Open letter to the striking students in Montreal

[Evil Chris]

To the striking students:

Are you succeeding? Are you getting what you wanted? I sure hope so, considering the problems you have caused for this province that, contrary to what you seem to think, does not belong to you.

First, you are acting like a bunch of spoiled children. Next, you are fighting against tuition hikes that would not unseat Quebec from its position as a place with one of the cheapest tuitions. For supposed intellectuals, you sure aren?t being very intelligent about your protests. Last, you fight against ?injustice? but create it yourself.

Here in Quebec we have the lowest tuition fees in North America. The quality of the education is not reflected in the price. We have world-class education that rivals even Harvard. How much is a semester there? Now, how much was the government originally planning to raise it here ? by $350 a year? Interesting. Did you know that comes out to about 96 cents per day? Wow. That certainly seems to be worth all the trouble, doesn?t it?

You people are supposed to be intellectuals seeking higher education and fulfilment. By that description, we would think that you were smart. Do smart people run around in their underwear? Do smart people smash windows and vandalize landmarks? Do smart people block bridges? No, no you?re right, I see now. The government will absolutely negotiate with people like that; the government will definitely give people like that what they want. The funny part here is, by blocking that bridge, you got fined more than the amount tuition was being hiked. I must say your logic is absolutely flawless.

You say that you fight ?injustice,? but somehow you ignore the fact that you create it yourself. Have you ever stopped to consider the people who don?t mind the tuition hikes, who just want to go to school? I know someone who worked his butt off as a bouncer, and even got stabbed in the eye, just trying to make money to go to school. Now that he has it, guess what? He can?t go to school. You want to know why? Yep, that?s right: because of you, the schools are closed! Do you feel ?just? now? He won?t even be refunded for the semester he lost at the hands of you ?protesters.?

I don?t know if I?ve made myself clear enough for you yet, so here?s the recap. You are acting like a bunch of spoiled babies. You fight over tuition rate that even after a price increase will still be one of the lowest out there; you make fools of yourselves for the whole of the province to witness; and finally, you deprive others of an education that they deserve.

* Zach Oskrdal is a Grade 9 student at Westwood Senior High School. He lives in St. Lazare.

[pornguy]

Sucks when you are talking to a brick wall dont it??

Now days people do not use the brains that were given to them.

[Doug of Montreal]

Yeppers. Kids got it right. And then you have the pot-banging crowd on top of it. (sorry Rabbit) They are costing the city a fortune but we have a little thing called a democracy here. You don't like it, vote the bastards out! Don't mess with the rest of us.

Insert random French curse here.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

ADG

[Rochard]

My cousin and his long term girlfriend just graduated from college.

She lived with mommy and daddy the entire time, was supported by them, and graduated with over $100k in student loans. She's a children's psychologist and has been unemployed since graduation.

My cousin worked at Nordstrom's and Bank Of America as a teller while he was at college, and worked in the admissions office to pay down his student loan and was a dorm supervisor to cover his living expenses. He graduated with $20k in student loans, and he quickly picked up his first "real" job making six figures working for Intel in their acquisitions department.

Life is what you make out of it. If you work hard you get rewarded. If you skate through life doing the bare minimum and depend on others, well, you get what you asked for.

[L-Pink]

$350.00? This is over $350.00 a year?

.

[Doug of Montreal]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

$350.00? This is over $350.00 a year?

.

Well, it's sort of spawned into an anti-government spending thing, but that's what started it. The local politicians don't have the best track record. Read: they're pretty crooked.

[PR_Glen]

i didn't know they had the cheapest tuition in canada..

[BlackCrayon]

I'm surprised the government doesn't try to 'force' them back to school like they do with every other strike out there these days. of couse i'm joking and know that doesn't work. if workers on strike had more balls and didn't go back to work when the government tells them to they might have a chance of getting what they want. not that i support what the students here are doing but i think its pretty disgusting how the government has neutered and power striking once had.

[Evil Chris]

Here's a well-written blog entry from an Edmonton MP.

http://brentrathgeber.ca/economics-a...ebec-students/

[Axel_Crak]

Originally Posted by BlackCrayon

I'm surprised the government doesn't try to 'force' them back to school like they do with every other strike out there these days. of couse i'm joking and know that doesn't work. if workers on strike had more balls and didn't go back to work when the government tells them to they might have a chance of getting what they want. not that i support what the students here are doing but i think its pretty disgusting how the government has neutered and power striking once had.

