In the opening line of his analysis of bill 78, professor Jacob T Levy ( McGill University, political theory professor), makes a puzzling statement about this extreme measure. “Special law is every bit the contradiction in terms that ‘student strike’ is. Emergency decrees and bills of attainder aren’t laws, and I won’t be referring to Bill 78 as a law except in scare quotes.”
Month: May 2012
New poll is bad news for Charest in his battle with students
Ethan Cox is a former news editor with Forget The Box and he is currently heavily involved in politics and trying to change the world. […]
Black Square Red Square
The liberals in Quebec have passed the Bill 78 to stop the student protests against tuition hikes. Students, who have been wearing red squares on […]
Bill 78: Quebec Clamps Down on Democracy
A few weeks ago I wrote about the student strike in Quebec and its importance. Now it seems after months of ignoring student demands to rescind planned tuition hikes, the Charest Government has gone from keeping its ears closed to students to putting a zipper on the mouths of everyone…
Bill 78: We are all red squares now
It doesn’t matter what you think about the protest against tuition fee hikes, this isn’t about accessible education anymore. Now, everyone in Quebec’s right to protest, organize and express themselves freely is at risk. As of last night, people’s right to just go out and have a good time is at risk, too. Friday, after a last-minute 48 hour session of the Assemble Nationale, the Charest government passed Bill 78…
I’ve seen the future, brother…but so has Jean Charest
Jason C. McLean on the newfound passion in people like Jean Charest and Gerald Tremblay and how it shows that the Quebec student strike is about so much more than a few hundred dollars in tuition increase, it’s about the future…
Montreal artist Rémy Couture’s trial set to pit artistic freedom against state censorship
How to describe the bizarre case of local artist Rémy Couture? Some in the media seem to have coined a new and disturbing term for it: art crime (also the title of a sympathetic documentary on the subject). You see, arguably, Coutures only ‘crime’ is that he is pushing the boundaries of good taste with his horrific images of women being dismembered and people being crucified…
Austerity in Europe
I’ve said for years that if a country tries to put austerity into practice for an extended period of time, an eventual revolution will be the outcome. In Greece and France this past week that is essentially what happened. I have no doubt there is more to follow. France elected Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party last week…
MCA & Me
Anyone who knew either of his names knows by now about the passing of 47 year old Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch. He passed away last Friday after a three year battle with cancer.
Looking back, I find it hard to uncover a bigger musical or political influence in my life then that which the Beastie Boys left. Adam Yauch of course had a big part in that.
The truth about proposed anti-mask laws unmasked!
With all the protesting going on these days, Montreal has become a veritable political theatre for all manner of agitprop and self-expression. Of course, no anti-whatever rally would be complete, these days, without the requisite Guy Fawkes masks, bandanas worn as masks, balaclavas (aka ski masks), etc. What do all of these things have in common? Wearing them may soon be a criminal offense punishable by jail time (up to 5 years!)…