Jean Charest

Thursday May 24, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday May 24, 2012

Occupy Montreal movement joins Quebec student protesters

Occupy Montreal has passed to the next level.

Thanks to the student protests, organizers say the movement now occupies the city in a way it never dreamed before – every day and every night.

“Participants in Occupy Montreal have been helping out with the student protests since the beginning of the strike,” said Paul Bode, 31, an Occupy activist who has a long association with the movement.

“It’s a common cause, and we’re happy to go back and forth between the two,” said Bode, a Westmount-raised community activist who teaches English, works in construction and lives in St. Henri.

“But in fact, we view Occupy Montreal as a verb, right? And basically, right now the students are occupying Montreal, and we’re helping out with that,” he added before heading out to join Tuesday’s march at Place des Festivals.

So does that make Occupy itself a bit redundant?

Not at all. It means the movement can now shift its focus away from downtown, Bode and other organizers say.

Instead of squatting in Montreal’s financial district for weeks like it did before being evicted last fall – and did again for a few days earlier this month, minus any overnight stays – Occupy activists will target Montreal’s boroughs over several weekends this summer.

In each instance, their occupation will serve to highlight a local issue, such as social inequality, and to “act locally.” First up: a neighborhood of the Plateau Mont-Royal in June. (Source: Montreal Gazette)

 

Friday May 18, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday May 18, 2012

Charest suspends classes in response to strikes

The Charest government, abandoning any hope of negotiating a settlement with striking students, announced it is suspending classes in colleges and universities where students are still on strike.

The move will mean that students in affected institutions will not lose their session, but will be able to complete it starting in August, with the next school year beginning in October, Premier Jean Charest said.

He added that it was time to take “a pause” to reduce tensions and allow for a more appropriate learning climate.

“We need to bring down the pressure where strikes are still on. We need to bring back social peace,” Mr. Charest said.

The move affects 14 of the 48 colleges where student strikes have closed down schools, as well as certain faculties and departments in 11 of the 18 universities affected by the strike.

But Mr. Charest made it clear he was not backing away from the planned tuition fee hike for this fall and promised a tougher approach to ensure classes can resume in August, with stronger police intervention to guarantee access.

“No student will be forced to attend class. But for others, they have the right to attend classes in a secure environment,” he said.

“We cannot accept that access be blocked … we will not bow to violence and intimidation – our laws need to be obeyed.” (Source: Globe & Mail) 

 

Friday March 10, 2006

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Friday March 10, 2006 Dawn of a new era? Quebec and Ottawa are close to an agreement that will allow the province to have a voice at UNESCO, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday in emphasizing his government's "open federalism" policy toward Quebec. For the first time in 22 years, a Canadian prime minister met with a Quebec premier at the National Assembly in what Premier Jean Charest dubbed the beginning of a new era of federal-provincial co-operation. It was the third face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Harper's government was sworn in. An agreement on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization carries great symbolic meaning for the Quebec government in its bid to prove that Mr. Harper's proposals for renewing federalism can work in the province's favour. "Mr. Charest and I have agreed to task our respective ministers to move forward on ensuring that Quebec's voice be heard at UNESCO," Mr. Harper said at the conclusion of a two-hour meeting. "There are a couple of proposals on the table. And as I say, we are flexible and very optimistic we are going to reach a solution sooner rather than later." (Source: Globe & Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/dawn-of-a-new-era/article18158001/ Canada, Quebec, Stephen Harper, Jean Charest, Brokeback Mountain, federalism, Dalton McGuinty, Ralph Klein

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 10, 2006

Dawn of a new era?

Quebec and Ottawa are close to an agreement that will allow the province to have a voice at UNESCO, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday in emphasizing his government’s “open federalism” policy toward Quebec.

For the first time in 22 years, a Canadian prime minister met with a Quebec premier at the National Assembly in what Premier Jean Charest dubbed the beginning of a new era of federal-provincial co-operation. It was the third face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Harper’s government was sworn in.

An agreement on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization carries great symbolic meaning for the Quebec government in its bid to prove that Mr. Harper’s proposals for renewing federalism can work in the province’s favour.

“Mr. Charest and I have agreed to task our respective ministers to move forward on ensuring that Quebec’s voice be heard at UNESCO,” Mr. Harper said at the conclusion of a two-hour meeting. “There are a couple of proposals on the table. And as I say, we are flexible and very optimistic we are going to reach a solution sooner rather than later.” (Source: Globe & Mail)