CLASSE renounces violence, accepts civil disobedience

April 23 2012 // News

A major announcement on the student movement came out on Sunday night: The Coalition de l'Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiant (CLASSE) will condemn acts of violence in the battle against tuition hikes.

The group, which represents the largest number of students in the fight against tuition hikes, came to the unanimous decision after hours of debate at a group meeting on Sunday.

"The position we took last night was to plainly denounce and condemn any act of deliberate act of violence towards individuals," said spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois spoke at a press conference Monday morning.
 
But CLASSE will still support acts of civil disobedience.
 
The coalition was under pressure after Education Minister Line Beauchamp invited student groups to meet for negotiations over a week ago. She refused to speak to CLASSE unless they condemn acts of violence, though the invited groups, FEUQ and FECQ, said they would not negotiate without CLASSE. However, on Sunday afternoon, FECQ said it would consider moving on without CLASSE.
Last Monday, in the wake of several acts of vandalism, including an incident where the minister's office was trashed, CLASSE refused to condemn violence.  
But after over 100 arrests at tumultuous riots later in the week, the coalition group has changed its tune.
The FEUQ and FECQ were due to meet with Beauchamp on Monday in Quebec City. No word yet on whether Beauchamp will review her stance on CLASSE.
 
Photo by Joel Balsam