Tuition Hikes

The palette of protest

Protesters picket the Hall auditorium. Photo Alice Martin

Alice Martin,
Local Journalism Initiative

Rarely will you see protests without art, and often will you see it go beyond symbolism

Most of the time, protesters don’t march in the streets empty-handed.

They brandish handmade signs, banners or anything to get their message across. In any protest, art serves multiple purposes to strengthen the broader cause.

“I personally really love the use of art in organizing and protests,” Arts and Science Federation of Association (ASFA) academic coordinator Angelica Antonakopoulos said. “Art in protest is a very eye-catching way to send a message, instead of having to go person-to-person and tell them what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Tuition hike strikes

Over five days last March, the tuition hike strikes mobilized students from select student associations to enforce hard picket lines. Hard pickets require students congregating in front of a classroom to dissuade other students from entering. 

With dozens of classes having to be picketed at the same time, and only so many students, protesters used hand-painted banners with dual purposes: displaying their demands and protecting protesters.

“[Banners] are big, they’re flashy,” Antonakopoulos said. “They have a message on them. [Students] don’t have to come up and talk to you and they still get the gist of what the protest is about.”

According to Antonakopoulos, Concordia’s Code of Conduct prohibits students from physically blocking a classroom. She said banners act as a bypass.

“[Students] were more than free to lift the banner and go underneath if [they] really want to go into class,” she said. “It protected both students that were picketing and students that were dissenting towards the cause.” 

She said that banners help students “think twice” before crossing a picket line, as well as avoid physical confrontation.

“There was a lot of verbal engagement with students with flyers and FAQ sheets coming out,” she said, noting that that was what picketers were told to do. “[But banners] send a poignant message in a non-confrontational, peaceful vehicle.”

Students paint Mackay Street to advocate for its pedestrianization. Photo Alice Martin

Pedestrianize Mackay

In September 2023, the Pedestrianize Mackay group staged a protest demanding that Mackay St., between Sherbrooke St. and Maisonneuve St., be closed to vehicles and converted into a pedestrian area for students.

For Mowat Tokonitz, communications vice president with the Urban Planning Association, it was one of the first student mobilizations he was part of.

“It’s something that really interests me and it relates to my program,” Tokonitz said. “I think it’s important to have actual campus space outside that we can use, while also having less cars.”

The protest consisted of blocking Mackay St. at the intersection of Sherbrooke St. Demonstrators also painted an enormous version of the vibrant pink, green, blue and yellow Pedestrianize Mackay logo on the road.

Tokonitz said painting the road was a good way to appropriate the street and show its potential to a wide range of Concordia students who pass by daily.

“The fact that we also had the street blocked off, and we had picnic tables and banners and things in the street, it gave a very basic example of what that space could be in the future,” he said. “It really didn’t take very long for there to be street furniture on Mackay and for people to be out eating lunch. I can only imagine what it would be like if that was permanent.”

Looking back on the tuition hike strikes and Pedestrianize Mackay, Antonakopoulous said the mural painting was a great way to engage students in the cause.

“It’s always really a fantastic way to build community because mural painting is not like a picket. It’s not like a protest,” she said. “We need to be cognizant that there are a lot of people that don’t engage with that, right? They don’t engage with noise, they don’t engage with confrontation.”

Ned Mansour’s sixth chalk drawing, made on Aug. 30. Photo Alice Martin

Divest for Gaza

The pro-Palestine student encampment at McGill University stood strong for over 70 days before being demolished on July 10. To protect itself and the privacy of campers, the encampment used a variety of colourful handmade signs from different student movements on the gates.

When a private security firm dismantled the camp, the colour didn’t stop. Activists still gather daily in front of the Roddick Gates to repeat their demand: for McGill to divest from companies involved in arms manufacturing and the settlements in Gaza and the West Bank.

This is the case of Ned Mansour, a Montreal artist whose father is Palestinian. He has been coming to the gates for over a week—a new tradition for him. He aims to go to the Roddick Gates every day, barring rain and other engagements.

Mansour was working on his sixth painting when he met with The Link. This painting was inspired by a photo he took. 

“I try to choose something that has to do with what’s happening right now, with the genocide, and just a reminder of how many days it’s been since the genocide has started,” he said. “I try to pick images that are visually striking and can fit on this thin column.”

