CA/Continuations/Discussion Group

Discussion Questions

1. What makes this particular movement / uprising powerful?
2. Who is involved (students, workers, disenfranchised, etc.)?
3. How do they confront power?
4. How does this movement connect to the broader social ills / issues (beyond single issue)?
5. How does this movement compare / contrast with ours?

Dave's Notes

Quebec's 'Maple Spring' Protests

Canada's Maple Spring - Student protests in Quebec grow to nationwide movement. (Video)

Clanging pots and pans are sounding across the streets of Montreal as hundreds of thousands of Quebecers take part in what is being termed the "Maple Spring" - Canada's largest and longest protests ever. It all started three months ago when the provincial government announced an 75 percent increase on university tuitions.

How Quebec's 'Maple Spring' Protests Fit With the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street (Sort Of)

Pullquote:

“

What started as a students-only protest is spilling over into a much broader debate about inequality and, ultimately, the future that peoples' leaders appear to be offering. But this is also part of a larger trend. It's amazing how quickly these regional and specific discussions -- police brutality in Tunisia, income inequality in the U.S., college tuition in Quebec - spill over into some of the same themes we see globally. A government, possessing economic and military authority, makes a move that finally angers people enough to send them into the streets.

”