2001-2002

GRASP was formed in the fall semester of 2001, and began with a campaign for a 10% tuition cut for all students over the next 5 years.

In January they held an event entitled “Whose University?” on democracy, privatization, and corporate power at McGill. Speakers included Professor Sam Noumoff from McGill, an education researcher from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternative, and CSU researcher and activist David Bernans who wrote the book “Con U Inc: Privatization, Marketization and Globalization at Concordia University (and Beyond)”. The speakers were followed by a party and fund raiser at Gerts called “The Occupation of Gerts”, co-hosted with the McGill International Students Association. These events were used to publicize their upcoming actions.

Later in January they held a demonstration of approximately 200 students outside a Board of Governors meeting, protesting tuition hikes, especially the recent deregulation of tuition for international students. They also called attention to the corporatization of research at McGill, and demanded more student representation on the BoG. Approximately 70 students from the demonstration sat in on the meeting, while on the outside people enjoyed a vegan potluck and large puppets of “corporate BoG Man” and “the Spirit of Student Power” engaged in symbolic conflict. The demonstration was covered by off-campus media, the Montreal Mirror.

In April, GRASP co-hosted with CLAC a teach-in on corporate globalization and grassroots resistance entitled “Breaking Down the G8” in anticipation of the upcoming G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta. The event also included a speaker from the South Asian Women’s Center. In June GRASP endorsed a No One Is Illegal march in Ottawa as part of the “Take the Capital” days of action to protest the meeting of the G8 in Alberta, and in July GRASP endorsed a demonstration in front of the office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Montreal to protest the deportation of non-status Algerians.

2002-2003

In early February GRASP occupied a room in the Arts Building to host a speaker on the upcoming US invasion of Iraq and the global anti-war movement against it. This was the first installment of their “Free Speech Lecture Series”, which protested McGill’s room-booking policy for its “administrative” fees and for its screening of political content by arbitrarily requiring students to pay for McGill security at events deemed to have “increased risk of problems”, such as anything put on by the Arab Student Association. Despite room-bookings manager Debbie Yacoulis calling for the removal of any unauthorized events, the lecture went ahead with no problems from security.Later in February GRASP and other groups initiated a SSMU General Assembly that voted to oppose the US invasion of Iraq through a one day strike on the March 5th day of action against the war. The strike day included soft-pickets by several hundred students at the Milton and Roddick gates, followed by a large demonstration that met at Concordia and proceeded to a military recruitment center. Participants from GRASP connected the anti-war movement to students by pointing out that financial cost of Canadian participation in the war could mean less money for education.

2003-2004

In February the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) working group adopted by SSMU” delivered a letter outlining SSMU’s plans for an ethical purchasing policy, and pressuring the administration to act on the issue. Attached to the letter was a GRASP initiated petition with more than 1000 signatures calling for the administration to adopt a socially responsible investment and purchasing policy. The SRI hoped that SSMU could act as an example for the administration by enacting a policy of its own. In February, the administration announced plans to tender a contract for a campus-wide monopoly on food services, likely to a large corporation such as Chartwells. This sparked widespread opposition, and the formation of the Coalition for Action on Food Services, of which GRASP was a part. March was a month of action against the food services monopolization, including a petition with 7000 signatures, a successful SSMU referendum supporting the campaign, and a three day boycott of Chartwells cafeterias with free provided by the Midnight Kitchen and other groups. In the end the administration conceded and the monopolization of food services was successfully prevented.

2004-2005

In November GRASP worked with SSMU and other groups to organize a week long series of events called “Reclaim your Campus”. The topics covered during the events of the week included student debt, financial aid, international tuition, monopolization of food services, turnitin.com, and socially responsible investment. The week ended with a protest party in front of Three Bares park followed by a demonstration of more than 50 people in front of the James Administration building. The demonstration, which included music and samosas, was against the administration’s role in creating many of the student problems discussed during the week. During the demonstration the administration demanded that the music be turned off, and SSMU VP community and government Dan Friedlaender, who was supposedly a supporter of the demonstration, supported the administration. A few weeks later he was pied in the face after proposing that SSMU support breaking the tuition freeze by pegging tuition to inflation.

Later in November GRASP worked with NDP-McGill to mobilize for a large march in Ottawa against US President Bush who was meeting with the Canadian government.

In January, SSMU held its first book exchange after the idea was proposed by GRASP. However, SSMU rejected GRASP’s proposal of a student run bookstore on the grounds that it could reduce the profits of the administration bookstore; profits that would eventually be shared with SSMU.