Ya they try, the vote a new special law for that... C-78 , but this laws undemocratic, unconstitutional and repressive even the lawyers went on street this week

I am for the price raise for school (maybe not that fast)... but im VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY against this law that can put in danger our Freedom that we are so proud to have,,,

The worst way to solve this conflict...

[The Heron]

That's funny, they are skipping school that they already paid for to demand they don't have to pay more in the future? Idiots. I had a prof at community college that kept canceling class, I went to the office and asked for a refund since I didn't get what I was paying for but they refused. That'd be something to protest.

[Evil Chris]

It's all nonsense and frivolous. It might make some sense if it were actually starting to become cost-prohibitive to get post-secondary education in Quebec, but the truth is that tuition is much cheaper here.

I'm starting to think that this is becoming some kind of twisted "generational" issue where students stand together for the sake of standing together and protesting "something".... "anything".

Any kind of public gathering like this attracts the idiots too. Those who would just turn over police cars, break store windows, go on looting sprees. What this is also doing is RUINING the important tourist dollars this city needs every summer. These students are fucking themselves, and the inhabitants of Montreal.

Here's one more thing that is bugging me that I haven't heard on the news, or read in blogs. Quebec has always had a "brain drain" problem. Because of the silly language laws in this province, students graduate and then promptly move elsewhere in many cases so that they can A) make more money, and B) not have to worry about being bilingual and worry about language issues.

So, it has to be considered that a certain percentage of these protestors will enjoy the LOW tuitions of Quebec universities, and upon graduation will re-locate anyway to somewhere other than the streets where they wore their cute little red square, banging pots and breaking windows.

[x-rate]

Originally Posted by Axel_Crak

Ya they try, the vote a new special law for that... C-78 , but this laws undemocratic, unconstitutional and repressive even the lawyers went on street this week

I am for the price raise for school (maybe not that fast)... but im VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY against this law that can put in danger our Freedom that we are so proud to have,,,

The worst way to solve this conflict...

I have exactly the same opinion...! This law is a big joke and I feel that most of people going on street right now are doing it for the law not if they are for or against the price raise for school...

[Kenny B!]

Anyone want to go for some poutine?

[Evil Chris]

The other thing happening right now is that the attention is shifting away from the tuitions to this new Bill 78. Protesting for the sake of protesting now!

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

Protesting for the sake of protesting now!

I think a lot of people do just this - protest because it's "fun". Every generation needs something to bitch about.

[Doug of Montreal]

Originally Posted by Kenny B!

Anyone want to go for some poutine?

Dunns, with smoked meat, please!

[Jman]

Originally Posted by Axel_Crak

Ya they try, the vote a new special law for that... C-78 , but this laws undemocratic, unconstitutional and repressive even the lawyers went on street this week

I am for the price raise for school (maybe not that fast)... but im VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY against this law that can put in danger our Freedom that we are so proud to have,,,

The worst way to solve this conflict...

Touché mon ami Axel.

The thing that pisses me off the most is tourisme is already affected by this and it DID start with CLASSE not wanting to do shit in the first negociation. There are 2 sides to this medal and 2 wrongs. CLASSE with their shitty I am better then you attitude and letting their manifs get violent and Charest with his law 78 who NEEDS to resign ASAP.

[Relentless]

When New York City had a transit strike the idiots shut down subways, bridges, tunnels etc... and lost all public support for their cause. I never understood how annoying the public is supposed to convince them to put pressure on government for your cause...

If the students were smart and wanted to protest the rate hikes they would start a campaign showing that tuition increases cause more students to leave school and apply for jobs. During a soft economy people wouldn't want to compete with an influx of cheap educated labor. "Help us stay in school by calling your local politician so we don't have to quit classes and compete for your job right now" would be a much better approach to garnering public support.

[stephane76]

Originally Posted by Doug of Montreal

Yeppers. Kids got it right. And then you have the pot-banging crowd on top of it. (sorry Rabbit) They are costing the city a fortune but we have a little thing called a democracy here. You don't like it, vote the bastards out! Don't mess with the rest of us.

Insert random French curse here.

