Up to half a million people took to the streets of Montreal last week to defy Quebec’s draconian new anti-protest laws.

The march was part of an escalating struggle by students against a 75 percent hike in tuition fees. Students have been on strike—picketing their classes and bringing the whole education system to a halt—for 15 weeks.

"The spirit on the street is amazing—there is such sense of collective power," student activist Xavier LaFrance told Socialist Worker. "Even in the face of the repression I can’t see this stopping anytime soon."