In February GRASP organized the “John Charest Welcoming Party” to protest and disrupt a planned visit by the premier of Quebec to McGill. While around 100 students gathered for a demonstration at the Roddick gates, others infiltrated the audience of the auditorium where Charest was going to speak. At the last minute it was announced that Charest had canceled his visit to McGill and the demonstration was moved to the front of his office on McGill College, which some attempted to enter. This successful action took place in the context of other student actions against the Charest government for cutting financial aid by changing $103 million in needs based bursaries into loans, as well as proposing other regressive changes to the education system. These actions were the lead up to the beginning of a student strike in late February by CASSÉÉ (Coalition de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante Élargie), a coalition between the radical student federation ASSÉ (Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante) and some independent student unions.

On March 10th the McGill Strike Committee (which GRASP had temporarily merged into), decorated the lower field of campus with red fabric to show solidarity with the growing student strike movement that was symbolically represented by a red square. At the same time, about 150 francophone students marched through McGill campus chanting “McGill on strike!” and they were welcomed with the hanging of a large red fabric square from the roof of the arts building. It was around this time that la FEUQ (Fédération étudiante universitiaire du Québec) decided to join the strike movement.

On March 12th students from the strike committee participated in a demonstration against the financial assistance reforms, carrying a banner that said “McGill on Strike (soon)!” March 14th was a day of local actions by the student movement, and an occupation of the office of Principal Heather Munroe-Blum was planned at McGill. However, the occupation was called off on the night of March 13th because some within the strike committee who had not been involved in organizing the occupation felt that it could interfere with the upcoming general assembly.

On March 16th there was a general assembly, initiated by the strike committee, to decide whether SSMU should go on strike. The turnout of approximately 1000 students was so large that around 200 of them could not fit in the Shatner ballroom where the GA was being held. After extensive debate, the GA voted by an overwhelming majority for SSMU to hold a one day solidarity strike on March 18th. Immediately following the GA hundreds of McGill students joined tens of thousands of other Quebec students in a massive march down Sherbrooke, ending with a demonstration in front of Charest’s office on McGill College.

On March 18th, McGill undergrads joined nearly 200,000 Quebec students who were on strike. Following the GA, the strike committee had become a very large group, and it officially the support of SSMU. For the strike day it organized soft-pickets, blocking most automobile traffic but allowed pedestrians to cross, at the Roddick, Milton, and McTavish gates. The pickets had music, chants, banners, signs, and one big red couch. The strikers handed out pamphlets and red square fabric pins, and tried to convince students not to go to class. Many professors unofficially gave students amnesty for the day, and some classes were canceled. The day ended with a demonstration of more than 200 students in front of the James Administration buildings, which then marched to Charest’s office and presented a letter of demands to be delivered to the Premier.

The following week the strike committee returned to Charest’s office to receive a reply to their letter, and they were told that there was no reply. In response, they decided to enter the building through the underground parking garage. After some confrontation with building security 5 students managed to get into the public lobby, but the rest of the group was locked outside of the building so they eventually had to leave.

On March 22nd, Concordia students began a 103 hour protest, camping out with tents and sleeping bags in front of Charest’s office. On the night of the 24th they were joined by some students from the McGill strike committee. The Midnight Kitchen also helped by providing food. On March 30th a small group from the strike committee joined a large evening demonstration of students and workers unions in Parc Lafontaine. It was around this time that the government made the first of three “final” offers, which were rejected by negotiators from la FEUQ because they did not reinstate all of the $103 million taken out of bursaries. The government refused to negotiate with CASSÉÉ.

On April 2nd the government finally agreed to reinstate the $103 million, with $40 million of this amount being supplied by the federal government. The agreement was accepted by FEUQ even though it did not resolve problems raised by other sectors of the movement, such as the decentralization of CEGEPs. The agreement was rejected by CASSÉÉ, but with FEUQ schools ending their strikes the movement had lost its momentum and strikes were eventually ended at CASSÉÉ schools as well. SSMU, which was part of FEUQ, put up posters declaring victory, and then held an online plebecite with question biased towards yes (and no campaigning allowed) to see if students accepted the agreement with the government. Under these circumstances, 90% voted yes. GRASPé criticized SSMU for this undemocratic maneuver.On April 7th GRASP officially merged with the strike committee and became GRASPé which stood for both GrassRoots Association for Student Power and Groupe d’action et de sensibilisation au pouvoir étudiant. This was a recognition of GRASPé’s place in Québec and its predominantly francophone student movement, and the importance of francophones in the strike committee and then GRASPé.

2005-2006

In September GRASPé held its first retreat, which is a day long weekend meeting at the beginning of the year. It provides an opportunity to plan for the year ahead, and for everyone to get to know each other better. Both of these were especially important following the large influx of people during the strike. The retreat included workshops on anti-oppression and facilitation, discussions on principles and future actions, food, and a party in the evening. Since this first retreat, they have been held at the beginning of every year. Starting in 2006-2007 they have been held at the beginning of every semester.

