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<h1>10 Lessons American Protesters Can Learn from Quebec’s Students</h1><div class="image_share contain_floats"><div class="image">
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<div class="article_content"><p>While U.S. police continues to <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/police-attack-residents-try-to-buy-footage-video.html" target="_blank">aggressively</a> and <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/occupy-wall-street-celebrates-1st-anniversary-with-181-arrests.html" target="_blank">unconstitutionally</a> dissuade citizens <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/first-amendment-disaster-syracuse-holds-mock-protest-disaster-drill.html" target="_blank">from exercising</a> their <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/police-attack-and-arrest-la-residents-for-using-chalk.html" target="_blank">First Amendment rights</a>, protests are still an effective method for bringing about change. For example, <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/quebec-attempts-to-quash-students-free-speech-with-new-law.html" target="_blank">after nine tireless months</a>, Quebec’s student movement has <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/21-1" target="_blank">finally declared victory</a>.
When the government threatened to raise tuition on college students by
87 percent, they came out in mass to protect affordable education. As
author <a href="https://twitter.com/NaomiAKlein/status/248996305349779456" target="_blank">Naomi Klein stated</a>, “This is why radical movements are mercilessly mocked. They can win.”</p><p>The students’ diligent approach and subsequent success is not something to be overlooked, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/07/quebec-students-lesson-protest-politics?newsfeed=true" target="_blank">notes The Guardian</a>. Here are 10 lessons American protesters can learn from Canada’s student movement:</p><p><strong>1. Vote</strong></p><p><strong> </strong>Ultimately, the students won their plight by voting
out the former premier, Jean Charest, and giving Pauline Marois, a
candidate sympathetic to the students’ cause, the job instead. Marois,
in turn, immediately cancelled the planned tuition hikes and ended the
newly passed anti-protesting laws. While many American activists are
justifiably disenchanted with the democratic process and are attempting
to find alternative solutions, they can still vote in the meantime.
Voting doesn’t need to mean choosing between two candidates who don’t
represent their views, but backing someone who participates in their
struggle, like frequent Occupy arrestee and Green Party <a href="http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2012/08/02/green-party-presidential-candidate-jill-stein-arrested-at-%E2%80%9Coccupy-fannie-mae%E2%80%9D-protest-in-center-city-philadelphia-video/" target="_blank">presidential nominee Jill Stein</a>.</p><p><strong>2. Expose Injustice</strong></p><p>To put an end to the student movement, Quebec’s government passed
Bill 78, which put massive, targeted restrictions on the students’ right
to protest. Because this law blatantly contradicted Canada’s
constitution, it enraged an even larger segment of the population.
Suddenly, Canadians who were not particularly moved by the student
struggle joined the efforts to protect their country’s freedom of
speech. American protesters must showcase the police brutality and
unlawful arrests intended to discourage demonstrations to prove how the
rights Americans take for granted are actively being taken away,
hopefully enlivening them to take action and build support.</p><p><strong>3. Popular Movements Require a Populace</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>One of the biggest successes of the student movement is that it
actually attracted up to half a million people simultaneously. While
protests of a few hundred people are not meaningless, they do not carry
the same clout as those with hundreds of thousands in attendance. The
majority of the country can be sympathetic to the plight, but until they
participate in some manner, the government will consider them too
apathetic to worry about. Find ways to encourage people out of their
homes and places of work and into the streets so that their numbers
cannot be ignored.</p><p><strong>4. Persistence Is Key</strong></p><p>The students of Quebec stuck with the movement since the beginning of
the year. Even when tens of thousands flooded the streets, protesters
did not take for granted that their voices were heard, continuing to go
out and bang on pots and pans each night. A constant presence was
essential in reminding authorities that they were not going anywhere and
that their concerns were not to be taken lightly. Protests every six
months are nice, but protests every evening show you mean business.</p><p><strong>5. Find Common Ground and Align</strong></p><p>Two of the largest student organizations in Quebec, CLASSE and FEUQ,
employed different tactics and different end goals. At the same time,
however, they had a significant amount of overlap in their desires and
chose to focus on the similarities to work together and bring about
change. Besides, a diversity in tactics can even be helpful and the
variety in approaches helped to win over more supporters and bring more
attention to the cause.</p><p><strong>6. Stand By Your Allies</strong></p><p>Don’t cut off those who are united in your cause. Hoping for
compromise, Quebec’s government agreed to hold talks with the more
temperate student groups, but would not allow representatives from
CLASSE to participate in these discussions. Instead of taking the
opportunity to put their own interests first, these student groups
walked out on the talks altogether. Too often, American protesters
bicker amongst their peers rather than uniting in their shared struggle.</p><p><strong>7. Reach Out to Unions</strong></p><p>When mobilizing a movement, one of the quickest ways to grow your
numbers is to connect with large groups of people who are already
politically active, namely unions. While the student unions themselves
were the most crucial, their networking with labor unions was also
important. Students met with miners and public sector workers who were
also facing massive problem to build coalitions. Although worker strikes
never occurred, it was discussed at length, and the persistent threat
definitely gave credence to the students’ sway.</p><p><strong>8. Pick a Cause</strong></p><p>The Canadian students adopted a single cause to rally around, which
proved effective in achieving change. One of the criticisms most
commonly aimed at Occupy is that it is not clear what it stands for. As
many Occupiers will tell you, however, the biggest problem is that the
amount of problems with the United States cannot be limited to a short
list. Nonetheless, activists could benefit from building groups that
target specific, tangible goals, be it instituting campaign finance
reform, fighting foreclosures or lowering college tuition. That does not
mean abandoning reform on all fronts, but rather dividing to focus on
specific issues, while still coming together to support peers’ efforts
on days of action.</p><p><strong>9. Champion Education Specifically</strong></p><p>If you’re looking for one particular cause to rally people behind,
education is a great place to start. Not only does offering affordable
education to everyone give opportunities to people who would otherwise
be impoverished, but it also encourages people to think critically and
question the status quo. Furthermore, in the spectrum of causes,
education is one of the least controversial subjects. Theoretically
anyway, people want the country’s youth to be smart and skilled. While
citizens as a whole may be oblivious to the extent education is
legitimately under attack (with slashed budgets, the <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/the-myth-of-the-education-crisis.html" target="_blank">demonization of teachers</a>
and undue emphasis on standardized tests), when you can show that the
elite do not care about providing quality education, you’ll gain a lot
of support.</p><p><strong>10. Do Not Become Complacent with Your Victories</strong></p><p>If the government has tried to screw you over before, chances are
they’ll do it again. CLASSE understands that it is better to remain
vigilant and continue their efforts rather to rest on their laurels and
assume the problem is fixed. Sure, the recent election seems promising,
but a consistent, diligent presence by the student unions will help to
dissuade the government from trying to backtrack a couple of years down
the road.</p></div></div></div><div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><br>Read more: <a style="color: #003399;" href="http://www.care2.com/causes/10-lessons-american-protesters-can-learn-from-quebecs-students.html#ixzz28Oad2ro7">http://www.care2.com/causes/10-lessons-american-protesters-can-learn-from-quebecs-students.html#ixzz28Oad2ro7</a><br></div></body></html>