Translating the printemps érable

As you may know, an election was called today in Québec.  The people of Québec will go to the polls on September 4th.

Obviously, this is of great interest to all of us here at Translating the Printemps Érable.  This translation project was born out of the social crisis brought about by the Charest government’s heavy-handed plan to increase tuition fees by 75% over 5 years, as well as by its subsequent heavy-handed repression of dissent.  Now, after six months, after more than 100 demonstrations, after over 2500 arrests, and after one piece of provincial special emergency legislation and two municipal laws, it seems that an election will be fought over this issue. 

The team at  Translating the Printemps Érable will therefore be right here with you during the election campaign, bringing you timely, accurate translations of French news having to do with the 2012 Quebec election. It is especially important to ensure that fair and diverse news is as widely available as possible at moments like this. In particular, we will focus on stories having to do with tuition, student organizations, demonstrations, and Bill 78/Bill 12.

How can you help?

• By sharing our translated articles on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, to help them reach as wide an audience as possible.
• By telling others about our translation project and inviting them to come see for themselves. 
• By suggesting relevant and thought-provoking French media for us to translate (contact information below).
• By volunteering as a translator!  Please note our contact information below.

Find us on Tumblr at: http://www.quebecprotest.com

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TranslateErable

Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Translating-the-Printemps-%C3%89rable/339795259437198

Email us with story suggestions, or to volunteer to help with our project: translatingtheprintempsderable@gmail.com

Lastly, remember to get out and vote, and tell your friends to do the same!   In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  

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Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.

*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at translatingtheprintempsderable@gmail.com. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.