For several weeks, thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets of Quebec, mostly in Montreal, to whine about planned tuition hikes in the province. Too bad it is frowned upon to spank kids because all of these whiny brats need a good whoopin! I cannot believe how messed up their thinking is but as this blog is my rant-zone, I am gonna let some stuff fly.
Over a year ago, the Liberal government of Jean Charest announced that his province was in a financial crisis and some sacrifices were due to allow residents of the province to continue in a lifestyle they have grown accustomed to, and by the way (racisim alert) that lifestyle makes them the drama queens of Canada! I love visiting Quebec and have many dear friends who call Quebec home but ever since I can remember, I have been listening to the these mostly francaphone whiners complain about how unfair their ives are. They are allowed their voice, of course, and should challenge legitimate inequity but their chorus has been shrill as it shreeks for special status and treatment claiming a unique society exists there! Is Quebec unique? Sure. So is Saskatchewan where I grew up. So is Nova Scotia where I just visited and so is B.C. where I will be all this week. Every area of our great nation of Canada is unique in its own way but Quebec has always clamied to be “more unique”. How can you claim that? Because we have allowed them to. So seeing thousands of spoiled brats roaming the streets is bad enough since they should be in school but why are Canadians so surprised.

This entire generation of Quebecois is a by-product of my generation who handed them the keys to the car and after letting them drive whenever, wherever and with whoever they piled in the backseat, we are now taking the keys away and they are having a tantrum. Congratulations to Jean Charest and his government for standing up to these clowns and reminding them that all residents are feeling the stress of the economy and they must do their part! Let’s take a look at some facts.
Quebec has the lowest tuition rates in Canada, even most places in the free world and its costs are subsidized by taxpayers. Quebec has a unique public education system where students finish high school in 11th grade and then attend two years of Cegep (translates in English to “College of General and Vocational Education”) which allows students to choose a stream that will direct them to post-secondary options that may include university, community college, technical schools or none of the above. Cegep is free so if students choose university, they need only pay for three years as Cegep completion comes with the equivalent of first year college so not only are tuition rates in Quebec low, but they get four for the price of three. Am I missing something here? But most insulting is this complete belief that a free university degree should be their right!!! Makes me puke!

This sense of entitlement has got to stop. I will admit to bias. When I was six years old, my parents had to fight to just get me enrolled in a regular school as the practice of the time was to send “all” handicapped children to the “special school” across town. We lived across the street from a Public, albeit Catholic, school and my parents pushed to get me enrolled as what would be the frst student of my kind (crippled) to attend “normal” school in our town’s history. True, one can compare my parents to protesters as they battled an injustice and it was a legitimate one. Tuition hikes are completely different!
I had the remarkable honour of meeting and befriending a young protester of a different class at a convention in Singapore in March. Whaleed Rashed was one of the organizers of youth protests that led to the Arab Spring in Egypt last year. This young man stood for a basic human right…democracy. These young Quebecers are comparing themselves to the Arab protests…Get Real!!!

Let me just say that when I went to school, I was reminded every single day that I was the first. I was the test. How I did in normal school would reflect on every future student with special needs. I needed to be the example and with that comes the most powerful motivator…gratitude! I was truly fortunate to get to go to school. I never thought of it as a right, just a priviledge. My point of view may seem predictable, I am a motivational speaker after all but there is zero argument in the difference between earning a life and having one handed to you!!!!