FEUQ and CLASSE say education minister's proposal not enough

The government has stuck a wedge in the already shakey partnership between the Federation étudiante universitaire dd Quebec (FEUQ) and the Coalition large de l’association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE).

Education Minister Line Beauchamp's proposal for an independent committee on university governance was welcomed by the FEUQ, but was condemned for the fact that it excluded the larger student coalition CLASSE.

"If Mme Beauchamp really wants to find a solution to this crisis, our coalition has to be apart of this solution. She cannot decide to marginalize half of the people on strike," said CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

He added that tuition increases also have to be apart of the discussion when FEUQ responded they won't negotiate without CLASSE at the table. But the minister has said she won't meet with groups that don't condemn vandalism and violence. FEUQ and cegep group Federation étudiante collegiale de Quebec have done so, but CLASSE won't.

Nadeau-Dubois said his group had nothing to do with early morning Molotov cocktails attacks on four government offices in Montreal. None of the bottles were found ignited, but had red paint was left on the walls.

In 2005 the FEUQ negotiated with the government without CLASSE's mother organization association pour une solidarité syndical étudiante (ASSE) at the table. 

Photo of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois by Joel Balsam taken on April 9, 2012.