What lessons can we learn from the current mess in Quebec?  I think two stand out – one for students, and one for universities.

The lesson for students is this: it’s great that they can mobilize and maintain pressure on government in the ways they have over the past twelve months.  But, if you fight a tuition fee hike by telling government that there’s oodles of waste and inefficiency in universities, don’t be surprised if they take you at your word, and slash budgets.

Now, frankly, the student associations are kind of screwed.  Can students once again take to the streets to confront this new issue?  Likely not – and the total silence emanating from “the usual suspects” regarding a new wave of protests suggests they know they can’t, either.  But if students don’t do something, they’ll be giving government the impression that they care more about price than quality.  And if this happens, the government really will have carte blanche to do more-or-less whatever it wants to institutional budgets.  So, you know, congratulations to students on beating the government at checkers; too bad there’s actually a chess match going on.

At the same time, the lesson for universities – in particular the government relations folks –is this: when a government goes out on a limb for you, you back them loudly and publicly.  Period.

Granted, the exiting Charest government was among the least palatable champions a university could wish for.  Worn-out, accident prone, and scandal-plagued (joke of the year candidate: “what’s the difference between a Quebec student leader and a Quebec mob boss?  The mob boss doesn’t need to forswear violence to get a meeting with the Minister”), there was almost no one less credible than the PLQ to carry the message about the need for greater investment in higher education.

But, Government Relations 101: “Ya dance with the one that brung ya.”  Whatever they thought about the Liberals, the Presidents should have backed the plan instead of leaving the PR to the Conseil des Recteurs et Principaux des Universites du Quebec  (which was terminally conflicted on the issue), or taking off on foreign trips at the height of the protest.  And not because it was a brilliant plan, either, but because failing to back a government when they do you right makes all political parties question your value as an ally.  The perception that universities are a constituency with little political loyalty almost certainly played some part in the PQ’s decision to pick a fight with them.

As Quebec universities regroup to fight this latest battle, it would be good for them to reflect on how they got in this situation in the first place, and perhaps acknowledge that they blew it last spring.