In early October GRASPé worked with GRADE (Graduate Association for Decorporatization of Education) to organize a demonstration and alternative panel discussion against a Private Sector Development Conference held at McGill’s New Residence. The conference featured speakers from the World Bank, as well as war-profiteering and neo-colonial corporations such as SNC-Lavalin and Alcan. Some well-dressed protesters were also able to sneak into the conference and ask critical question to the corporate representatives.

In October GRASPé worked with a coalition formed by the CLAC Latin America Committee to organize a November 4th street carnival against an FTAA summit that was going on at that time in Mar del Plata, Argentina. It was also to draw attention the replacement of multilateral agreements like the FTAA with Bilateral Trade Agreements. Building on a history of opposition to the FTAA at McGill, the GRASPé mobilization for the Carnival was very successful, with a significant portion of the approximately 400 participants coming from McGill. The carnival began as a march from Square Dorchester to the front of the department store La Baie, where there were streets blocked with furniture, banners hanging from La Baie, music and fire dancers. The Carnival came to an abrupt end when some of the furniture was used to make a large bonfire in the street, and riot police chased everyone away, and continued to chase them for many blocks. The day before the Montreal Police had been criticized by the United Nations Human Rights Committee for their excessive mass arrests tactics.

In November GRASPé supported the “Abort their Conference” mobilization against an anti-abortion conference in Montreal. Due to the mobilization, the conference was forced to change location at the last minute.

In early October GRASPé and other McGill environmental groups initiated the McGill Climate Change Coalition in preparation the December 3rd international day of action against climate change, during the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal. The Coalition held an action against Environment Minister Stephen Dion when he spoke at McGill and mobilized at McGill for the December 3rd day of action and other events around the conference. GRASPé also took part in the organization of an anti-capitalist bloc for the day of action, presenting a more radical critique of climate change. Their activities included the creation of a zine on the issue.

It was during this fall, 2005 semester that GRASPé participated in the formation of the broad progressive coalition that would become the Campus Coalition of Progressive McGill Students (CCPMS). GRASPé also began participating in CRAM (Conseil Régional de l’ASSÉ à Montréal). This was an important part of a more direct participation in the student movement that had began with the strike, and then the change from GRASP to GRASPé.

March 4th GRASPé held its “GRASPé benefit show bénéfice” at Café Chaos. This super-successful night of music, dancing, and prizes was enough to meet GRASPé’s meager money needs for years to come. On March 8th GRASPé joined the Graduate Group of Feminist Scholars in the demonstration for International Women’s Day, which was protesting in front of Charest’s office to demand workers’ compensation benefits for domestic workers. GRASPé also participated in the Montreal demonstration for the March 15 international day against police brutality.

For “more Social more Justice more Days” in March (the second Social Justice Days of the semester, organized by CCPMS) GRASPé organized a film screening of the documentary “Weather Underground” and a discussion entitled “Capitalism can’t last forever — what are some alternatives or organizing our economy and society?” featuring Éric Pineault, a sociology professor from UQAM, and a video of a speech by Michael Albert on Participatory Economics.

Building on the success of the strike referendum a year earlier, GRASPé proposed a constitutional change for the winter referendum period that would require SSMU to hold a regular general assembly every semester, as is done at most other Quebec schools. The change also lowered to 100 (from 200) the quorum for these GAs, while raising to 500 the number of students required for a strike GA. The GA question passed with a landslide 71% in favour, and only 17% against. This clearly demonstrated the popular support at McGill for decision making through general assemblies.

GRASPé was part of the Coalition for Accessible Public Education (CAPE) that organized a March 30th demonstration to commemorate the strike of the previous year and continue the public presence of the student movement in Montreal. The march began at Berri Square and continued to a demonstration in front of Charest’s office. Along the way, the police arbitrarily blocked a side street, preventing the march from moving onto Sherbrooke. This lead to a confrontation between students and the police line until students finally backed down and took another route. The Midnight Kitchen was present, providing Red Square pizza.

In April GRASPé helped mobilize for a rally and march to demand that the administration provide space for SACOMSS (the Sexual Assault Center of McGill Student Society) after their night office received a notice of eviction from the administration. This was one of many attacks by the administration on student space at McGill.

2005-2006

On October 5th the first regular SSMU general assembly was held. GRASPé proposed one motion that would mandate SSMU to oppose negative corporate influence on campus, and a second motion that mandated SSMU solidarity with worker and student movements on and off campus. Despite concerted attempts by both the Liberal and Conservative party clubs to mobilize against these motions, they both passed in the GA. A third motion put forward by the Midnight Kitchen concerning their kitchen space in the Shatner building was also passed. Many people, especially those politically to the right, made arguments against the GA process itself. In response, GRASPé worked to defend and legitimize the GA.

