Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Montreal Thursday afternoon in a bid to denounce the spending cuts being enacted by the provincial government.

But the Liberals say the protesters aren’t thinking of the big picture, and that they are making the cuts with students and other young people in mind.

The protest was organized by ASSE, the multi-school association for student-union solidarity. The main protest began in Victoria Square, with other groups marching to that area from Phillips Square and from Concordia University's downtown campus.

ASSE Spokesperson Camille Godbout said the goal of Thursday's demonstration is to oppose the so-called austerity measures being used to balance the provincial government's budget.

"The point of this protest is to show the ideological path taken by the provincial government is being done without a consensus," she said.

“What we're doing today is more than requesting a single thing. It's a different way of envisioning society that we want. We are rejecting the vision that the government is proposing right now,” said Brice Dansereau-Olivier, a member of the “Spring 2015” committee, a group helping to publicize the various protests.

Police had a strong presence before the protest even began, walking through the gathering crowds. While the mood was largely peaceful, it did take a turn toward conflict once a large group of protesters split from the crowd and ended up on de Maisonneuve Blvd. at Beaudry St.

Police repeatedly asked protesters not to block traffic, and when they refused to move officers sprayed tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Members of ASSE estimated their march was 75,000-strong, but reporters said the number was likely between 10,000 and 20,000. No official agency in Montreal provides crowd estimates.

Representatives of 130,000 students voted to hold the one-day protest, and many post-secondary schools decided to cancel classes for the day.

The cancellations are not universal however, with students at many schools voting against a boycott of classes, while at others only members of a few departments have agreed to protest.

Before the protest began members of UQAM said their demonstration should be taken as an "ultimatum" by the government: either it stops spending cuts or protesters will continue to march in the streets.

Teachers from UQAM will also be protesting on Thursday after voting to hold a one-day strike.

Members of many unions, including the FTQ, the CSN and the SCFP have been encouraged to join Thursday's protest, and members of UNIFOR, the Montreal firefighters' union were in the crowd. A number of the protesters weren’t students – they're people of all ages who say this is about more than cuts to education.

“We thought it was important that this movement becomes more than a student movement because everybody's concerned with what the society's becoming and it's not the little cuts. It’s rethinking who we are and we are not in line with what is going on,” said mother Gabrielle van Durme.

CEGEP teacher Sami Massoud said a majority of Quebecers are being "taken for a ride."

“There's a transfer of wealth from the middle class to the people on top and I think it’s unacceptable. It's as simple as that," he said.

Activist and student Laurence Parent pointed out that budget cuts are affecting people with disabilities in terms of access to transportation, access to healthcare services and home care support.

Cuts are necessary, government says

Premier Philippe Couillard said he understood the protesters' desire to maintain the status quo, but said unrestrained spending was no longer an option.

"We're going to spend less than we make [and any] surplus is to be used to cut debt and taxes," he said.

Quebec's public debt is about $200 billion, and the even with very low interest rates, the province spends $11 billion on interest payments every year.

"What we're doing today is to allow, by taking back control of our public finances, allow Quebec to determine its destiny and its choices in the future," said Couillard.

"They will be the ones leading Quebec tomorrow and I want them to have the same choices and the same options that my generation has or had."

Protesters have repeatedly said they want the Liberals to take a different path, including taxing corporate profits more instead of cutting in education or health care programs.

But Finance Minister Martin Coiteux said that plan isn’t all that simple.

‘If we were to increase the fiscal burdens on Quebecers, on companies we would just have less investment, less growth and in the end less money to spend on programs,” he said.

Quebec solidaire spokesperson Amir Khadir said he doesn't buy it – the Liberals have “no credibility” when it comes to doing what's right for young people, he said.

But he refused to say if he agrees with students who want to block access to classrooms, despite a court injunction.

Quebec's public security minister had a message for all involved in the demonstration, police officers and protesters alike.

"If the people have the right to [demonstrate] they have the obligation to respect the rules and I think when the people have that attitude it's more easy for everybody, police and [protester]," said Lise Theriault.