Having received over 800 endorsements\u2014including nearly 200 from groups and organizations\u2014the letter calls for a united front against the CAQ, which is currently waging an offensive not only against what remains of Quebec's social safety net, but also against the capacity of community and union organizations to mobilize, as well as against marginalized community such as migrants, Muslims, and trans people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its publication takes place in the run-up to the national demonstration on November 29, which many see as the kickoff of a prolonged social movement. This inter-union mobilization, supported by community and activist organizations, has the potential to bring together a broad spectrum of progressive forces and make visible the extent of opposition to the CAQ's destructive regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, whatever the turn out on November 29, we can expect that parts of the media, the political class, and even union leaders will consider this effort a failure. Those who are quick to announce the death of the left will be tempted to discredit the potential of a strong social movement in the months ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is precisely why it's important to emphasize that this mobilization is neither the starting point nor the end of the ongoing struggle. Rather, it is one moment in a longer process of convergence among forces that have been pushing back against a CAQ regime visibly cracking at the seams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With its poll numbers collapsing and its majority at risk<\/a>, the Legault government has embarked on what looks like a deliberate campaign of sabotage, if not outright revenge,through a series of bills and measures aimed at undermining what remains of Quebec's social protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill 97, \u201caimed primarily at modernizing the forestry regime,\u201d introduced by Minister Ma\u00eft\u00e9 Blanchette V\u00e9zina\u2014before she slammed the door like other CAQ ministers. The bill sought to overhaul the forestry regime for the benefit of industry by restricting Indigenous sovereignty and, more generally, by making opposition to forestry operations nearly impossible across roughly one-third of Quebec\u2019s forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This drive to limit avenues for contestation has become a hallmark of recent CAQ initiatives. Fortunately, a sustained mobilization by Indigenous groups\u2014supported by environmental organizations and citizens\u2014defeated the bill. The road blockades organized by Indigenous land defenders within the Mamo alliance were particularly decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill 1, the so-called Quebec Constitutional Act, pushes this authoritarian turn further still. It proposes introducing a \u201ccollective right of the Quebec nation\u201d that judges would be required to consider in Charter-related decisions. The most alarming element, however, is the bill\u2019s explicit effort to restrict the ability of organizations to challenge provincial laws on the basis of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Francis H\u00e9bert-Bernier (Pivot, October 25 2025)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another bill widely denounced by unions is Bill 14 (formerly Bill 89), which would restrict the right to strike by expanding the government\u2019s capacity to impose return-to-work legislation in the name of \u201cpublic welfare\u201d\u2014a deliberately vague and easily weaponized notion. This anti-union measure is reinforced by Bill 3, which targets the financing of the labour movement and its capacity to engage in political work or support struggles beyond narrow labour relations. The goal is clear: to depoliticize and weaken unions, which, despite decades of declining militancy, remain among the last effective counterpowers in Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These attacks come alongside a steady stream of additional measures. Bill 2 reforms the health-care funding system and has already led to the closure of social clinics such as Agora. Community organizations have faced frozen subsidies, announced without warning by Minister France-\u00c9laine Duranceau. Changes to the method for calculating allowable rent increases will exacerbate the housing crisis. The government has proposed banning street prayers; introduced anti-trans measures in schools, including the policing of gender-neutral bathrooms; rolled back the rights of trans prisoners; and imposed new barriers and freezes on immigration processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The list is not exhaustive. But the pattern is undeniable: in its final stretch, the CAQ appears determined to leave behind a scorched social landscape\u2014one in which any future government will find it easier to continue, if not intensify, Quebec\u2019s authoritarian drift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent months, collective resistance has grown sharper and more frequent. On November 7, nearly 30,000 students went on strike to denounce austerity and authoritarian abuses in education. STM workers launched a weeks-long general strike demanding better working conditions and proper funding for public transit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the summer, Indigenous land defenders and their allies have mounted repeated blockades and demonstrations to contest forestry reform and assert their territorial sovereignty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On November 23, the newly formed Popular Anti-Fascist Front organized a demonstration against the far right that brought together numerous community and labour groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solidarity movement with Palestine also remains strong\u2014mobilizing in the streets and in campuses despite escalating repression, particularly at Concordia University, where the administration appears to have abandoned any semblance of internal democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, migrant justice, environmental, feminist, queer, and trans organizations continue their own fronts of struggle. A call is beginning to circulate within union ranks: the proposal to organize a social strike for International Workers\u2019 Day on May 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What is a social strike? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Main rouge Coalition<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A single day of action will not be enough to win. But establishing a clear horizon allows us to coordinate our forces, articulate shared goals, and prepare to confront the CAQ\u2019s offensive collectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the months leading to May, it will be essential to invest in the emerging convergences\u2014starting with the student strike called by CRUES for March 23\u201327.