Quebec Premier Jean Charest explains the reasons for leaving a negotiation table with student leaders as Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, right, looks away at a news conference at the Premier's office at the legislature in Quebec City on Thursday, May 31, 2012.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Premier Jean Charest is accusing student groups of "hurting Quebeckers" as they take to the streets to protest against the recent breakdown in talks with the government.
With Montreal's Grand Prix weekend less than a week away, Mr. Charest expressed concern that student groups would disrupt the international event, which brings millions of dollars to the province each year.
He said students, who have spent almost four months striking against a proposed tuition hike, should leave Grand Prix fans alone given the financial importance of the race.
The latest round of talks collapsed Thursday afternoon when Mr. Charest's Education Minister, Michelle Courchesne, declared the two sides had reached an "impasse."
Around 10,000 students took to the streets of Montreal that night to decry the government's decision to give up on negotiations. A much smaller crowd did the same in Quebec City.
"It's all well and good to protest against Jean Charest, to protest against the government," Mr. Charest said Friday while visiting a suburb west of Montreal.
"But they're in the process of hurting Quebeckers and the people from whom they're seeking support. I think they have to examine their consciences when it comes to their acts.
"If they had a message to get across, I think we can conclude it has been received."
Mr. Charest's warning comes at a critical time for the main student groups. One of the most visible, and moderate, leaders stepped down on Friday as his two-year mandate expired.
Leo Bureau-Blouin, who headed an association of college students known as FECQ, will be replaced by 19-year-old Eliane Laberge. Mr. Bureau-Blouin had been praised in many circles for his even-handed leadership amid rising tensions.
"I hope that Ms. Laberge can succeed where I failed, that is in finding a solution to the conflict," Mr. Bureau-Blouin said Friday.
A more hard-line student association, the CLASSE, has been busy preparing for what it hopes will be a large demonstration in Montreal on Saturday.
It has also invoked the possibility of using the Grand Prix as a platform for the student cause.
The government claims one of the group's spokesmen, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, threatened during the latest round of negotiations to disrupt the event. Mr. Nadeau-Dubois has said the group would not prevent people from going to the race.
At the Thursday night demonstration in Montreal, members of an anti-capitalist group handed out pamphlets calling on demonstrators to make their presence known during Grand Prix weekend.
Mr. Charest's Liberal government passed emergency legislation last month aimed at calming student protests, which have at times turned violent.
Student leaders can face stiff fines under the law for supporting illegal demonstrations, and Mr. Charest said Friday it is up to student leaders to establish the parameters of their protests.
"These people have the ultimate responsibility and I expect them to assume it totally," Mr. Charest said.
The emergency law has been used sparingly. Several of its provisions have been criticized by legal experts and human rights activists, who say they harm such rights as freedom of association.