By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: May 9, 2012
How would you protest a 75 per cent tuition increase? Imagine, for a moment, that UFV students and other students across the Fraser Valley are united in anger at the government, and are willing to get organized and protest huge tuition hikes. What steps are appropriate, and how effective would they be?
There’s been a lot of discussion about whether Quebec students should be complaining about their tuition hikes. They have the lowest tuition rates in Canada at $2519 per year, and even with the increase, Quebec would still be one of the most affordable provinces to pay tuition in, even with a 75 per cent increase. So why is that so hard to handle?
Yet this argument misses another point: taxation. Quebec is heavily taxed, third most expensive province in terms of taxes in the country, with the majority of the total taxes being provincial. Consider that the funding of universities are mostly provincial or territorial taxes; it seems that Quebec students do have an argument.
So how do you protest these tuition hikes? If Quebec students cannot afford them, and if they believe the hikes are not necessary, then they should have every right to protest. Not to get too big-picture here, but we are a generation that is going to have to protest, change, and take action often. There’s some messed up stuff happening, and we’re the generation that has to deal with it. Protesting these tuition hikes is a start.
But have Quebec students maneuvered this protest carefully enough? There are various reports of violence and misdirected anger coming from newscasters covering the protests. According to a news article published in The Ottawa Citizen, students are turning against each other. Many students are boycotting classes and clashing with others who have chosen not to do the same. In a CBC article, a student is quoted as saying “it’s not just tuition increase; the movement has grown to include other things we don’t agree with.” This is clearly misdirected action.
I believe you have to tread carefully when protesting. When you act, be direct, be firm, but do it right and plan it well. The point of the protest is to draw attention—the right kind of attention—and create change. The Quebec government is the one who will change, but to force their hand the students must get the public on their side. Violence and damage to public property is not the way to go.
The Quebec students have the numbers. They don’t need the violence. Things too easily get out of control when there’s a large group of angry people. When the police get involved, it turns the protestor psyche into a bad guys (police) vs. good guys (students) situation, and it only gets worse. Get in a big group and start wearing masks, and a basic knowledge of human psychology tells us that things can go downhill fast.
If the Occupy protests told us anything, it’s that organized protests can draw a whole lot of attention, but if there is no direction to protesting, nothing much will happen. It’s easy to get angry about something, and then while you’re in the mood anyway, add in a few other things. It happens to everyone; it’s like a rant. But no one takes rants seriously, it just gets too comical when things start going off in all directions. Quebec students have to keep things clear, direct, and firm. Deal with other issues later; keep your eyes on the tuition hikes now.
If I were a student in Quebec organizing protests, I would treat the protest like I was writing a play. I would need to get the attention of my audience, the Quebec populace, but not through violence or ‘shock value’ methods – as the older population might see it. Get rid of the masks; tone down the clashing with police and violence; protest peacefully; have walks in huge numbers that are absolutely silent to represent students unable to afford university who are now shut away from both education and an academic voice; use social media; keep calm, but not submissive.
The most important thing is to omit every weakness and to leave nothing to be criticized by those who oppose you. If you give them enough fodder to pick apart the protests, they can easily avoid discussing the issue at hand. The Quebec protests have brought a firestorm of government-supporting opinions that focus only on the protest methods, not on the issue itself. There are arguments that skim the surface of the issue, relying on a “those spoiled brats” argument to discuss the folly of the protests. These are numerous, and useless, and the movement can’t afford them. They have to be careful about the face they’ve put on the protest.
There’s no foolproof recipe for a successful protest; nothing’s ever black and white. But I wish good luck to the Quebec students. I sure don’t envy them.
