Hundreds took part in a demonstration Saturday to speak out against the Couillard government’s austerity measures and demand a massive reinvestment in public services and social programs in Quebec.
 
About 300 people from 100 organizations united under the banner the Coalition against User Fees and the Privatization of Public Services to ask Quebec to stop what they call “the ransacking of public services.”

The group marched to the border of Parc Extension and the Town of Mount Royal, a location they said is symbolic because it highlights the divide between the haves and the have nots.
  
Austerity directly affects services to the public, said coalition spokesperson Veronique Laflamme.

The poorest and most vulnerable of our society are far from immune to these cuts, she said, citing cutbacks affecting, for example, people with mental health issues and students with learning difficulties.

The coalition, also called Main rouge, also said there is a larger divide of social inequalities, exacerbated by cuts to welfare and financing for social housing.

Laflamme said she believes “austerity is not inevitable,” but rather, an “ideological agenda.”

Instead, protesters say money can come from areas other than education and health care.

“When the government says that they don't have any money, we say we have a solution: We can go get some more money on taxes to the big enterprises,” said Main rouge spokesperson Dominique Daigneault.

The protest comes only days after Quebec hinted that negotiations are going well with the Common Front,

the largest union group representing public workers. It is in talks this weekend with the province.

If tangible progress isn't made, it will hold a general strike Dec. 9

“Up until last night there is still no substance on the table regarding our demands,” said Jeff Begley of the Confederation of National Trade Unions.

After countless demonstrations, the government also announced a $100 million injection into education, but it is not enough for teacher and demonstrator Helene Giguere.

“That's not what reinvestment means to me, it's just I'm giving you back something I took away from you before,” she said.            

The money comes with a tradeoff: more for education but $120 million less for daycare, which Begley said amounts to 5,000 job losses.

“And that's just direct jobs,” he added. “What's going to happen to those who depend on those services? Will they have to put into question their jobs?”

With files from La Presse Canadienne