The Power of the Streets

"For people who laud the right of free expression, I find it ridiculous that I wouldn't have the right to say what I think.
"It's sad is all.  They've (the protests) lasted three months and I think everyone has had enough of them.  I think these people grew up without ever hearing their parents ever tell them 'No'.  So that's what you see in the streets now.  People spending their time complaining.  It's becoming a little bit ridiculous."

 There are bad feelings and then there are pretty dreadful communications between segments of society who indulge in the classic art of divisions between social value systems.  And the above statements were made in a public arena by ex-Formula One championship driver Jacques Villeneuve, in expressing his personal opinion about the ongoing student 'strike' in his home province of Quebec.

Mr. Villeneuve is more than a little disgusted by the entitled claims of students disputing the government's right to raise student university and college tuitions to a level where they may end up paying about 17% of the total cost.  The rest of the tab being picked up by those generally taxed within the province whose own children may never attend university.  Aided by transfer payments from taxes raised elsewhere in the country.

That the Government of Quebec is having a difficult time balancing its books, paying for all social services, along with general government renditions for the upkeep of a modern society whose voters expect that they will have reliable bridges to drive over, buildings that will remain standing in good repair, and medical staff prepared to see to their aches and pains, is government's problem, as far as the students are concerned, not theirs.

They're right there.  And the government is accordingly taking the initiative granted it by law in this democratic country through the polls that legally authorize it to make such practical decisions as it did, on this occasion that has been so vehemently contested by young men and women who think nothing of laying out hundreds of dollars for the latest hi-tech equipment, but balk at paying for their own education.

Mr. Villeneuve has revealed his indignation that university kids who laud their right to free education, and insist on their democratic right to defy court injunctions, attack the greater majority of students who refuse to join them and opt instead to attend classes, make a major nuisance of themselves in public, shutting down public transit and major arterials to traffic, involve themselves in violent anti-social acts, feel entitled to all of that.

He has also revealed the fact that he has been personally abused because of his position with the Formula One event in Montreal, its major tourist and-money-making attraction whose success this year has been imperilled by the antics of the bully student mob.  A bundle of abusive, insulting and threatening emails has alerted him to the fact that some people feel comfortable in issuing "death threats".

And now the Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles (CLAC-Montreal) has joined the fray to "participate in a week of economic disruptions around the Grand Prix Formula One in Montreal.  We will not shut up; the power of the streets is stronger than your sham democracy." 

The student unions, labour unions, and the Black Bloc, what a perfect storm.