Editor:
(re: Tuition protest a smokescreen, Interior News, May 16, 2012).
As a Smithereen-Montrealer, the recent editorial in The Interior News of the Quebec events saddens me.
Hundreds of thousands of citizens, young and old, are trying to get the country’s attention on the current provincial government’s decision to axe education.
The same government is also selling the 25 per cent of Canada to China.
Right-winged governments, as in the rest of the country, have no problem selling our resources and cutting back in health and education.
The record of tertiary education management in Quebec is also soiled.
Highly corrupted upper administration with salaries and bonuses in the millions, and multiple fines given over the last years for financial misconduct to a handful of universities.
The burden on my generation is unprecedented, because of baby-boomers healthcare costs, pensions and debt.
Is it fair to increase the load on our shoulders?
Wouldn’t it hurt our society to consciously prevent 10,000 young adults per year to attend university?
People in Quebec are fighting for the obvious benefit of every Canadian, and against the willingness of this highly corrupt government to kill the great potential of my generation.
The editor depicting the protesters as spoiled brats is outrageous.
I can’t comprehend how having two years of mandatory CEGEP, compared to other Canadians, and delaying your entry to University and the workforce is an advantage, as suggested by the editor.
And who attends these universities in Montreal anyway (which are partially funded through provincial taxes)?
Flocks of Anglophones from outside Quebec take advantage of the cheaper way in the country to get a degree from a renowned institution every year.
They make up for over 25 per cent of the enrollment in some universities.
Some come from Smithers.
Marie-Lou Lefrancois
Smithers