The CAQ is showing its true face. The announcement of $570 million in education cuts are only the latest in a long list of attacks, provoking widespread anger and collapsing support for the government.
These latest cuts are on top of the $600 million cut in 2024 and another $70 million cut in March of this year. To enforce this, the Minister has forbidden schools to run deficits. For school administrators who have been struggling with meager budgets for years, tough choices will have to be made.
The inevitable result is clear for all to see: fewer teachers, fewer classes, fewer aides and tutors, cuts in food assistance and a general deterioration of the education system.
The program of the bourgeoisie
But these cuts don’t come out of nowhere. For a long time, the program of the Quebec ruling class has been to cut social spending in order to make the province more competitive on the global market. They want less social services, less taxes on the rich, more privatization and weaker unions.
This was most clearly expressed in the 2005 manifesto Pour un Quebec lucide written by ex-PQ premier Lucien Bouchard and his supporters. Every government since, from Charest to Marois to Couillard have loyally followed the dictates of the bourgeoisie.
The result was that support for the two ruling parties, the Parti Quebecois and the Liberals collapsed in 2018 and the CAQ soared to power. Seen by many as a “new” party and riding on an anti-establishment wave, Legault and the CAQ made all sorts of promises including “Even if Quebec were to face an economic slowdown, education funding will be protected.” How these words sting with hypocrisy!
But the CAQ could not avoid the inevitable. The ruling class needs austerity.
Standard & Poor recently downgraded the province’s credit rating, threatening to do so again if the state of the government’s finances does not improve. The trade war poses an existential crisis for Quebec capitalism which sells approximately 85 per cent of all its products to the U.S. market. The economic crisis will mean lower government revenue, while the lower credit score means that it will cost more to the government to borrow.
In this context, the need for the Quebec ruling class to carry out austerity is stronger than ever. And the CAQ is happy to perform this job. In addition to the cuts to education, they have implemented healthcare cuts leading to 1,300 positions being abolished. They also legalized the sale of electricity by private producers with Bill 69, opening the door to privatize Hydro Quebec.
And then there was Bill 89, which severely restricts the right to strike. So in addition to imposing austerity, the CAQ is limiting the ability of the unions to fight back.
The only issue with this is that this program is wildly unpopular with the working class. Unsurprisingly, support for the CAQ has fallen to its lowest point in a decade at around 15-17 per cent. The latest projections show that they will be reduced to zero seats in the National Assembly!
Only the working class can defeat the CAQ
But the fact that the vast majority of the population does not support the CAQ, will not stop them from imposing the program of the Quebec ruling class. Because they enjoy a majority of 86 out of the 125 seats in the national assembly, they will be able to pass their regressive program without any problems. With the next election not until October 2026 – the parliament offers no way to stop these attacks.
We cannot simply wait until the next election. Besides, while the Parti Quebecois are leading in the polls – we should have no illusions in that party. We all remember when Pauline Marois came to power and implemented her own austerity program. And we shouldn’t forget when the PQ government crushed the nurses in 1999.
The only way we can defend our living conditions, our services is if we fight.
Instinctively, the working class has begun to move and a mass movement is brewing. Just after the cuts were announced in June, spontaneous demonstrations were organized by parents. Also, “Ensemble, unis pour l’école”, a coalition of education unions, parents’ committees and school administrators has been formed.
But the potential to build a movement must go beyond the education sector. It is obvious to anyone who has been paying attention that this government is not just targeting the education system.
It is therefore in the interest of the entire labour movement to mobilize against this government. The conditions for a mass movement along the lines of 2012 or 2015 are clearly present as millions of people are now turning on the CAQ. Hatred of the government is widespread and the government is weaker than ever. All that is needed is a focal point.
Québec solidaire MP Sol Zanetti has called for a “national uprising against austerity in education”. And we couldn’t agree more.
With a generalized movement, with mass demonstrations, rallies and strike action by unions affected by the cuts – the working class has the power to beat back these attacks. The unions must use their vast resources to bring such a movement to light.
Only the working class can defeat the CAQ.
