Thousands Protest Fee Hikes in Montreal Students, community groups, unions oppose privatization of pulic services http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3307

Thousands took to the streets of downtown Montreal yesterday to protest the Quebec Liberal government's 2010 budget. Quebec's grassroots student union l'Association pour une solidarite syndicale etudiante (ASSE) joined forces with a wide coalition of community organizations, bringing forward a public critique of a budget that introduces fee hikes for cornerstones of the public sector, including health-care and education. 

"This budget is bad because it attempts to introduce major changes to the public nature of Quebec society—a move towards people paying for public services," outlines Marie Blais, vice-President of the Federation nationale des enseignantes et enseignants du Quebec (FNEEQ). "Education and health-care are public rights, not products that we purchase as citizens."