On Wednesday, thousands took to the streets in Montreal to protest Quebec's new tuition hikes; many also complain of the new Quebec government's anti-English policies
Student protests first reignited on Feb. 26 after Quebec's newly elected government, Parti Quebecois, announced they would raise tuition rates.
The rate will increase by 3% each year to account for a projected rise in household income until 2018, when the total increase will reach $421.
Thirteen were arrested after the Feb. 26 demonstration, but that did not deter student protesters, as thousands rejoined for a night protest this week that resulted in 10 arrests and over 50 fines.
Outrage from students and other protesters at the increased tuition is heightened by the fact that many supported the election of Parti Quebecois Premier candidate Pauline Marois because she campaigned as an ally to the student protesters, and many felt she would not hike tuition rates.
However, while running, she did indicate she planned to raise tuition indexed to inflation, at a rate between 1% - 3% per year. So while she hasn't gone back on a campaign promise, many are disappointed nonetheless.
Last year saw a wave of continual protests from Montreal residents that included factions of Occupy Montreal and the student group Mouvement etudient, or "Student Movement." At the time, the Liberal government in power planned to raise tuition by as much as $325 a year.
However, it isn't just students who have become critical of Quebec's new government.
Parti Quebecois is a separatist party that supports the movement for the independence of the Quebec province from the rest of Canada, as its native French culture is quite distinct from the rest of the country.
However, some English speakers, commonly referred to as anglophones in the province, complain of discrimination from native French speakers, francophones, within Quebec including new anglo rights group Critiq.
A bill introduced by Parti Quebecois, Bill 14, would put tough restrictions and requirements on Quebec residents to encourage the proliferation of French speaking and discourage English speaking.
For instance, the bill would prohibit military personnel from educating their children in English and would allow the Quebec Minister of Language to remove bilingual status from any town or city at his discretion.
Also, the government health insurance agency of the province, Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec, recently announced they would no longer issue notices in English unless specifically requested.
The Office quebecois de la langue francais, or Quebec Board of the French Language, is part of the Quebec ministry of Imigration and Cultural Communities. In its 1961 founding, its overt mission included "align[ing] on international French, promot[ing] good Canadianisms and fight[ing] Anglicisms."
Outside of policy and politics, the movement against the English language and culture can be felt on a regular basis according to some residents of Quebec.
One Montreal transplant, Elizabeth Leslie, also known as electro/dance musician QUEEN E., is an anglophone originally from Nova Scotia, a province on Canada's east coast. According to Leslie, facing discrimination from francophones in Quebec's capital city is not uncommon.
I was discriminated against at work for being anglophone and was uninvited to employee events. The management staff made my day-to-day work unnecessarily difficult and would sometimes sabotage my work for whatever reason. I worked at a 5-star hotel. It was terrible and completely unprofessional. In the end, I was fired and it was only for this reason. Otherwise, I had fantastic client reviews from their largely English clientele.
Leslie speaks of the overall situation in Montreal:
Some francophones want non-French-speaking or non-perfect-French-speaking anglophones out of Quebec. Others just want equal terms and to preserve Quebecois culture, which is understandable.
Shutting out anglos in the context of North America is never a good idea though. Quebec may be an anomaly inside of North America, but by excluding its anglophone population, it's fostering a negative socioeconomic climate in which to live.
According to Leslie, she just wants an environment where English and French speakers can cohabit:
The ideal outcome would be to forget about all this language segregation and make Quebec a truly bilingual province. Right now, it's not. There could be a fire in the subway and someone who does not understand French will not know; this puts their life in danger.
Sometimes it is forgotten that there are many anglophones who were also born and raised in Quebec: What about the preservation and acknowledgement of their heritage? It is a crime against the Quebecois people to segregate them from their biggest ally: the English.
Interestingly, some members of the French separatist movement have also been critical of Parti Quebecois, complaining that "PQ simply is no longer sovereignist enough."
One "diehard sovereignist" defector of Parti Quebecois, Jean-Martin Aussant, has formed his own political party, Option nationale.
According to Aussant, "I have no doubt that my colleagues in the PQ are as sovereignist as me, but the institution of the party when it comes to elections has decided that it doesn't want to run on sovereignty."
It remains to be seen whether Parti Quebecois can regain the confidence of its diverse constituency and return the province to peace.
Emilie Rensink writes about civil liberties, counter-terrorism, cyber-security and political activism. Subscribe to get her articles delivered to your inbox.
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