Student protesters are back on the streets of Montréal. Empowered by their maple spring victory of 2012, where the lesson learned was that the more disruptive you are the more likely you will get what you want, student unions have chosen their cause. They are determined to wage another war. This time, however, it is not about tuition hikes. This time the object of protest is the evil A-word (austerity). The word our own Premier dares not say for fear of political backlash. And students are not alone.
We’ve been hearing this word quite a bit in recent years, often in a negative tone. It is not uncommon to sense the disdain and indignation in the voices of those who make reference to it, as though austerity were a contagious disease, or a great form of government oppression and injustice. But when closely examining our situation one should conclude that the lack of austerity in recent decades is what is truly worthy of our indignation.