Quebec's university students
have been on strike since February 25. They're protesting
a $103 million cut from the province's bursaries program.
At press time, about 230,000 students were involved, including
students from three of the four medical faculties in the
province — University of Montreal, University of
Sherbrooke and Laval. McGill's med students are the only
ones not to join the fray.
STUDENT
SOLIDARITY
Med students have a reputation — deserved or not
— as the conservative folks on campus and certainly
aren't reputed to be placard-waving firebrands. Perhaps
that's why the decision for the province's med students
to join the strike has come as a surprise to some and
has indubitably upped the pressure for government to
back down. "We wanted to show our solidarity with the
other students," explains Martin Patenaude Monette,
a first-year med student and the vice-president of the
University of Sherbrooke Medical Students' Association.
"About 50% of med students are surviving on loans and
bursaries," he adds, "it's very costly."
Mr Patenaude Monette believes that
in joining the strike med students are showing the social
role doctors ought to play in society. "As future doctors
we need to know the socio-economic context of our patients'
lives," he says. "And a good education means a good
salary, which is essential to being in good health."
STRIKE
WITH CARE
Are the striking med students worried that the time
off will jeopardize their final grades or even their
chances of graduating? No, because the med students
opted to cap their striking at 48 hours per week. "Plus,
med students are autonomous enough to be able to catch
up on what they've missed," adds Mr Patenaude Monette.
And he's quick to point out that striking med students
have taken precautions to make sure that hospital and
patient services aren't disrupted. "Only students who
aren't working in hospitals or rotations will be on
strike."
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