On Campus

Quebec government walks out of negotiations

Students declare impasse

The Quebec government has pulled out of negotiations with student leaders, quashing hopes that renewed talks this week would lead to an end more than three months of student protests in the province.

Martine Desjardins, leader of the FEUQ student union, told the CBC that the government hadn’t considered the students’ most recent proposal, and that the government instead stuck to its offer to reduce the annual tuition hike to $219 from $254, the CBC reports.

“It’s an impasse, it’s really an impasse,” said Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, speaking with reporters in Quebec City.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the leader of the more militant CLASSE union, has called for renewed protests over the government’s decision to walk away from the negotiating table. “The objective is to solve the crisis and to solve the crisis we need an offer that will be accepted by the general assemblies. And that is what we continuously repeat to Ms. Courchesne,” Nadeau-Dubois told the Globe and Mail.

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