\t\t\t\t\t Nearly 500 students gathered in Dorchester Square on March 27 to protest austerity and education cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The demonstration was part of a week of action<\/a> organized by the Coalition de r\u00e9sistance pour l\u2019unit\u00e9 \u00e9tudiante syndicale (CRUES), which saw over 65,000 students<\/a> at various CEGEPs and universities in Quebec go on strike.<\/p>\n Audrey Beaudoin, the mobilization coordinator for Concordia University\u2019s Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), says that the CRUES coalition initiated the ongoing campaign against austerity in response to budget cuts<\/a>, student services cuts<\/a> and \u201ccrumbling\u201d university infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beaudoin said they have witnessed the effects of this austerity at Concordia.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re running this educational institution like a business, and they\u2019re making some very bad financial decisions, and we feel it on the ground here,\u201d Beaudoin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n They expressed frustration with Concordia\u2019s reduced shuttle bus schedule<\/a>, poor maintenance of campus buildings, and Concordia\u2019s decision<\/a> not to renew the contracts of 57 limited-term appointment professors, while also pushing back sabbaticals for full-time faculty.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t even get up the freaking escalator today because it was dead,” Beaudoin added. “I see security everywhere, but I have to run around eight different floors to find a recycling bin.”<\/p>\n Bernaud H\u00e9roux, who was granted a pseudonym for safety reasons, is a student at C\u00e9gep du Vieux Montr\u00e9al, which participated in the week\u2019s strike.<\/p>\n H\u00e9roux told The Link that they were protesting what they see as the Quebec<\/a> and Canadian governments\u2019 funding of corporate subsidies<\/a> and the military<\/a> at the expense<\/a> of public services such as schools, hospitals and public transit.<\/p>\n \u201cStudent services are disappearing, librarians are disappearing, contracts are disappearing. We can’t replace the positions. The school is falling apart,\u201d H\u00e9roux said in French. \u201cWe have to stand up against this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00c9douard Lessard-Duchesne, a student at C\u00e9gep de Saint-Laurent, said that his school\u2019s infrastructure has been noticeably affected by Quebec\u2019s austerity measures. The measures include a $570 million education budget cut<\/a> for the 2025-26 school year and the postponement<\/a> of renovations and maintenance for school buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of our buildings are just falling apart,\u201d Lessard-Duchesne said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a nurse, [and] people are forced to go to the library to just go get Tylenol.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that many of his classes have been relocated to buildings a 25-minute walk from the main campus due to multiple closures<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n C\u00e9gep de Saint-Laurent also participated in the week\u2019s strike, and over 100 students occupied<\/a> the school\u2019s main pavilion on March 23.<\/p>\n Lessard-Duchesne told The Link that the occupation lasted several hours until police arrived with a warrant and used force to remove students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe cops brutalized a couple of people, and some people were basically shoved out of the building,\u201d Lessard-Duchesne said.<\/p>\n ASFA, which represents<\/a> around 17,000 Concordia students, participated<\/a> in the week of action. However, it did not go on strike because timing constraints prevented them from holding a strike vote meeting, according to Beaudoin.<\/p>\n The association plans to hold a vote for a student strike against austerity on April 8 at 6 p.m. in the Concordia Student Union (CSU) lounge on the seventh floor of Concordia\u2019s Hall building.<\/p>\n For the CRUES week of action, ASFA organized a banner painting on March 23 in the Hall building mezzanine, a community dinner in the CSU Lounge on March 25, and participated in the CRUES demonstration.<\/p>\n Beaudoin believes that Concordia should address its budget shortfall by cutting its $9 million annual security spending<\/a>\u2014some of which is spent<\/a> on third-party security contracts\u2014and reducing the annual salaries of university administrators, such as Concordia president<\/a> Graham Carr and interim provost Faye Diamantoudi.<\/p>\n Despite ongoing austerity and budget cuts, Concordia campus security\u2019s budget was increased<\/a> for the 2025-26 academic year. The salaries<\/a> of various senior administrators, such as Carr, also increased for the 2024-25 academic year. Carr announced in his fall budget update<\/a> that the senior leadership team will freeze their salaries for 2026-27 as a cost-saving measure.<\/p>\n Beaudoin said they have noticed a significant increase in student awareness and mobilization around austerity at Concordia.<\/p>\n Lessard-Duchesne mentioned he has seen the same trend at C\u00e9gep de Saint-Laurent.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that what we built is beautiful,\u201d Lessard-Duchesne said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a really, really, really long time [since] the Cegep had this much mobilization.\u201d<\/p>\n The protesters began marching at 1:30 p.m., passed by Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al and dispersed at McGill Metro station shortly after 3 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the heavy presence of SPVM officers, no police intervention occurred.<\/p>\n \t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\tNearly 500 students gathered in Dorchester Square on March 27 to protest austerity and education cuts.
\n Photo Lana Koffler<\/p>\n