens of this province take back the streets.
I think it is past time.
Didn't get much coverage in our news down south in Florida. Guess they didn't want our students to get ideas...our tuitions have been raised also.
ReplyDeleteCall me naive, but thought Canadians were too peaceful and rational for that sort of thing. We've admired your sensible mature attitude towards solving problems. At least that's how it appears to us when we visit your lovely country.
Hope the issue is worked out soon.
Joyce
Love your writing but on this I have to disagree. The ones tossing bricks and breaking the law..need to be arrested, the rest of them, have the right to assemble.
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't for people assembling where would this country be? If it wasn't for people standing up for what they believe in would we still be living in a 1920's environment? Women were domesticated slaves, abortion was unheard of, gays stayed underground or risk death, blacks remained enslaved. You would never be allowed to work or participate in BDSM like you and W (and the rest of us)partake in.
I understand that the inconveniences are frustrating, but the adults demonstrating peacefully need to be applauded, not forced by the government or police to go back to school or go to jail
The only weapon we have as citizens of our country is our voice and our right to march.
Take that away and you just put a nail in the countries coffin.
I completely agree!
ReplyDeleteThey had gone too far a few weeks back.
I am officially appalled.
Passion in the young is to be applauded.Tuition fees are killing their future.
ReplyDeleteok I understand this is a very passionate topic.. and people believe these students are being given a raw deal - I won't even talk about how low the tuition fees are here (one of the lowest in the country)
ReplyDeleteBUT how about all the people who are trying to get to work - trying to get home from work to their families - who are losing pay because they are late for work - or the merchants who are losing money because shoppers won't / can't get into town. What about their rights???
I keep hearing that line "lowest in the country". So if the government informed you that it needed to raised gas prices to 4.50/litre to pay for road repairs and such and hey! you'd still have the lowest prices in the country, you'd not say a word?
ReplyDeleteAnd bear in mind, they want to increase tuition by 800%. That may be over 5 years, but what would you be able to afford that suddenly saw an increase of 800% in cost? Eggs, cheese, gas, books - anything?
Just because there are a few who are making trouble should never mean that the rest of them need to be silenced or imprisoned.
As for those people who had their lives disrupted, why would their continued prosperity be more important than the potential future earnings these students are fighting for? Whose lives are we to give precedence to and why?
The one right I think we need to always protect for anyone is the freedom to speak out. When you start to find reasons to shut people up, you've started down a road that can never end well - for any of us.
That should be 80%, not 800%. My apologies for the error.
ReplyDeleteKat and everyone else who doesn't agree with me...
ReplyDeleteI think we have to agree to disagree. I was a university student twice - and i didn't get burseries or student loans.. i worked my ass off .. i landed up going to night school so that i could afford it. I worked all day - raised my girls and went to school.
It was something I wanted .. I didn't even consider that anyone else should pay for it.
I'm funny that way - I believe I should pay my own way.
So we'll just have to agree to disagree.