Quebec tuition talks collapse as province braces for more protests

Source: The Globe and Mail

Quebec is bracing for social unrest after talks with the government to settle the tuition fee strike broke down and student organizations vowed massive demonstrations in response to the collapse.

Four days of negotiations ended in an impasse on Thursday when Premier Jean Charest’s government refused to budge on its plan to increase tuition fees. It was likely the last chance for an immediate resolution to the social crisis that has gripped the province for almost four months.

... “The government is using the youth to make political gains,” said Martine Desjardins, president of the Quebec federation of university students. “They only wanted to sit us down for a public relations move, for a political move, not to negotiate.”

... The student organizations promised a major demonstration in Montreal on Saturday. They also began a campaign to explain that their proposal, which would have frozen tuition fees for two years, would not have cost taxpayers any more money.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/quebec-tuition-talks-collapse-as-province-braces-for-more-protests/article2448482/