GRASPé endorsed and participated in (mostly through a dance troupe called the Montreal Feet Police) the Block the Empire anti-imperialist contingent of the October 28th day of action against the presence of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. GRASPé also endorsed the Block the Empire anti-imperialist contingent for the March 17th day of action against the occupation of Iraq.

On November 21st a small group from GRASPé entered a meeting of the Montreal Board of Trade at the Queen Elizabeth hotel. The meeting was sponsored war-profiteering corporations SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier, and featured a speech by McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum in which she promoted corporate sponsored research in universities. Just before she gave her speech, the group from GRASPé unfurled their banner and confronted her to publicly express, as students at her university, their opposition to her speech, its sponsorship by war profiteers, and her consistent opposition to the student movement through calls for tuition to be raised. The group was then confronted by hotel security and decided to leave voluntarily. The following day Heather Munroe-Blum held one of her “town hall meetings” which are supposed to give students and staff at McGill input into the administration of their university. GRASPé used the event as an opportunity to question the Principal on a variety of issues, including illegally high international tuition rates, military research at McGill, and McGill’s debt to Six Nations. They also handed out a sheet to the audience with suggestions for other questions. It was also a chance to reveal the town hall meeting as a poor substitute for necessary democratic decision-making at the university.

In January, some students from GRASPé spoke at and were well received by a MUNACA (McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association) meeting. There was discussion of the possibilities for student-worker solidarity at McGill. Later in the month another student from GRASPé spoke at a general assembly of AGSEM (the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill). This meeting was especially important considering the possibility of an AGSEM strike in the fall of 2007. At both meetings GRASPé proposed the idea of a Social Justice Days panel discussion on workers struggles at McGill and student solidarity.

On January 23rd GRASPé hosted a Social Justice Days panel discussion on Free Education, featuring panelists from ASSÉ, RAME\SCAN (Réseau Anarchiste en Milieu Étudiant\Student Community Anarchist Network), and the New University cooperative which seeks to create an autonomous, sustainable university system. This panel was part of an effort to bring a Free Education discourse to McGill, especially leading up to a SSMU GA question on the issue.

The second regular SSMU general assembly was held on February 1st. GRASPé intentionally did not propose any questions because it was felt the GA process would be further legitimized if other groups were using it. However, GRASPé did support an NDP motion calling for SSMU to support accessible education through the eventual elimination of tuition and ancillary fees – in other words, Free Education. This motion passed, along with others on sustainability, recognition of black history month, and a bylaw requiring SSMU executives to report to the GA.

On February 7th GRASPé participated in a demonstration against breaking the tuition freeze, organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). SSMU did a lot of mobilization for this demonstration because over the past year it had left FEUQ and joined CFS. The demonstration of approximately 1000 students converged on Charest’s office, and then proceeded to the front of the James Administration building to protests Heather Munroe-Blum’s recent calls for tuition to be raised by 300%.

On March 1st SSMU announced that it was buying a space off campus to start its own bookstore, as GRASPé had proposed two years before. Earlier in the year SSMU had ended its deal to receive profits from the McGill bookstore, and had instead been paid a lump sum for expected profits. Although it would not be run by a workers collective, as proposed by GRASPé, it would have students employees and some student managers. As a non-profit operation, it plans to sell books at a lower price than the McGill bookstore.

On March 27th GRASPÉ hosted a panel discussion on student-worker solidarity as part of Social Justice Days II. Panelists included representatives from McGill unions at McGill, including AGSEM, MUNACA, and the Service Employees Unions (SEU) local 800. they described the overworked and underpaid condition of TAs, under staffing of student services, and lower pay for students who are doing the same work as workers unionized with the SEU. They also explained that students are in a position to make demands on the administration so that these conditions can change.

On March 22 GRASPé was part of a press conference calling for students, especially anglophone students, to participate in the movement for free education and to oppose bill 142, which would ban strikes by teachers and educational support staff. The press conference was an initiative of the strike committee of Dawson College (aka Common Front) and also included the strike committee of Concordia, the student union of Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, and representatives from the leftist political party Québec Solidaire.

On March 29 GRASPé mobilized about 35 McGill students to join more than 2500 students from across Québec in an ASSÉ demonstration for free education and against the new Liberal\ADQ government’s proposal to raise tuition. It was also a day of strike by approximately 40,000 students across the province, with many schools blockaded. This was an early action in preparation for what is expected to be another student strike in fall, 2007 against the government’s proposal to raise tuition.