Mansour’s paintings are made with chalk, something protesters have been using every day to write messages and demands on sidewalks and university grounds. As a wedding photographer with experience in drawing, Mansour applied his skills to McGill’s walls.

Despite squabbles with security, his motivation to keep drawing remains steadfast.

“Every day that passes, somebody’s being killed in Palestine, and the genocide is happening in real-time,” Mansour said. “So I wanted to do something that’s in real-time as well. We feel here, it seems like it’s almost a mirror image of what’s happening in Palestine. Obviously, we’re not being killed, but there are forces that are trying to silence us.”

Mansour’s chalk drawings, like the days that go by, are ephemeral. Every night after he finishes drawing, security washes them away, providing him with a fresh slate for another drawing.

“They think that by erasing our work and our message, that we will stop, but what they’re doing is actually encouraging us to come back and remind them again of what’s happening,” Mansour said. “Just like the Palestinian people that are being erased right now.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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The fight against tuition hikes must continue

Students need to keep fighting against austerity.

Macintyre Strudensky,
Local Journalism Initiative

The provincial government continues to attack anglophone students under the guise of protecting the French language

In October 2023, the provincial government proposed what seems to be a mean-spirited attempt to hinder the admission rates at English universities in Quebec, under the pretense of protecting the French language. 

Following the proposed tuition hike for out-of-province and international students looking to study at anglophone universities in Quebec, the response from the student population in Montreal was swift and direct. 

The students in Montreal protested this vehemently during the last academic year. However, students must continue to advocate in opposition to this tuition hike in synchronicity with the legal action being taken by Concordia and McGill University. As legal action is a lengthy process, sitting idly by would only serve complacency.

During the Winter 2024 semester, thousands of students from Concordia and McGill took to the streets to protest, conducted boycotts, urged administrative action and made their voices heard.

But consistency is key. We must not take the first implementation of this tuition hike as a sign of defeat. Student protests and activism have proven repeatedly to be effective in matters of social austerity. A notable example are the Maple Spring protests in 2012, which ended with a successful halting of proposed tuition hikes after the next Premier was elected. 

Over a decade later, governmental policies targeting university students persist. However, a key difference between the current situation and that of Maple Spring is that this tuition hike is an attack on anglophone, out-of-province and international students.

In looking at the success of Maple Spring, it’s important to note that gradual progression contributed to its effectiveness. It took time, organization and effective communication to rally some 200,000 students to boycott and protest at its peak. Collective action is a marathon, not a sprint. 

In the past decade since the Maple Spring, connectivity and means of communication have greatly improved. We, the anglophone student population, must, above all, communicate effectively and coordinate our next move. This can be done through spreading the word on social media, talking with our friends and attending future meetings in solidarity. Our real strength is in numbers.

When looking at the different facets of this issue, it becomes clear how simple this battle truly is. The provincial government and its infamous French rhetoric have once again tread into the infringement of rights territory. There is no evidence to support that discouraging prospective English students from studying in Quebec serves to protect the French language. 

The provincial government has even made exceptions to the language law for international companies based in Montreal to not hinder operations. The irony. They are enforcing rules under an ideological rhetoric of apparent dire importance, yet bending said rules once the real-world effects demonstrate nothing but a hindrance.

One of the key attractions of this beautiful city is its diverse culture and wide variety of people with many coming to Quebec to learn the French language and to appreciate its beauty. Because it is, in fact, beautiful. 

The austerity, absurdity and foolishness of this rhetoric lie in the notion of protecting a language that is not threatened by anglophone universities. Raising tuition and targeting young intellectuals serves no benefit to society and does absolutely nothing for the preservation of the official language of the province. We must not allow this to continue.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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Striking ConU students and staff protest tuition hikes

Photo Andraé Lerone Lewis

Iness Rifay
Local Journalism Initiative

On March 13, around 400 Concordia students, faculty and staff gathered on the corner of Mackay and De Maisonneuve Street to the sound of upbeat tunes, clanking pots and pans, and the croak of trombones and trumpets. 

On that same date, over 22,000 students across various student associations were on strike from their classes, with hard-picketing measures enforced all throughout the Hall building as well as on Loyola campus. The strike officially started on March 11 and is set to end by March 15. However, some departments have discussed an unlimited general strike.

Under the afternoon sun, volunteers coated Mackay with red paint reading “Free education” in light of the Coalition Avenir Québec imposed hikes, which exclusively target anglophone universities in the province. 

