by RONALD CAMERON
On September 4, 2012 the Parti Quebecoise (PQ) were elected to a minority government and Pauline Marois became the first woman to be Premier of Quebec. The election marks the first time since 2007 that a minority government will be formed in Quebec; the PQ won fifty-four seats while the Liberals now hold fifty. While this election marks a shift in Quebec’s history and a milestone for the province’s sovereignties, the real political victory of the year belongs to the student movement, which has gained a large – and arguably a ‘majority – of popular support.
In Montreal on May 22 2012, on the hundredth day of the student strike, more than three hundred thousand people took to the streets to protest the policies of the Jean Charest’s Liberal provincial government. The protest was largely a response to Bill 78, an emergency law that sought to restrict protesting or picketing on campus by ‘protecting’ the rights of institutions to provide unimpeded education to its enrolled students. The demonstrations fought back against these repressive measures and the call for general election became inevitable.
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(Thanks to Feroz Mehdi)