Quebec student riots

[Bob Armstrong]

Demonstrations & Peaceful Civil Disobedience

Zeljko:

I worked with Tamil refugees, and the Tamil community when it was getting established in Toronto. So did the agency with which I worked, York Community Services, in Toronto. Sri Lanka was a comlicated situation. Not all Tamils agreed with the violent role of the Tamil Tigers. However the Tigers exerted a lot of pressure on ordinary Tamil lives, which sometimes was not wise to resist.

I have no problem with a legitimate " demonstration " deciding at some point to use " civil disobience " as a political tactic. The Tamils blocking one Toronto street to try to further their political message is an illegal act. There are by-laws in place to allow traffic to keep moving. I don't see this as extreme illegality, compared to " violence " as a means to make a political statement, even if only against property, not individuals. But at the same time, the Tamils committing civil disobedience, even of a mild nature, must accept that there may well be legal consequences - such as tickets for obstructing traffic. However, to their credit, police do sometimes " compromise " where the demonstration is generally kep " legal " , and sometimes " overlook " mild illegalities as part of a generally peaceful " demonstration " ( not " mob violence " ).

You are exercising no sense of proportion in your analysis.

Bob

[Zeljko Kitich]

Re: Demonstrations & Peaceful Civil Disobedience

Zeljko:

I worked with Tamil refugees, and the Tamil community when it was getting established in Toronto. So did the agency with which I worked, York Community Services, in Toronto. Sri Lanka was a comlicated situation. Not all Tamils agreed with the violent role of the Tamil Tigers. However the Tigers exerted a lot of pressure on ordinary Tamil lives, which sometimes was not wise to resist.

I have no problem with a legitimate " demonstration " deciding at some point to use " civil disobience " as a political tactic. The Tamils blocking one Toronto street to try to further their political message is an illegal act. There are by-laws in place to allow traffic to keep moving. I don't see this as extreme illegality, compared to " violence " as a means to make a political statement, even if only against property, not individuals. But at the same time, the Tamils committing civil disobedience, even of a mild nature, must accept that there may well be legal consequences - such as tickets for obstructing traffic. However, to their credit, police do sometimes " compromise " where the demonstration is generally kep " legal " , and sometimes " overlook " mild illegalities as part of a generally peaceful " demonstration " ( not " mob violence " ).

You are exercising no sense of proportion in your analysis.

Bob

I don't think you are exercisng a sense of proportion in your analysis either. You are using a $325 per year tuition hike to justify mob violence as a political action. You completely ignore the fiscal realities facing the government. You also ignore that Quebec has and will still have the lowest tuition rates in North America. You also ignore the rights of students who want to access their classes being trampled on. How do you justify the usurping of those rights?

And yes I am aware through certain well placed contacts shall we say that Tamil Canadian were extored by intimidation by the Tamil Tigers to financially support the movement. You also seem to conveniently forget that they also blocked the Gardiner and the on-ramps. Dangerous for both them and others. It was not just one street.

[Zeljko Kitich]

Re: Quebec student riots

See what I mean about the negotiations Bob? And I hadn't even read this article when I made those comments. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2419271/

So now tell me Bob, as a good retired lawyer, who is the government supposed to legally negotiate with?

[Ken Kurkowski]

Re: Quebec student riots

"It would be also good to mention that yesterday we had a vote to come back in class. 62% of the students were in favor of a vote for coming back, but our student association decided to reject it, so we are still on strike.
There's nothing we can do against our association, which is heavily supported by unions. They are the one organizing the votes, they are the one that advertize it, and of course, they are the ones that count the votes (raised hands, since secret vote is forbidden)."

Well you can (and should) DEFY your undemocratic student association and head back to class, and make sure the TV cameras are rolling when you do so, just in case some goons try to intimidate you.

Hard to believe this is happening in the province with the (as I recall) lowest tuition fees in Canada!

[Bob Armstrong]

May Day Protest in Montreal

May Day Protest in Montreal Today ( Broader than just student issues, but including them ) - CP 24: http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local.../?hub=CP24Home

Bob

[Jean Hébert]

Re: Re : Quebec student riots

Today I tried to assist to my classes, with the help of an injunction. Even though the judge had specially asked the students not to prevent us from going to our classes, there were hundreds of them trying to prevent us. 50 policemen tried to make us enter in, but sadly they were outnumbered and had to give up...

How frustrating that must be to see people arbitrarily preventing you from getting what you legitimately deserves... I know the feeling ;). It shows that whatever power life will lend you, you must exercise it with great care and wisdom.