Dominik Séguin, one of the volunteers and a third-year student in the English literature program, believes the implementation of the hikes is only the first step in a series of other “discriminatory measures.” 

“What’s to stop [Premier François] Legault from making more laws that affect anglophones, or any other group?” said Séguin, while swiping her red-stained paintbrush on the concrete. “If people are leaving after their education, I can guarantee you it’s because they don’t feel welcome here.” 

Quebec’s minister of higher education Pascale Déry argues in favour of the hikes, saying that out-of-province students and international students leave the province after their studies and that the new increase “better reflects what it costs to educate a university student.” 

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Tuition strikes: student mobilization underway

This graphic is incomplete, check in with your association on current strike status. Graphic Panos Michalakopoulos

Maria Cholakova
Local Journalism Initiative

In the past two weeks, the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) and fellow student associations at Concordia have been mobilizing students to vote, attend general assemblies, spread the word and encourage students to protest the Quebec government’s tuition hikes. 

According to Angelica Antonakopoulos, the academic coordinator at ASFA, this is a crucial time for the student movement to come together in a university-wide strike. 

“[Striking] places a lot of economic stress on the government because the government subsidizes education in Quebec […]So if you’re placing this imminent threat of cancelling a semester, the government will have to re-subsidize the students that got held back while also subsidizing a new cohort of students coming in,” Antonakopoulos said. 

She continued to explain that apart from the government having to re-invest funds, strikes are withholding an entire group of students from graduating and entering the workforce, which would have a significant effect on the economy.

Currently, 14,524 students  are striking from March 11 to 15. In the upcoming days, five associations (Urban Planning Association, Concordia Association Psychology Association, Concordia Religion Student Association, Political Science Student Association, Sustainability and Diversity Student Association) are holding GAs for students to vote on striking. 

However, getting students to mobilize has been a challenge, according to Antonakopoulos.

“Nowadays, especially post-COVID, it’s really difficult to convince folks to do anything outside the immediate scope of their academic affairs,” she said. 

Antonakopoulos added that Concordia hasn’t been too open to the idea of students striking. 

“Concordia has done a very elegant job at making any disruption to regular academic life seem like the end of the world, which is why a lot of students are very wary toward striking,” she said. 

However, ASFA is not backing down. According to Antonakopoulos, a demonstration during the striking week is being planned, alongside some of the smaller, independent actions that will be occurring within Concordia, like a picketing workshop on March 6 and March 8 on the seventh floor of the Hall Building. 

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Tuition Hikes at McGill and Concordia: Indirect Impacts on Park-Extension Students

Dimitris Ilias-LJI journalist

The recent decision by Quebec’s Higher Education Minister, Pascale Déry, to increase tuition fees by 33% for non-Quebec Canadian students at McGill and Concordia Universities has sparked a complex debate, extending its influence beyond the directly affected demographic. Students from the Park-Extension area, who predominantly attend these institutions, are facing an indirect yet significant impact from this policy change.
Although the tuition hike, raising fees from $9,000 to $12,000 annually, directly targets non-resident Quebec students, its ripple effects are felt among local students. One of the main concerns is the potential financial strain on these universities. With The Globe and Mail reporting a substantial decrease in enrollment applications – 22% for McGill and 27% for Concordia – there’s a growing anxiety about how this drop in enrollment could affect the financial health of these institutions.
For Park-Extension students, the prospect of their universities facing financial difficulties is worrisome. A reduction in revenue from tuition could lead to cutbacks in various services and resources essential for a quality educational experience. This might include scaling back on research opportunities, reducing funding for student-led initiatives, or even limiting the availability of certain courses or programs.
The Advisory Committee on Financial Accessibility to Studies, led by Éric Tessier, has voiced its disapproval of the new fee structure. The committee, in its unpublished report, questioned the rationale behind setting the new fee at $12,000 and suggested aligning it more closely with the Canadian average of $7,800. This recommendation highlights the delicate balance between financing higher education and maintaining accessible, diverse educational environments.
The policy change also challenges the principle of the law aiming to limit the indexing of several government tariffs, including tuition fees, to 3% until 2026-2027. This raises broader concerns about the government’s commitment to affordable education and the impact of such decisions on the overall educational landscape in Quebec.
Minister Déry’s unwavering stance, despite the advisory committee’s recommendations and procedural concerns regarding the timing of their advice, underscores a potential disconnect between policy decisions and community needs. The current composition of the advisory committee, with only seven members and a single student representative, further emphasizes the need for more diverse and representative voices in such critical discussions.
For Park-Extension students, the situation is a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of educational policies. While they may not be directly affected by the tuition hike, the potential financial implications for their universities could significantly shape their academic journey. It highlights the importance of inclusive policy-making that considers the far-reaching impacts of decisions on all stakeholders in the educational ecosystem.

