Quebec student protest leaders now preaching in Ontario

Quebec student group CLASSE plans to tour Ontario campuses later this month.

Quebec students who led the longest and largest student strike in Canadian history have organised a nine-day "Student Solidarity Tour" to educate students outside of Quebec on how to fight rising post-secondary tuition fees in Ontario.

The event kicked off Thursday night in Ottawa with a speech by protest leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. The leaders are currently in Hamilton as they aim to stop in Kingston, Windsor, Niagara, London, Guelph and Toronto. It would wrap up in Peterborough on July 20.

Sarah Jayne King of the Canadian Federation of Students for Ontario (CFSO) said in Ottawa:
"The tour comes, I think, at an important time for Ontario students where we have a host of challenges ahead of us." 


"We have seen tuition fees increase drastically since 2006."

In the 2010/2011 school year, Ontario students paid an average of $6,640 in tuition fees, according to Statistics Canada. That's the highest tuition in the country

Thousands of students in Quebec have been on strike since February to oppose a tuition fee hike of $254 a year over seven years.

Marches have taken place daily and have included classroom sit-ins. They are set to begin again in mid-August once classes resume at Quebec's 14 CÉGEP (junior) colleges.