NOW Toronto: Wanted: a Quebec spring for T.O.

[marmar]

from NOW Toronto:


Wanted: a Quebec spring for T.O.
With campuses reopening, student leaders hope to rouse debt-ridden Ontario students to some collective indignation

By Halla Imam



[font size="1"]The Quebec strike was successful because of the democratic structure of student unions.
Photo By Ethan Eisenberg[/font]


Another academic year, another crop of students facing another round of bank loans.

With Ontario university students owing an average $26,000 upon graduation ($13,000 for those attending colleges), the big question is whether last spring’s student strike in Quebec will have any spillover effect on campus politics this fall.

While strikers in Montreal took to the streets again this week, last month as part of their Solidarity Tour they visited Toronto campuses to give tactics tutorials. At Ryerson’s Student Centre, local activists eager for action here, given that tuition in Ontario is the highest in the land, wore their red squares and took in the advice.

The message was essentially twofold: the strike didn’t come out of thin air, but was the result of two years of organizing; and Quebec’s form of student government – designed around departments, across schools, and based on mass meetings – was key to the action’s vast participation. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=188297