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Out-of-province tuition hikes spell trouble for Stingers, Redbirds, Martlets, Gaiters

Sami Jahan dribbles past a McGill player during their Nov. 11 game. Photo Alice Martin

Jared Lackman-Mincoff
Local Journalism Initiative

After the Quebec government announced its tuition hikes for international and out-of-province students, varsity directors and coaches at Concordia University, McGill and Bishop’s can see out-of-province recruitment troubles on the horizon. Non-Quebec students make up a considerable proportion of the student-athletes at all three universities.

Hamilton, Ont. native Sami Jahan, one of the foremost members of the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team, said that his university career would have looked much different if the tuition hikes had happened when he was choosing where to study.

“Looking at the kids who are in my shoes, whether they’re playing sports or even just trying to go to school out-of-province […] their landscape is going to change a lot,” he said. Jahan is a fourth-year veteran with the Stingers. The team’s impressive 2021-22 playoff run would not have been possible without him.

Jahan believes that varsity coaches will shift more of their recruitment focus towards CEGEPs. He feels that recruiting talent from out-of-province will be less beneficial for Quebec’s English universities, since they will be able to get four Quebec kids on a scholarship for the same price as one out-of-province recruit.

He emphasized that the tuition hike itself is not the only expense out-of-province students must consider.

“When you leave the province, your family has to put you in some type of residence or living situation. That’s another fee. Food is another thing. It just piles on,” he said. “If I was looking at schools in Canada and I saw Quebec’s tuition hike, my family would be like, ‘That doesn’t make financial sense when you can stay here.’”

The Stingers’ winter sports rosters put them in the best position of the three English universities. Only 20.8 per cent of the hockey and basketball rosters is composed of out-of-province and international students—whose tuition could increase by a minimum of $20,000. Non-Quebec recruits makeup 49.4 per cent of McGill’s hockey and basketball rosters, and 43.1 per cent for Bishop’s. 

Deep Saini, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill, estimated that one third of McGill’s student-athletes hail from another province. Director of Athletics at Bishop’s Matt McBrine told La Tribunethat he believes that number to be nearly 50 per cent for his institution. Most notably, 86.7 per cent of the Bishop’s Gaiters women’s soccer team comes from another province or country. Both schools fear that they will need to eliminate some varsity teams due to the hike.

Coaches at Concordia, McGill and Bishop’s had considerable advantages over their francophone counterparts when it came to recruiting out-of-province and international students, but the hike will nullify them completely.

“We’re able to recruit from out west because it’s an English institution […] and the price […] was similar to other universities,” said Marc-André Elément, head coach of the Stingers men’s hockey team. “But now with the increase, it’s going to be another game, and it’s going to be really hard to recruit from outside Quebec, that’s for sure.”

The Stinger’s men’s hockey team only has two non-Quebec players on the roster. However, the program still faces the same obstacles as others that are more dependent on out-of-province recruitment.

“It’s a bit frustrating because we have such good programs,” said Elément. “A lot of guys from [other parts] of the country […] want to come and study here because it’s a good school and everything and now we’re taking that away.”

Elément and his staff are working to find a new recruitment strategy, but they do not see a clear solution right now.

The tuition hikes could potentially create a ripple effect on the rest of the province if English varsity programs become less formidable competition or get wiped out entirely.

“It will also have an impact on Quebec sports infrastructure, something that people tend to forget,” McBrine told La Tribune in French. “If you have three universities—McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s—who are in several sports leagues, and can no longer compete, it will have an impact on every sport.”

Women’s hockey and football are set to receive a big punch. The three English schools make up 50 per cent of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) women’s hockey conference, and Concordia and McGill form two out of five RSEQ football teams. McBrine agreed with this notion, telling La Tribune that he doubts that three francophone university programs would offer high caliber competition.

The English schools additionally form three out of seven RSEQ teams for men’s and women’s rugby. But the situation is most dire for basketball, where the trio comprises three out of five Quebec programs for men’s and women’s hoops.

