Adjunct faculty member David Coletto writes on the national implications of the Quebec student strikes in the latest edition of iPolitics. The CEO of Abacus Data, Dr. Coletto surveyed Canadians across the country and found a marked generational divide in attitudes toward the protests. “When asked which side they are most likely to support, two thirds of young Canadians (68%) said they sided with the students compared with 51% of Canadians over the age of 30,” he writes. “Among those 60 and over, 36% sided with students compared with 64% who supported the Government of Quebec’s position. Young and old cannot be farther apart on this issue.”
He compares the actions of the Quebec students to the outcry among older Canadians over the federal government raising the eligibility age for Old Age Security to 67. “Just as Baby Boomers expected to be able to retire at 65, students in Quebec expected to pay around $3,000 for tuition. There was an implicit social contract between government and the citizen that was breached when the plan to raise tuition fees was passed by the National Assembly in Quebec.”
The full article is available at: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/05/23/david-coletto-the-national-implications-of-the-student-protests-in-quebec/