In Quebec It's Official: Mass Movement Leads to Victory for Students

Originally posted by MidnightTide
want to reduce student tuition?

get the government out of the student loan business.....

lol and give the business to the banks?
truth is that both are the problem.

if 1/10th of the bailout money went into the economy instead of into trading derivatives,
we would not have a problem yet.

xploder

reply to post by Aazadan


Well if you look at the rest of Canada, the avg. tution is in the $3800-$5000 range, Quebec already has the lowest of all the country at around $2800. I do know that there are programs outside of Quecbec that will forgive your entire student loan based on things like future job types/location, so ya Canada does still have low affordable education, you just need to get into the programs. Quebec is a different story, they like to do things their way, could be why they have the highest dept in the country.

Jean Charest was no more a Liberal in Quebec than Gordon Campbell/Christy Clark was in B.C. All are Conservatives running under the center Liberal banner. Good riddance to their HST.. Bill 78 and their union busting platform. Stephen Harper's Government is next in the chopping block with their new omnibus bill and anti abortion platform.
brice

reply to post by XPLodER


Who's going to pay for it then, the rest of Canada?

Originally posted by Aazadan

Not sure if these students are really paying attension in class or not but reality is, the money has to come from someplace other than mommy and daddy. It's going to be a huge wake-up call when they have to get a job.

Jobs no longer pay the cost of a college education, atleast in the US. I don't know too much about Canada's costs. If one makes 10/hour in the US (which is about what you'll make as a recent HS grad... if you're lucky, that's a good deal above minimum) works 40 hours a week, and manages to put aside half of everything they make (this means their living expenses, food, shelter, entertainment, etc come to 8840/year after taxes) it will take 3 years of work to pay for one year of college at average tuition rates (20,000/year). That's 12 years of work to pay for college, with the exponential rate of tuition increases that's currently happening the reality is it's more like 13-14 years.

The idea of working to pay for college is dead. Either you take on massive loans and pay them off only after graduation (if you're lucky enough to find a job) or someone else pays for you in the form of successful parents, scholarships, or grants.

Canada doing something to try and keep the cost of college affordable is a good thing.

edit on 22-9-2012 by Aazadan because: (no reason given)

I'm from a middle class family, paid my college tuition myself out of pocket with no debt whatsoever and after 3 years have already recouped the cost of my college education. My degree is in an extremely low paying field as well, Social Work. Had I chosen on money not heart I would be raking in the money. I am going to Nursing school starting next year and in 1 year of working will have paid off the entire debt of my degree and then be raking in the dough. Not sure where you got your info.

This is good for them, indeed!

The way I see it, the use of tax money for advanced education is one of the best uses of said money. Everyone in society benefits when individuals are better educated: they fill social/economic niches through specialization; they help progress technology/science; they are better informed and think more critically about events/information.

In the end, using $70,000 to pay for someone's Masters Degree seems more productive than using it on a drone missile that will undoubtedly kill an innocent civilian.

any effort is nothing as long as we are using fiat currency in a rigged economy.

To the OP and alphashunk

Wrong

A lacklustre, Provincial Government was booted out of power (barely) and the new elected PQ (separatist) Government rescinded the increases to curry favour with the students...gotta keep the little kiddies indoctrinated in their socialist agenda.

Unfortunately the people of Quebec might be in for a very rude awakening soon.

Bout time too

Originally posted by XPLodER

Originally posted by MidnightTide
want to reduce student tuition?

get the government out of the student loan business.....

lol and give the business to the banks?
truth is that both are the problem.

if 1/10th of the bailout money went into the economy instead of into trading derivatives,
we would not have a problem yet.

xploder

If you had any understanding how things worked you would understand why government student loans is what is driving these tuition hikes.

You keep on looking at this as if it is a revenue problem, it is a spending problem as well.


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But hey, all power to the separatists, I hope you get your wish....A Free Quebec....you won't be missed.

I just came across this this morning;


Quebec student group now pushing for free tuition

CLASSE, which speaks for 100,000 Quebec students, says free education is entirely achievable and used a march attended by several hundred people on Saturday to highlight the issue.

“Our struggle for accessibility to higher education is not yet over,” said Jeremie Bedard-Wien, a spokesman for CLASSE.

reply to post by alphaskunk


Quebec student pay the lowest tuition in Canada because:

Their parents were able to sucker the rest of Canada into believing they have a god-given right to suckle at the public teat forever, all the while threatening to separate and "destroy" the faabric of Canadian society.

Hogwash!

It's time to let them discover themselves as a country.

