Quebec Leaders of Tomorrow Today

"We are right to block the entrance to our CEGEPS and to block the entrances to our universities.  We are right not to be impressed by the injunctions of a little idiot who lost the debate in the General Assembly and has parents rich enough to afford a lawyer.  We are right to fight against that."
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, CLASSE

The leading Quebec university student union that fulminated against the former provincial Liberal government's plans to slightly increase university and college tuition, which even with the proposed increase would still leave Quebec students paying the lowest tuition in the country, by far.  But which necessity, for a cash-strapped province wallowing in debt, was an assault and insult against Quebec students according to the protests and demonstrations that followed.

These were called "strikes" by the enraged student leaders who extolled the virtues of denying the legality of court injunctions ordering the protesters to permit the majority of students whose interests lay in continuing their classes to finish off their school year in preference to protesting.  Their attitude infuriated the unions, and those students who insisted on returning to class were harassed verbally and physically.

One of them, Jean-Francois Morasse, a Universite Laval fine arts student who struggled to overcome an intellectual disorder to obtain his degree, applied for a court injunction so he and other students would be enabled to continue their studies.  Quebec Superior Court Justice Denis Jacques awarded victory to Mr. Morasse.  His ruling was that Mr. Nadeau-Dubois was in contempt of court last spring, urging students to disobey injunctions.

Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, who has since taken a position with the Confederation of National Trade Unions, lost no time in launching a fund to appeal the court ruling.  And the union of which he is now a member urged affiliated unions to donate to his 'cause'.  "Today, justice betrays democracy", the website soliciting donations moaned of the judgement handed down last week, finding for Mr. Morasse.

Jean-Francois Morasse, may have won the legal battle, but he is now complaining to Quebec City police.  His telephone number, email and address have been published on a Facebook page, to target him for revenge.  "It doesn't surprise me because intimidation was the favourite tool of the [student] conflict", he said to TVA.  The students who went to court to save their student course years were threatened and insulted by the 'strikers'.

"...we find it completely legitimate for people to use the necessary vote and if it takes picket lines, we think that is a completely legitimate way to do it", claimed another student leader during the protests, Leo Bureau-Blouin, now elected as a PQ member in the election that threw out the provincial Liberals for incompetence and corruption.  And the now-ruling Parti Quebecois, as promised pre-election, has reversed the tuition increase.

The protesting students were complaining about a democracy deficit; their illegal, violent activities in blocking highways, bridges, swarming classes and tossing about chairs and computers was an expression of democracy in action.  Whereas the court injunctions which supported other students' right to complete their education represented an assault against democracy, giving them the right to continue disrupting classes and public venues.

Judge Jacques in handing down his judgement last Thursday noted that Mr. Nadeau-Dubois' comments represented an incitement to ignore those legal injunctions to allow individual rights to be respected.  The judge felt Mr. Nadeau-Dubois to have been "advocating anarchy and encouraging civil disobedience".  As morally righteous as he poses himself to be, he has no right lawfully to break laws.

And in the process announce himself to be completely justified in so doing.