Canada - Québec Student Movement: The General Strike Gets Under Way!

While this article was going to the press, the beginning of the general student strike in Québec was only a few hours away. Students at the Université du Québec à Montreal (studying humanities, arts, political science and law) were likely to initiate the movement, together with small departments at Université Laval and the Université de Montréal; they will be joined by the CEGEP de Valleyfield and Marie-Victorin next week.
Considering that the student mobilization is mainly related to the $1,625 rising of university tuition fees on the part of the Charest government (in addition to budget cuts in CEGEPs), the Revolutionary Student Movement (MER-PCR) calls for an expansion of the fight. If rising tuition is an attack against our rights and those of the proletarian youth, we cannot oppose it while accepting all other assaults stemming from capitalism, including increasing fees in the health care system, cuts in pensions and layoffs that continue to multiply. We simply cannot tolerate becoming poorer while the rich become richer!
It has become quite clear that we must organize against these various attacks. There is now the potential for struggle, a fact that expresses itself in the many people affected by the crisis of capitalism who are willing to fight —an incredibly positive development. Traditionally, however, defensive struggles against government attacks are waged in a disorganized manner: the students are fighting for their rights, workers are struggling on their part, community groups are defending others, etc. Sometimes this works, but we are often unable to win anything in this manner. Getting organized is not enough. To do things properly —in a way that leads the proletariat to victory— we must organize using the necessary means to fight and win.
Some of us are fed up with the routine way of organizing, in which the most important objective appears to be “feeling good” about what we are doing. Let’s leave it to others to take care of their consciences! What interests us is to organize a militant response. This will allow us to fight against both arbitrary and artificial divisions within the working class, along with the different struggles that are waged: popular, labour, student, etc. The situation is clear: we have only one enemy —the capitalist system— and our response must be common and include not only students but all oppressed people. For that reason, we invite students to join the various committees and anti-capitalist meetings to be held during the strike.
Because for the Revolutionary Student Movement, anti-capitalism must be something more than speeches: it must develop as a real practice in the class struggle.
To get in touch with the Revolutionary Student Movement in Québec: www.mer-pcr.com

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