Here is an easy one for you Doug;

[2MuchMark]

The protesters are complete idiots.

Last night they were walking around my neck of the woods, banging pots and pans screaming and cheering. I decided to walk along with them a little and ask some question. I excluded the DOZENS of pre-teen children as they were only there making noise because their parents or siblings encouraged them to do so without understanding what what they were doing.

So I asked a few 20 somethings what was going on. There answers?

- "Because its fun!"
- "Nothing else to do!"
- "Solidarity!" ("With who?") "Students!" ("Why?") "I don't know! Whoo!"

When I met a few "smarter" people from the group, I asked "Why are you protesting the tuition hike?" Some of the answers were

- "Because its too high!" ("How high is it?") "I don't know but its too high!"
- "Education should be free!"
- "My teachers are overpaid! Cut their wages and save tuition fees wooo!!"

In other words, total, complete fucking idiots.

What I also learned from them is that to them, this is all just one big party. They are gaining a sense of community, of unity, by protesting together. What they are protesting does not seem to matter as much as the event itself.

Finally, the last group of people I talked to seemed to have their shit together. They seemed to have numbers that backed up their reasons, babbled a little about bad spending by the government, etc etc, so to them I asked this: How much school have you missed, and is it all worth it?

- "Over a full month now / Yes its worth it to save $300 + Dollars" was the general answer (although I think the strike has been going on for longer than this)

Assuming that each young adult I asked will go on to be a college grad and will probably earn at least $30k per year in their first job, this stupid strike of theirs has already cost each of them $2500.00, just to save $350. Hopefully none of these idiots will become bankers.

[mopek1]

I actually agree with the students.

The media continuously repeats the fact that they pay the lowest tuition in Canada and people hear that and then form the judgement that these students are a bunch of babies.

Nobody talks about the fact that Quebecers also PAY the highest percentage of income tax which should mean they get more services than other provinces. Services including cheaper education.

There's also been a lot going on with the government of Quebec (as someone stated above) in terms of scandal/money and so they are protesting that as well.

[2MuchMark]

Originally Posted by mopek1

I actually agree with the students.

The media continuously repeats the fact that they pay the lowest tuition in Canada and people hear that and then form the judgement that these students are a bunch of babies.

Nobody talks about the fact that Quebecers also PAY the highest percentage of income tax which should mean they get more services than other provinces. Services including cheaper education.

There's also been a lot going on with the government of Quebec (as someone stated above) in terms of scandal/money and so they are protesting that as well.

Hi Mopek,

There's no doubt that Quebec is one fucked up place. There is scandal everywhere especially in the infrastructure sector right now, and the Quebec Taxation system is a serious problem too. While a few of the students know this, the bulk of them don't know what they are doing. They have no clear direction or cause at this point either. They are protesting for the sake of protesting.

[drctfiesta]

Originally Posted by **********

The protesters are complete idiots.

Last night they were walking around my neck of the woods, banging pots and pans screaming and cheering. I decided to walk along with them a little and ask some question. I excluded the DOZENS of pre-teen children as they were only there making noise because their parents or siblings encouraged them to do so without understanding what what they were doing.

So I asked a few 20 somethings what was going on. There answers?

- "Because its fun!"
- "Nothing else to do!"
- "Solidarity!" ("With who?") "Students!" ("Why?") "I don't know! Whoo!"

When I met a few "smarter" people from the group, I asked "Why are you protesting the tuition hike?" Some of the answers were

- "Because its too high!" ("How high is it?") "I don't know but its too high!"
- "Education should be free!"
- "My teachers are overpaid! Cut their wages and save tuition fees wooo!!"

In other words, total, complete fucking idiots.

What I also learned from them is that to them, this is all just one big party. They are gaining a sense of community, of unity, by protesting together. What they are protesting does not seem to matter as much as the event itself.

Finally, the last group of people I talked to seemed to have their shit together. They seemed to have numbers that backed up their reasons, babbled a little about bad spending by the government, etc etc, so to them I asked this: How much school have you missed, and is it all worth it?

- "Over a full month now / Yes its worth it to save $300 + Dollars" was the general answer (although I think the strike has been going on for longer than this)

Assuming that each young adult I asked will go on to be a college grad and will probably earn at least $30k per year in their first job, this stupid strike of theirs has already cost each of them $2500.00, just to save $350. Hopefully none of these idiots will become bankers.

