Hundreds of college and university students are to stage a walkout on Thursday to protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The one-day boycott of classes, organized by student groups across the country as a Hemispheric Day of Action, aims to raise awareness of the free-trade agreement being negotiated in Ecuador this week.
Globalization is undermining accessibility to quality public post-secondary education, said Aimee van Drimmelen of the Quebec branch of the Canadian Federation of Students.
"Some students are hearing about it for the first time," she said of the trade deal.
But others worry that economic liberalization will lead to reduced government spending on education, health care and other social programs because under FTAA regulations, such subsidies could be ruled "an unfair trade advantage."
"Students have futures to worry about and it's no surprise that they are concerned with the negative impacts of the FTAA both at home and abroad," van Drimmelen said.
In solidarity with the Hemispheric Day of Action - which coincides with an FTAA meeting of 35 ministers in Quito - students from Quebec universities and C?GEPs will boycott classes and stage a march through downtown Montreal.
"Nothing has been forgotten since the Summit of the Americas" in Quebec last April, said Fran?ois Ballargeon of the Association Pour une Solidarit? Syndicale ?tudiante. "Our anger has only grown, as have the numbers of people concerned by the threat to social rights."
Students will be arriving from across the province and parts of Ontario in rented buses.
A series of strike actions is planned until 2005, he said.
"We can't allow ourselves to become isolated," said Eleuterio Mayo Vargas, a representative of a coalition of student organizations from the southern province of Guerrero in Mexico.
"Together we can confront attacks against education."
The Halloween day march is to start at Concordia University's Henry F. Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., at 3 p.m.
It will continue to the Montreal Exchange and then Place des Arts before coming to an end at the corner of Ste. Catherine and Berri Sts.
Commander Pierre Cadieux of the Montreal police said his officers are aware of the demonstration and will be taking necessary steps, starting with "an evaluation of risks."
"Our crowd-control experts will be on hand," he said. "I can't tell you our strategy for security reasons but we will be ready."
For more on the solidarity network: www.snsf-rscz.com
cfidelma@thegazette.southam.ca
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