Translating the printemps érable

La Presse Canadienne             August 13, 2012

Original French Link: http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/dossiers/elections-quebecoises/201208/13/01-4564733-quebec-solidaire-propose-la-gratuite-scolaire-et-linterdiction-du-lock-out.php

As classes resume this week in some colleges and votes to resume classes continue to take place, Quebec Solidaire (QS) calls for free education from kindergarten to university.

In Gatineau, the co-spokesperson Françoise David also confirmed on Monday that his government would repeal Law 12, born out of bill 78, starting September 5. QS would also give amnesty to all persons charged in connection with this law.

According to Ms. David, there is no alternative to revolve the student conflict but to introduce free education.

QS’ announcement on education was made in the riding of Hull, in the presence of candidate Bill Clennett. This region has been the backdrop of some important events this spring at the Université du Québec en Outaouais where up to 151 people were arrested in April.

To fulfill its goal, QS will phase out fees in stages, starting first with a fee freeze, before abolishing them completely.

The group evaluated the cost of free university education at $440 million. This counts with a contribution from financial institutions. This contribution will take the form of a tax of less than 1 percent on the capital of financial institutions and banks.

Besides education, QS has also presented its commitments to labour relations. The program proposes a reform of the Labour Code to prohibit lockouts and the use of injunctions against picketing. Multi-employer certification will also be allowed and anti-scab legislation amended to prohibit indirect use of any employees by the employer in conflict.

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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.