If Quebec teams are no longer fit to compete against each other, then the remaining teams may need to move to the Ontario University Athletics or Atlantic University Sport conferences to maintain a high enough level of competition for varsity play.

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CSU hosts town hall to discuss proposed Quebec tuition hikes

CSU hosted a town hall for students to discuss tuition hikes. Photo Catriona Ray

Catriona Ray
Local Journalism Initiative

On Oct. 26, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) hosted a town hall to discuss the tuition hikes recently proposed by the Quebec government.

The event was held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and was led by CSU General Coordinator Harley Martin, CSU Academic Coordinator Alexandrah Cardona. In attendance on the panel were also Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) Mobilization Coordinator Lily Charette, and School of Community and Public Affairs member  Adam Semergian. The event covered a variety of student concerns, with a particular focus on what student mobilization on this issue may look like in the coming months.

The proposed tuition hikes would force out-of-province students to pay a minimum of $17,000 per semester. In addition, universities will have to pay $20,000 to the government per international student enrolled.  Most importantly, the Quebec government would expect institutions to charge above the minimum to make up for any potential losses—out-of-province and international students could end up paying closer to $30,000 per year minimum as admissions drop. Additionally, while these measures would not initially affect students who are already enrolled, actions like a degree or faculty change may force an already-enrolled student to pay higher prices.

Semergian, kicked off the event with a brief history of the student movement in Quebec, which has been active since as early as the 1960s. 

“A very common thread in all of this has been for free tuition or to end tuition hikes,” said Semergian. The largest of these movements took place in 2012 when province-wide tuition increases were protested by students from both francophone and anglophone campuses. Student strikes lasted for months and eventually forced the government to rescind their proposal for higher tuition.

“For years there has been a fight in Quebec for free education,” said Cardona. “This tuition increase is just another wave in the government trying to combat that movement.”

Semergian also cautioned against the possibility of student division. “Remember that just because right now [the tuition hikes] don’t affect in-province students […] this is probably just a preamble to something that would affect everybody.”

Charette agreed. “It’s very intentional that these increases in tuition are being done in a way that brings in language politics,” she said. “It deeply confuses the situation and is going to create so many rifts between communities […] They’re hoping to divide the student movement in Quebec.”

Furthermore, tuition increases have wide-ranging impacts on Concordia as an institution. Cardona told students, “Concordia is projecting, on the conservative side, that we would lose enrollment by up to 60 per cent […] Funding-wise, Concordia would be looking at losing upwards of tens of millions of dollars per year.”

Cardona also pointed out that programs that attract mostly out-of-province students will be disproportionately affected. Fine arts, including studio arts— as well as the aerospace and engineering programs—are looking at especially devastating losses.

“This is a first step in trying to coordinate our actions,” said Charette. Going forward, large unions like the CSU and ASFA are looking to smaller, department-level student associations to make their voices heard. According to Charette, because a general assembly to vote on a strike mandate for the CSU would require upwards of 450 students to appear in-person and vote, smaller student associations have a better chance of getting mobilization started in earnest.

While this may sound intimidating, student associations certainly wouldn’t be working alone. Cardona assured students that the CSU intends to assist with coordination, funding, and communication going forward. Additionally, according to Becca Wilgosh, who represented CREW-CSN, most of Concordia’s labour unions are nearing the end of their negotiations with the university, which would allow them to legally strike. “This is a key moment for solidarity between labour unions and student unions,” she said.

A full-on student strike is likely impossible, however, until at least the winter semester. This is due to scheduling and communication constraints. In the meantime, Cardona encouraged students to get acquainted with their department-level student associations and agitate for action against the tuition hikes.

“The more students say, ‘Why aren’t we striking about this? We should do this,’ [it] gives more power to us to start planning and coordinating those kinds of actions,” Charette said.

The CSU is now endorsing a protest on Monday, Oct. 30. It is set to begin in Dorchester Square at 1 p.m., and students will march to McGill’s Roddick Gates. There is also a teach-in on the history of the Quebec student movement on Nov. 16, as well as a petition available on CSU social media this week to bring this issue before the National Assembly.

A previous version of this article stated that the townhall was organized by the CSU, ASFA and La Crues. The townhall was organized solely by the CSU. In addition, Adam Semergian was named as an executive of La Crues. However, he is a member of the School of Community and Public Affairs. The Link regrets these errors. 

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