It's funny how you always side with the Occupy crowd protesting in the USA, but when they come to protest in your backyard then the are not cool anymore?

Are you an hypocrite?

[baddog]

Originally Posted by drctfiesta

Are you an hypocrite?

Rhetorical question?

[LeRoy]

Hope this isnt the only place you posted the open letter.

[BlackCrayon]

Originally Posted by drctfiesta

It's funny how you always side with the Occupy crowd protesting in the USA, but when they come to protest in your backyard then the are not cool anymore?

Are you an hypocrite?

well to be fair there were occupy protests in just about every major city in canada, including montreal.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

i didn't know they had the cheapest tuition in canada..

that's cause Quebecker's are the biggets fucking whiners in the world, so the rest of Canada subsidises everything

[Evil Chris]

Originally Posted by Jman

Touché mon ami Axel.

The thing that pisses me off the most is tourisme is already affected by this and it DID start with CLASSE not wanting to do shit in the first negociation. There are 2 sides to this medal and 2 wrongs. CLASSE with their shitty I am better then you attitude and letting their manifs get violent and Charest with his law 78 who NEEDS to resign ASAP.

I dunno if he needs to resign. Charest is still suppported by the majority of Quebekers despite the strikes and the decisions associated with it to date.

Here's some info on Bill 78 for those who are interested on how it works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_78

[Evil Chris]

Originally Posted by JFK

that's cause Quebecker's are the biggets fucking whiners in the world, so the rest of Canada subsidises everything

Thanks JFK. All your Quebec friends appreciate your kind (and grossly mis-informed) statement!

[JFK]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

Thanks JFK. All your Quebec friends appreciate your kind (and grossly mis-informed) statement!

Chris Chris Chris................. Please.............. You are all still my friends and there is Nothing mis informed about my comments

I happen to Love Quebec, also some of the people in it, but all this whining and carrying on has to stop

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by Rochard

My cousin and his long term girlfriend just graduated from college.

She lived with mommy and daddy the entire time, was supported by them, and graduated with over $100k in student loans. She's a children's psychologist and has been unemployed since graduation.

My cousin worked at Nordstrom's and Bank Of America as a teller while he was at college, and worked in the admissions office to pay down his student loan and was a dorm supervisor to cover his living expenses. He graduated with $20k in student loans, and he quickly picked up his first "real" job making six figures working for Intel in their acquisitions department.

Life is what you make out of it. If you work hard you get rewarded. If you skate through life doing the bare minimum and depend on others, well, you get what you asked for.

i saw this and thought it was an onion joke at first. these students have no idea how good they have it educational wise. great universities and colleges for hardly any expense. the system down here is so fucked, i saw a thing yesterday that over 50% of college graduates can't get a job or underemployed, and have an average of 21k in debt. tell these kids to eat a dick

[smutnut]

How can you STRIKE as a STUDENT? Sorry, I'm just a dumb American LOL

[TheSquealer]

Seems to me that the vast majority of people "protesting" anything, have very little connection or concern for the issue but are just there to express their own anger, frustration for whatever reason, to challenge authority simply because the opportunity presented itself or to take advantage of the chaos to participate in or cause more destruction and chaos. The Occupy Wallstreet fiasco is an example. Seemed to me that 1% better described the number of protesters actually cared about and understood the issue(s). The rest were a bunch of antisocial morons trying to rebel for the sake or rebelling like 3yr olds, achieving nothing but undermining the message.

[SexKey Scott]

this thread is too pima for me

[Bryan G]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

Thanks JFK. All your Quebec friends appreciate your kind (and grossly mis-informed) statement!

Quebec for years and years has received more federal government assistance than any other province. This is why it was a joke when they wanted to seperate. Quebec would be fucked without Canada.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by Bryan G

Quebec for years and years has received more federal government assistance than any other province. This is why it was a joke when they wanted to seperate. Quebec would be fucked without Canada.

Thank you kind sir

[CDSmith]

Sorry Chris, JFK speaks true.


There were no playoffs for Montreal this year, you know there had to be a protest of this type somewhere at some point. ha :D

[Evil Chris]

My point starting this thread was to shed some light on the pointlessness of the student strike.
I'll save the debate of all other things Quebec for another time. :-)