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If May 1 is to play the pivotal role we hope for, it must crown months of organizing and mobilization by the province\u2019s progressive forces. This is all the more important given that nothing guarantees the major union leaderships will not back down\u2014as they did in 2004\u2014or attempt to dilute the movement for lack of political courage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The opportunity is before us. Our task now is to shape our interventions within this emerging movement. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWinter will be hot, because the CAQ has declared war on [labour and community groups]*,\u201d\u00a0<\/a> announced the authors of an open letter published in Le Devoir<\/em> on November 22. \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe CAQ offensive<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Le projet de loi 1, ou Loi constitutionnelle du Qu\u00e9bec a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9pos\u00e9 le 9 octobre dernier par le ministre de la Justice et ministre responsable des Relations canadiennes Simon Jolin-Barrette.\n\nIl vient affaiblir consid\u00e9rablement un des principaux contre-pouvoirs du syst\u00e8me l\u00e9gislatif de la Belle Province, soit la capacit\u00e9 des groupes minoritaires et marginalis\u00e9s \u00e0 invoquer la Charte des droits et libert\u00e9s pour se d\u00e9fendre contre les abus des gouvernements, selon Louis-Philippe Lampron, professeur de droit \u00e0 l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Laval.\n\n\u00ab Ce que [le gouvernement] veut, c\u2019est de saper la capacit\u00e9 des institutions judiciaires \u2013 parce que ce sont les seules qui ont cette capacit\u00e9 actuellement \u2013 de d\u00e9clarer des lois inapplicables parce qu\u2019elles contreviennent aux droits et libert\u00e9s prot\u00e9g\u00e9s par la Charte qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise \u00bb, pr\u00e9vient-il.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhat Response From Progressive Forces?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After years in which the province seemed mired in apathy\u2014its combative traditions muted\u2014everything now points to a reawakening of the social body. Progressive forces are proliferating and taking shape across a multitude of groups and organizational forms.
But scattered as they are, these forces remain ill-equipped to confront the magnitude of the current moment, against a backdrop of global fascist resurgence. Today, convergence is not a slogan; it\u2019s a necessity. In this context, the unions\u2019 call for collaboration provides a promising opening\u2014one that must be seized.
The November 29 demonstration will hopefully allow these different movements to meet, converge, and express their outrage together. But another date offers an even more compelling horizon.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nTowards a social strike on May 1!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A social strike is a work stoppage and cessation of activities on the largest possible scale. Its purpose is to oppose government decisions that run counter to the interests of the majority of the population.\n\nIt is therefore a strike movement that brings together social groups from different sectors (unions, student associations, community groups , women's groups, etc.). A social strike is different from a traditional union strike in that it has common demands with a broader social scope than winning a better collective agreement, and it brings together several sectors of society.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Together, let\u2019s turn the tide and confront the wave of authoritarianism and austerity\u2014whether it comes from the CAQ or any other party!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWinter will be hot, because the CAQ has declared war on [labour and community groups]*,\u201d\u00a0<\/a> announced the authors of an open letter published in Le Devoir<\/em> on November 22. \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,108],"tags":[338,316,315,341,343,138,139,339,342,128,135,116,133,340],"class_list":["post-7225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualite","category-lutte","tag-1er-mai","tag-anti-fascisme","tag-antifascisme","tag-caq","tag-francois-legault","tag-front-rose","tag-frontrose","tag-greve-sociale","tag-legault","tag-manifestation","tag-montreal","tag-politique","tag-queer","tag-syndicat"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-150x150.png","medium":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-300x148.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-768x380.png","large":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","1536x1536":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","2048x2048":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-18x9.png","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-392x272.png","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-390x205.png","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-130x90.png","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-800x445.png","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-150x150.png","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","colormag-elementor-block-extra-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","colormag-elementor-grid-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","colormag-elementor-grid-small-thumbnail":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","colormag-elementor-grid-medium-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png","mailpoet_newsletter_max":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"Front Rose","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/538a2f1aa4c43ebe553db8c07e2bfc5bdfca24c2817d2fd416ffe336cb23e0c1?s=96&d=blank&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"\"L\u2019hiver sera chaud, car la CAQ a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 la guerre \u00e0 la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 civile\",\u00a0annon\u00e7aient les auteurices d\u2019une lettre ouverte publi\u00e9e dans Le Devoir le 22 novembre dernier.\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u00a0","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Actualit\u00e9","Lutte"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1129,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":10,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere.png",900,445,false],"medium":["https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-300x148.png",300,148,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Banniere-150x150.png",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"Front Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/frontrose.gay\/en\/author\/douxdoux\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":4,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/538a2f1aa4c43ebe553db8c07e2bfc5bdfca24c2817d2fd416ffe336cb23e0c1?s=96&d=blank&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Actualit\u00e9<\/a> Lutte<\/a>","yoast_head":"\n