Keep Calm and Bang On | Whoa! Canada

laurel l. russwurm's political musings

Posts Tagged ‘Keep Calm and Bang On’

Casseroles Night In Canada

Today is Day 108 of the Quebec Student strike.

I am impressed. These young people are standing up for what they believe in ~ and what I think they should be entitled to ~ in a rich country like Canada.

Regardless of what our intrepid leaders would like to believe, the recession in Canada is not anywhere near over. Jobs are thin on the ground. Wouldn’t it be clever to have citizens actively engaged in getting higher education with government assistance rather than collecting welfare until they can luck into some unskilled work that probably won’t even cover the rent?

Even if reducing education funding was a good idea, (and I don’t think it is), the time to do such a thing is not in this economic climate. This policy is not just ill advised, it’s stupid. Quebec wants to raise education costs at a time when people can least afford it.

This is their lives, we are talking about here. Why would these kids blow off half a year of university? The alternative for many is that dramatically increased higher education will no longer be an option. Many are certainly just barely managing the financial load now. The first increase will bump many students. And that is certainly worth striking for.

Our kids are our most important resource.

Isn’t it interesting that the Quebec is raising the student cost of higher education at a time when Ontario is lowering it?

Instead of negotiating, or even simply *listening* to these young people — whose lives will be trashed by this law — the Quebec government simply passed a law — Bill 78 — thought by many to be unconstitutional — in an attempt to stop the strike.

Has it worked? No.

A pot over crossed spoons on a field of red with the legend Keep Calm and bang On

download the poster to wave

Has it helped? No.

The latest strategy is the participative ephemeral 15-minute roving #casserole protests documented in Xopher’s blog: Nightly ‘Casseroles’ (pots and pans) Protest.

These light hearted brief happenings are occur around 8:00pm every evening across Montreal.

This is to show citizen dissatisfaction with the government’s actions and policies. In a nice way.

Maybe it’s time the rest of Canada joined in and did a little pot banging of our own for #CasserolesNightInCanada

It’s something we all know how to do, one of the things every child has done at some point in their lives. And if you haven’t, no experience is required. Lets get out there and do a little banging in communities all across Canada.