Quebec Premier Jean Charest has announced that while he's not backing down on planned university tuition hikes, his government will slow them down.
Charest told a news conference Friday that he's willing to phase in the $1,625 increase over seven years instead of five. That means tuition would rise by about $254 a year for seven years.
His government also wants to index future increases to the rate of inflation.
The premier also says he's willing to improve the loans and bursaries program to include $39 million more in bursaries and a loan payback system more in line with a student's income after graduation. The premier says that's the best way to keep Quebec's universities well-funded and competitive without reaching again into the pockets of taxpayers.
The hikes would bring yearly prices to about $3,800 per year -- which would still be among the lowest in Canada.
Reacting to Charest's offer, Mathieu Murphy-Perron, an organizer for the Dawson College Student Union, told CTV News Channel that student groups "have to talk about it to see if it's an acceptable concession."
But he indicated that the offer was unsatisfactory.
"If you're to look at the actual map of what Charest is proposing, we're actually looking at an 82 per cent increase over seven years instead of a 75 per cent increase over five years," he said. "So essentially he's saying, ‘We're just going to hike tuition fees more.'"
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson for the controversial student group CLASSE, said Charest's proposal seemed "more like an insult than an offer." But the group said it will discuss the offer with members.
Quebec has faced more than 10 weeks of disruptive and often violent student demonstrations over the planned hikes.
According to Murphy-Perron, Charest's announcement is not likely to bring and end to the protests.
He said students plan to meet every night at 8:30 by Montreal's Berri-UQAM metro until the government agrees "to negotiate in good faith with all of the student groups."
Though polls suggest the Charest government is deeply unpopular, it has had the public's support in pushing ahead with the hikes.
Charest used the news conference as an opportunity to condemn the violence seen in some of the protests.
"We cannot justify violence under any pretext, and not to condemn the acts we've witnessed in the last few weeks would show a serious lack of judgment," he said.
But Murphy-Perron says the recent violence "is a result of a government refusing to sit down with its students."
Charest said while his government will never bend to intimidation and violence, it has always been open to discussions with students and has already made a number of concessions in the fight.
The two sides have not sat down at the negotiation table for some time now, over an impasse about whether to include CLASSE in the talks.
