The students are (still) restless in Canada. Over the past several weeks we’ve documented student protests in Montreal and Quebec City, noting that the Blockupy spirit of raging against anything that can be construed as “austerity” seems to be infectious north of the border. This has led to a number of clashes between students and police including a rather surreal scene in the Quebec City protests where it certainly appeared as though a few protesters may have been shot in the face with tear gas canisters — here’s that clip, for reference:
According to witnesses, students and police were at it again overnight, when hundreds of protesters chanting “free our comrades” (who were arrested earlier in the evening apparently) barricaded themselves inside Montreal university. This dramatic display was the culmination of a series of events this week which began when student “radicals”, upset at the student union’s decision to suspend protests, put on masks and turned the lights on and off in classrooms. Here’s more via RT [2]:
The tense night comes after days of disturbances at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), where students are protesting the provincial government’s budget cuts.
The university administration called in police twice Wednesday, saying the protesters were disrupting classes
In a statement, UQAM rector Robert Proulx said acts of intimidation had no place at the university, and that violence and vandalism are unacceptable.
"The position of the university is that we are legally obliged to give our courses to students who have the right to go to class and who paid their tuition," he said, CBC reported.
Earlier Tuesday the protest of several days at UQAM escalated after the student union voted to suspend the protest. Radically-minded protesters who did not agree with this decision ramped up their action, disrupting classes…
Masked people reportedly sang, flicked the lights on and off, erased notes from whiteboards and interrupted classes in other ways.
Here are the visuals:
