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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Quebec’s New Anti-Protest Law Could Shut Down Campus Student Associations for Years « Student Activism

Quebec’s New Anti-Protest Law Could Shut Down Campus Student Associations for Years « Student Activism:


Quebec’s New Anti-Protest Law Could Shut Down Campus Student Associations for Years

To me, one of the most disturbing provisions of Bill 78, Quebec’s new law criminalizing participation in the province’s ongoing student strike, is one that has received virtually no attention in the media. Here’s an excerpt from the English-language version of Section 18:
“If the [Education] Minister notes that [a college or university] is unable to deliver instructional services as a result of a failure by a student association to comply with an obligation imposed by this Act, the Minister may … order the institution to cease collecting the assessment established by the student association or any successor student association and to cease providing premises, furniture, notice boards, and display stands to the student association or any successor student association free of charge.
“The cessation is effective for a period equal to one term per day or part of a day during which the institution was unable to provide instructional services as a result of the failure to comply.”
What does this mean? It means that if Quebec’s Education Minister concludes that a campus student