Introduction:
Over the years, many conflicts have raised in Quebec province of Canada. However, the conflict surrounding the escalation of university fees was one which took height from mild aggression to extreme violence. This paper studies the cause of the conflict utilizing the continuum of conflict to understand how the conflict escalated. Then the paper highlights the conflict management styles used by the Canadian government and what other management style can be used. A conclusion is provided in the end.
The conflict:
In March of 2011, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand reported that university education cost might rise by $325 consistently for five years (Cowan, 2012). In the wake of a rise in the educational fee, the learner associations had already anticipated a likelihood of strikes by the students. In February 2012, scholar associations from a few schools and colleges embraced the activity and barred Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge, a significant vein in the city. Over the passage of time, various rough conflicts with Montreal police prompted massive protests and arrests. However on May 18, 2012, Quebec's Premier Charest implemented Bill 78 (Cowan, 2012). This bill precluded protests inside 50 meters of any school, successfully making all of downtown Montreal a challenge free zone. May 22 denoted the 100th day of the strike, and almost 400,000 individuals walked through downtown blissfully opposing the law (Cowan, 2012). The event called in for a compromise between the peace officers in the provincial agency of the government and the student body representatives. The conflict subsided after coming on the negotiating terms with the representatives.
Continuum of conflict:
This area of the paper calls for comprehending the conflict escalation through the continuum of conflict. The arrangement of occasions that happened outlines that the occasion proceeded onward from mild frustration to extreme violation that finally brought in the inclusion of peace talkers. As specified prior, occasion began on with little student aggregations verbalizing their dissatisfaction by holding conversations with the legislature officers. They used to hold small sit in demonstrations before Quebec head office (BlatchFord, 2012). However what heightened the clash was the point at which a demonstrator’s eye was wounded, because of a projectile tossed by police blasted close to his face. This delineates that the clash had proceeded onward from mild frustration to roughness. The student body proceeded with including two of the biggest student associations in Quebec, CLASSE and FEUQ, that utilized distinctive strategies and diverse final goals (BlatchFord, 2012). They used hold together walks including many individuals. For instance, On March 22, 2012, a walk with several thousand occurred in downtown Montreal. At its crest, the parade extended up to 50 squares (Green, 2012). While there was no roughness from the student body, the police intervened and raged violence over the crowd. The "Casseroles" arrangement of daily challenges had quickly extended to most Montreal private neighborhoods outside of the ordinary protest routes. In the light of every challenge and roughness, On May 18, 2012, Bill 78 passed in the National Assembly of Quebec taking away the right of the learners to strike. In response to the implementation of Bill 78 and in recognition of 100 days since the start of the understudy strike, another march occurred, with countless students and more or less 1,000 arrests (BlatchFord, 2012). This day got regarded as "The single biggest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history". Based on the above illustration, one can discern how a small student body united with other student associations because their rage was on escalation, and they were moving forward in the quest of fulfillment of their demands (BlatchFord, 2012).
The style of conflict resolution that has been utilized is competing at first. According to this peace promotion style, one group expects to attain its goals without recognizing the requirements and objectives of the other group. This style of conflict management can be seen when the legislature chose to execute Bill 78. Consistent with this Bill, learners were confined from the flexibility of gathering, challenge, or protesting on or close to university grounds, and anyplace in Quebec without former police permission (Green, 2012). The bill additionally puts limitations upon the right of training representatives to strike. On the other hand, according to this Bill, the matter heightened more than it subsided. Consequently the legislature needed to resort the matters with compromising style. In this style, the two groups get minimum of what they need. The administration needed a complete finish to this conflict and the student body needed to curtail the rise in expenses. Thus, the legislature entered into a concurrence with the delegates of the student associations and settled on freezing on what students pay for the following six months, giving both sides some breathing room during transactions that proceed (Hegetschweiler, 2012). After the six months, the Charest government might move ahead with its educational cost rise while eliminating subordinate charges. This imply that the administration could in any case continue with its reexamined plan of charging the escalated tuition fee only which amounted to$254 yearly for seven straight years (Donovan, 2012). This was a trade-off bearded by the student body. The final consequence for the endeavors put in by the government was that everybody voted to come back to the classes.
Other styles of conflict management:
The other style of conflict management that could have been used is collaboration. Collaboration means using problem solving and logical approach to satisfy the needs of both the parties. As per many discussions, the student body was still not relieved and they believed that since the government has attempted to screw you over some time recently, risks are they'll do it once more (Zachary, 2012). CLASSE comprehends that it is better to remain vigilant and precede their exertions rather to rest on their shrubs and accept that the issue has settled (Zachary, 2012). Without a doubt, the election will appear encouraging; however a predictable, determined effort by the student unions will help to deter the government from attempting to backtrack several years in the future (Zachary, 2012). Thus implementing a collaboration style would have given the students more assurance on the matter and would end the protest completely.
Conclusion:
The transaction style that was utilized to manage this conflict between the government and the scholars is competing and then compromising. This does not so much mean a finish to the clash as the administration might in any case again seek the approach of raising educational charges. This may very well be an impermanent answer for six months. However, in the event, more powerful arrangement style must be used, as mentioned above, to have a win-win circumstance for both the groupings. The end result would be an improvement in the level of understanding and trust between the students associations and the government, that might have been of assistance later on matters as well.
References:
BlatchFord, A (2012) “Student protesters, police clash in Montreal streets after Marois praises peaceful process”, National Post, Online from http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/26/student-protesters-police-clash-in-montreal-streets-after-marois-praises-peaceful-process/ [Accessed 6th February 2014]
Cowan, J (2012) “Quebec student protests reveal problems with education system”, Canadian Business, Online from http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/quebec-student-protests-reveal-problems-with-education-system/ [Accessed 6th February 2014]
Donovan, J (2012) “Translating the Quebec student protests” , Waging Non-Violence, Online from < http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/translating-the-quebec-student-protests/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20WagingNonviolence%20%28> [Accessed 6th February 2014]
Green, R (2012) “The Conflict in Context : A Québec high school teacher’s perspective on the movement for accessible education”, Online from http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/10/osos109_ConflictInContext.pdf [Accessed 6th February 2014]
Hegetschweiler, X . (2012) “Quebec Student Tuition Deal: Temporary Freeze Included In Tentative Agreement”, The Huffington Post : Politics Canada, Online from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/05/quebec-student-protest-deal-tuition_n_1484670.html [Accessed 6th February 2014]
Zachary A. B , (2012) “Did Quebec's Election End the Student Movement?” The Nation, Online from < http://www.thenation.com/blog/170068/did-quebecs-election-end-student-movement> [Accessed 6th February 2014]
