Since November 21, the Quebec public sector has been going through its longest strikes in 40 years. Among the upheavals caused, thousands of children and adolescents in Quebec find themselves deprived of education. It should be remembered: in Quebec, education is not only a right provided for in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms but also an obligation, and some voices are being raised to recognize it as an essential service.
For a fifth week in a row, families are faced with a situation that is absolutely not normal. We juggle as best we can work, ordinary household chores, and “homeschooling” — a nebulous activity that essentially consists of making lots of crafts and cookies, controlling screen time, and managing arguments while going at the park.
We are like the proverbial frog placed in increasingly hot water and wondering, having reached the boiling point, when his life became unbearable. Hardened by pandemic training, we resignedly accepted the disruptions caused by the first days of the strike. But no one agreed to play in what now looks like a bad film. And we are well aware that for many other families, the situation is downright hellish.
With this strike, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government is clearly demonstrating to us that it does not know how to negotiate in good faith with state workers, and that it prefers to ignore the problems at hand. to transform the public sector into a vast private enterprise. With his dream team managers and business people, this government is poorly equipped to support and build sustainable public services.
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) estimates that the State has saved more than a billion dollars so far during the strike in unpaid wages. An economicist government with a short vision will welcome this. However, this money, our taxes, should not be a dormant payroll waiting to be distributed over the years to come.
This amount had a function in the present. It had to be a collective investment in our public services, and in the education of our children in particular. Everyone had to win: our children would receive a quality education; the government would take care of this with schools in good condition, balanced classes, competent and well-paid teams; parents would continue to work and pursue their own education.
What we are witnessing is a deliberate undermining, a diversion of funds from their primary function. If a private company were managed like this, shareholders would not have waited very long before showing its managers and directors the door.
Children starting a fifth week at home are nauseated. The other day we listed reasons why they want to return to school with enthusiastic staff in front of them. This is what they wrote: “We want to learn. » “We don’t want to lose education. » “We miss our teachers and our friends. » “We want teachers to be well paid. » “I forgot my multiplication tables. »
The next generation may have access to electric car batteries, courtesy of Northvolt and unprecedented government subsidies. But if the citizens of tomorrow do not know how to use and transform knowledge, in particular to take inventory of their trashed home, if they do not learn to engage in the world to repair it, they will not be no more advanced…
Our hearts go out to the strikers — mainly women — to whom we will entrust our children and who have chosen to demonstrate, sometimes without strike funds, for a fairer Quebec. To Mr. François Legault and Mr. Bernard Drainville, for whom education should be a priority, until you change jobs, we are asking you to make a little effort (a little flexibility?) in order to correctly carry out the job for which you are were elected. You and your government will be remembered for whatever reasons you choose.
*The list of signatories can be found on our digital platforms.
*Also signed this letter: Jonathan Hope; Madeleine Durand; Martine Delvaux; Jean-François Hamel; Mathilde Barraband; Edith Cochrane; Gabrielle Dubé; Aurélia Filion; Alexis Fortier-Lalonde; Kim Waldron; Jean-Michel Ross; Karyne Lemieux; Ariel Ifergan; Chantal Vinette; Georgi Boyadzhiev; Elena Angelova; Brenna Kaukonen; Guillaume Ethier; Caroline Adam; Matthew Dias; Christina Contandriopoulos; Lynne Cooper; Andrew Kirk; Geneviève Aubry; Isabelle Miron; André Habib; Pascal-Anne Lavallée; Raphaëlle Aubin; Rocio Carvajo-Lucena; Angel Bohorquez; Émilie Auclair; Cassie Berard; Bertrand Scherrer; Alexia Moyer; Dominic Leclerc; Arianne LaSalle; Neale Van Fleet; Gosia Buk; Thomas Unterberger; Isabelle Ducret; Max Kaplun; Audrey Robinson; Patrick Evans; Ophélie Tremblay; Eric Simard; Claire Fortier; Daniel Lalonde; Julie Cusmariu; Maude Laurendeau; Denis LeBreton; Katrine Roussel; Jeanne Bilodeau; Véronique Paquette; Benoît Leduc; Stephanie Boehi; Minnie Richardson; Carole Fréchette; Emilie Villeneuve; Kim Nguyen; Michel Lacroix; Etienne Durand; Geraldine Morel; Christine Charrette; Geneviève Rochette; Bruno Pucella; Kathryn Jezer-Morton; Claudia Cicigoi; Anik Decost; Elizabeth Dimoglou; Carole Poirier; Anna Demay; Walid Mangour; Caroline Gervais; Mathieu St-Onge; Nicolas Saunier; Elisabeth Lebel; Paule Mackrous; Martin Beauregard; Benjamin Loomer; Netta Rotstein; André-Pierre Contandriopoulos and children.