A murky situation at CEGEP du Vieux Montreal remains no clearer Friday, as a vote aimed at determining the fate of the current protests has been put off until Tuesday.
It will be the fourth such recent vote at the CEGEP.
Earlier in the week students held a six-hour general assembly to debate the issue. They held three votes on the topic: the first two were in favour of stopping but the third was to go ahead.
Each vote was close but the total number of participants dropped as the meeting continued.
On Friday questions were raised about how the next vote should be conducted, as some questioned whether a show of hands provides an accurate tally. Traditionally votes are held by a show of hands, which many participants say is confusing because students are spread among several rooms and students are known to wander between rooms while votes are being counted.
Reporters were not allowed inside the building and exiting students interviewed by CTV Montreal offered a variety of responses.
Some threatened reporters with violence, while one woman claimed it was against the law to talk to students. Several then came outside to yell people who were talking to reporters.
Based on the repeated threats, school authorities removed journalists from the building.
Several of those interviewed said that they did not want to participate in any boycott of classes. "I'm actually not against the movement at all. I just don't want us to be on strike anymore. I just want to go back to school," said one.
Another said the protests were going on long enough that it threatened his chances of getting a summer job. "We will lose knowledge, we will lose jobs and money for the other students," he said.
UQAM settling down
Meanwhile things were considerably quieter at UQAM than they were earlier this week, when the university was rocked by tumultuous protest action.
The UQAM teachers union held a meeting Friday in which they offered act as mediator between students and administration. On Thursday a group of teachers and professors called for the resignation of rector Robert Proulx but union president Michele Nevert did not repeat that request Friday.
