OTTAWA, May 18, 2012 /CNW/ - The government of Québec has launched an indefensible attack on basic rights by introducing a bill that would breach the constitutional right to freedom of association. Bill 78 would undermine students' rights by imposing harsh fines for individual protestors, organisers and supporters and by suspending basic civil liberties.
"Taking away the right to political expression is an affront to democracy," said Roxanne Dubois, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Charest's attempt to outlaw the right to strike or protest does nothing to resolve the current crisis."
Bill 78 will likely be adopted in a matter of hours and renders the right to participate in mass peaceful protests all but impossible. The bill comes in the fourteenth week of a provincial student strike in which students have been defending accessible education and opposing massive tuition fee hikes.
"This law must be defeated both in the courts and in the streets," added Dubois. "Students across Canada are giving their full support to the movement in Québec in their continued struggle for accessible education."
The Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's largest student organisation, uniting more that one-half million students in all ten provinces. The Federation and its predecessor organisations have represented students in Canada since 1927.
Roxanne Dubois, National Chairperson, 613-232-7394, [email protected]
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