by KEN HECHTMAN

Montreal peace activists still can’t stop talking about the record-breaking turnout of the Feb. 15 anti-war march. “It was inspiring,” says Aaron Lakoff of the McGill chapter of Montreal Students Against War. “We’re tiny specks, but we’re part of a big movement now. We want to take the momentum and bring it back to McGill.”

They’ll get their chance with the continent-wide student strike to be held on March 5. Despite opposition by McGill Hillel, which included stalling tactics, nuisance motions and a walkout intended to break quorum, a Feb. 20 Students’ Society of McGill University [SSMU] general assembly voted nearly unanimously for a full strike and picket line. “We’d have gone ahead anyway,” says Lakoff, “but now the SSMU has a mandate to throw its resources into the strike.”

“SSMU can now negotiate with the administration for an amnesty for students who miss class and for other things we’ll need,” adds McGill NDP organizer Alan Hamson.

According to Lakoff, the idea of a student strike originated with the New York-based National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, and the Canadian student movement signed on at a student anti-war conference held in Toronto on Jan. 30. The phrase used was “day of strike and/or action,” to recognize that not all campuses will be able to pull off a complete shutdown strike. “U of T is too big and too spread out. CVM [CÉGEP Vieux-Montréal] will definitely be closed. Here at McGill, our picket line will be symbolic. We’ll engage people in conversation, but not forcibly stop anyone from going to class,” says Lakoff.

Valerie Soly, an executive assistant at the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSE), the far-left CÉGEP students’ union, lists off participating campuses. “We’ve heard that CVM, Maisonneuve and St-Laurent will be closed by their administrations. Drummondville, Sherbrooke and Quebec will have their votes one week in advance. The others will have their vote the day of the strike,” says Soly. The Maisonneuve and St-Laurent administrations did tell the Mirror the schools would be open, however, while CVM directed inquiries to the CÉGEP’s student society.

The timing is deliberate. “Generally, ASSE-affiliated student associations don’t work with their college administrations,” Soly explains. “They have a rapport du force. Many things will happen at the last minute so they don’t give the administrations enough advance warning to break the strike.”

She also mentioned students from the ASSE schools converging on Concordia after their walkouts and a 2 p.m. march to the Canadian Forces recruiting office on Ste-Catherine W. Other destinations are under consideration, but she wouldn’t name them for publication.

And, of course, Concordia has its own problems. Their strike vote will be held on March 5. The only way the Concordia Student Union (CSU) can assemble a group of students on campus without the university’s lawyers running off to get an injunction is through holding a general assembly. “Our right to hold a GA is protected under the Labour Code, and, yes, we’d expect an injunction if we tried to mobilize students any other way,” says CSU researcher David Bernans. :