They will soon find out that living as a Third World Have Not Nation is not all it's cracked up to be.

But at least they will have cheap tuition.

For those Canadians who would like to see Quebec separate from Canada because they feel that they are nothing but freeloaders...you may want to refresh yourself on the current economics within Canada;

The economy of Quebec represents 20.36% of the total GDP of Canada. Like most industrialized countries, the economy of Quebec is based mainly on the services sector. Quebec's economy has traditionally been fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and average productivity. The provincial GDP in 2010 was C$ 319,348 billion, which makes Quebec the second largest economy in Canada.

en.wikipedia.org...

oh yeah, it definately makes all the difference for each of us to speak truth to power.

a similar scenario unfolded in pennsylvania almost a decade ago when the state universities attempted to replace many professors with remote televised classes - and to add to the contention, the chancellor of the system insulted the students by calling them cash cows...sowing her own fate...the protesting students all dressed like cows and gained momentum to the movement with the new image attracting public attention.

LOVE

mayallsoulsbefree~

reply to post by XPLodER


A small victory, the elected government still believes in increasing the tuition fees but only after an education forum. Also, I'm thinking that while the PQ is a minority, they'll do all they can to "look good" so we give them a majority for next elections, which would allow them to push their real sovereignty agenda.

reply to post by Ericthenewbie


True, however they also represent the largest recipient of federal transfer payments into the province, and have for decades.
If it weren't for transfers, there would be no tuition subsidies and next to free provincial daycare schemes.
They effectively stole James Bay and put a Hydro plant on Native land.
Yeah, real contributors.

reply to post by alphaskunk


I think that many forget that to bring change you must fight for it. Real change involves fighting for a better society in which people need not become debt slaves, and at the mercy of those who horde a massive amount of capital, in order to live a happy fulfilling life. I commend the efforts of the students. They gave the government one hell of a fight and they got exactly what they wanted.

It is proof that though the use of mass mobilization of common people; victory can be had.

reply to post by XPLodER


Here on Ontario, we're about to have an even more devastating row with the government. I know some people who work for the CBC who are sworn to silence, but they have basically told me that S is going to HTF for Ontario's students.

I hope that we can manage the same solidarity as our Francophone brethren.

I do agree with the OP on some subjects here. I live in Ontario and I paid over $20,000 for my schooling. I do agree that the bankers should be held responsible because they are the ones who are screwing everything up. But Quebec does pay lowest tuition fee's in Canada, and with the schools being $620 Million short of funding, this may not be a win at all but only a postponement.

Quebec whines about a lot of stuff (separation), but like the OP said, bankers should be held responsible. Perhaps this is why they want to separate? Create a new Country and currency free from the bankers of North America?.....Dear god it makes sense.

People who are complaining about who is paying for this and that don't know anything about economy. I would much rather invest in our future and invest my taxes in bringing up smart kids than investing that money to go to war.

No offence America but you guys are bringing up a generations of militants and morons. Look at your military spending vs your educational spending. You guys spend more per child and have much less to show for it. Don't laugh at us for spending money on education.

And I do recall a lot of Americans complaining that we are a socialist state but look at the welfare lines, look at the coming Obamacare, and look at all the government handouts that have taken place within the last 7 years.

I think free education should be the way of the future. Education is investing in future assets.

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04I'm from a middle class family, paid my college tuition myself out of pocket with no debt whatsoever and after 3 years have already recouped the cost of my college education. My degree is in an extremely low paying field as well, Social Work. Had I chosen on money not heart I would be raking in the money. I am going to Nursing school starting next year and in 1 year of working will have paid off the entire debt of my degree and then be raking in the dough. Not sure where you got your info.

From a little research on the subject. It doesn't hold true for everyone but for the majority it does. The average cost of college tuition is 20,000/year. Here's the figures nces.ed.gov... the rate of inflation on tuition is currently averaging at 6% a year as well. Beyond that it's simple math, I gave a pay rate and a savings rate. From there you can figure out how long it would take to save for college. In order to do it without loans, and pay for school as you were attending you either went to a less expensive school, had help from others, or already had a decent job that allowed you to save money. Likely all of the above.

I was in a similar situation and managed to get through school entirely on grants, out of pocket money, and luckily enough even my parents. Statistics trump personal experience though. Unfortunately as I've found out my degrees in Computer Science and Game Design make me completely unemployable in my area as there's no jobs taking advantage of my degrees, I can't afford to move elsewhere for work, and random businesses would rather hire uneducated people since the theory is they'll stick around longer.