Students in day of protest in Montreal and Quebec City

Thousands rallied in another day of protest in the Quebec cities of Montreal and Quebec City the capital of the province. The day of protest has been scheduled once a month since March but there have been regular protests almost every night in Montreal. The protests are over an increase in tuition fees originally but now are also over Bill 78 a draconian crack down on protests.

The protest yesterday was organized by CLASSE the largest and most militant of the Quebec student unions. Both protests were peaceful although the police declared protests in both cities illegal since no route was given beforehand. One arrest was made in Montreal.

Students plan to continue protests even over the summer. A CLASSE spokesperson said:"We think it's important to remind the Charest government the crisis is not over, and we'll continue to be in the streets, because we are still against the tuition hike and this is still our fight," Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of CLASSE said:"Negotiation or mediation will not be fruitful without a change of position from the Liberals. Hiking tuition will not lead to any fruitful negotiations, but we are willing to be a bit less rigid than we have been in the past." Protest numbers have dwindled recently. Quebec is governed by Liberals under Jean Charest. For more see this CBC article.