page_title: Bill 78
section_title: Early events in the protest
hierarchical_section_title: Bill 78 / Background / Early events in the protest
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Manifestation du 14 avril 2012 à Montréal
context_page_description: Bill 78, officially titled An Act to enable students to receive instruction from the postsecondary institutions they attend, led to an emergency law passed on 18 May 2012 by the National Assembly of Quebec. The law was passed in response to a student strike opposing tuition increases, associated with large student protests, and states that its purpose is to ensure that no student be denied the right to receive education at the school they attend, and that no one may impede the school's ability to provide it. The law restricts protest or picketing on or near university grounds. The law further requires that organizers of a protest, consisting of 50 or more people in a public venue anywhere in Quebec, submit their proposed venue and/or route to the relevant police for approval. Bill 78 was drafted by members of the Quebec Liberal Party, introduced by Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, and passed with the support of the Coalition Avenir Québec party. The planned tuition increases were subsequently repealed in September 2012, by a decree from Pauline Marois's newly elected Parti Québécois government.
context_section_description: In March 2011, Jean Charest's Quebec Liberal Party announced plans in their 2011–2012 budget to increase Quebec university fees by $325 per year over five years (or $1,625), an increase of 75% over current rates. In April 2012, the government proposed a solution that would have seen tuition rise $254 per year over 7 years, including an inflation index after the first two years (or $1,779), an increase of 82% over current rates.
  Beginning 13 February 2012, students associated with one of Quebec's student unions walked out of their classes to protest the proposed tuition increases and, by mid March, 250,000 people had joined. Protesting students from colleges and universities held a vote, demanding that the government rescind the planned fee increases and place a freeze on fees before returning to class.
  Clashes between student protesters and police began soon after the demonstrations began. Between 13 February and 15 May, groups of protesters, varying in population from hundreds to thousands, on multiple occasions blocked or attempted to block both the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges, causing disruption to vehicular traffic; they were either dispersed or arrested by police. Students protesting at the Montreal Exchange were dispersed by riot police. Montreal merchants and businesspeople complained that the protests were causing a negative impact on the city's commerce and on tourism.
  Students who did not participate in the strike were blocked by protesters from attending classes at several institutions, including Valleyfield CEGEP, Université de Montréal, Concordia University, and Université du Québec à Montreal. The Quebec Superior Court issued injunctions against students who were demonstrating and blocking other students' access to classes at the Université de Montréal, the Université du Québec à Montréal, Laval University, and at the Collège d'Alma, threatening fines or arrest for picketing, assembly, and protest on university or college grounds. Judge Jean Lemelin explained the court's decision, stating "[t]he legality of the strike appears dubious considering Quebec's labour law, which only gives the right to strike to certain people and under very strict conditions." Still, groups of protesting students on 16 May walked through the corridors of Université du Québec à Montreal buildings and entered classrooms to disrupt ongoing classes and vandalize, leading the administration to suspend teaching. Students whose classes had been cancelled were, as they spoke to the media, heckled by protesters.
caption: Student protests in Montreal against the government's planned tuition increases, 14 April 2012
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