Dig deep, O Students, dig deep

So now we are stuck with a new law imposed on us all of dubious constitutionality, a law that while not restraining our ability to protest, certainly circumscribes it much more narrowly than before. All so the Quebec provincial government can save some face in its long running dispute with Quebec students (not sure how the 8 hour advance notice is going to work in an era of social media, but we'll see; at this moment, the police are still figuring out how to enforce this).

Bollocks, I say. While Charest certainly has the right to do this with their legislative powers and legitimacy as the duly elected government of the province, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

The students on the other hand, seem to be digging in. Their frustration was palpable at the press conference as PL78 was revealed and since them, have shown some willingness to be flexible with the government, provided the Minister of Education will listen.

But I'd like to hear a new tune by the students. Not once have I heard them pronounce on the financial situation of the province.

Oh sure, they talk about wanting to reform how the Universities spend their money. I'm good with that.

But I think they're living in a bit of a bubble. They want the state to pay for education - make it free, in other words - meaning that the public needs to shoulder all the burden through taxes.

I don't know how that's going to work. The province has such a high debt load that fully 11% of its annual expenses are interest payments on more than $170 billion in debt. Both the debt load and the interest on that debt are growing. Add to this that, of the $86 billion in revenues recorded during the most recent fiscal year, over 17% (or $15 billion) is transfers from the Federal Government (read: Alberta. Yes, it's all those petrodollars that are helping fund our social programs. Ironic, eh?). It's all here in black and white. That's not a lot of margin to maneuvre.
So, I'd like to see the students dig a little deeper. Acknowledge the financial situation the province is in. Become a partner with them in finding creative ways of living within our means.

Asking the province, and by extension, Quebec taxpayers, to shoulder more of the load isn't going to fly.