Since the start of the Quebec student general strike, members of the Prairie Struggle Organization along with the collaboration of Common Cause, Union Communist Libertaire and the IWW, have been in the process of putting together a cross-Canada speaking tour on the Quebec student general strike. This strike, which has demonstrated once more the power of mass, combative and democratic social movements, is something that does not come often in Canadian history and expresses politics and strategies that are greatly needed in the rest of Canada. The struggles, and organizational principles demonstrated in this strike are examples that community organizers across Canada should aim to share and educate ourselves on, as our comrades in Quebec have done, due to the fact that its core principles are in fact close to our principles.
The purpose of the speaking tour is to give an in-depth look at why radical politics in Quebec have taken the shape of a rank and file, direct action based movement capable of posing a very real threat to the state and its capitalist proponents. It will Look at “combative unionism” and the strategies it uses to fight legislation, repression and general anti-union approaches put forward against the struggle. Also, the tour will discuss an anarchist analysis of the struggle and why anarchists are involved as a whole.
This speaking tour will also serve the purpose of demystifying fetishisms of Quebec political culture as inherently combative by showing that the roots of successful struggle lies in organizing along directly democratic lines, and building combativeness, and solidarity.
Jerome Raza has been a student activist and organizer since 2004. After a year on the board of his local student union, he joined the executive board of ASSÉ on the eve of the 2005 general student strike against massive cuts to student financial aid. As the student strike coalition, CASSÉÉ, was formed, he was delegated to sit the its negociations committee that was mandated to present the strike movement's demands to the governement. After leaving official capacity in 2006, he joined the Montreal NEFAC collective which later became part of UCL. Since February he has been active in supporting the student mobilisation through various organizing roles, as well as being involved in his neighborhood's autonomous popular assembly borne out of the spontaneous pots & pans movement.