Students launch class-action lawsuit over Quebec strike

Nursing student Kim Laganière is one of two lead plaintiffs on a class-action lawsuit
seeking compensation for the school term she lost to the Quebec student strike.

A class-action lawsuit is being organized by young Quebecers frustrated because they say they were hurt by the province's student strikes.

The undertaking to sue 25 universities and CEGEP colleges, as well as the Quebec government, was announced Thursday by students and their lawyers.

The plaintiffs say not enough was done to let them have access to their classrooms to complete their courses.

One says she will get her nursing diploma six months late, which will cost her financially.

"I incurred losses and I'm just asking for a reimbursement," said the nursing student, Kim Laganière. "This will delay my entry into the job market by six to 12 months."

The group's lawyer is not setting a figure on the amount requested, saying the financial impact varies from one person to the next.

The damage includes loss of salary, lost work experience, lost tuition fees and lost summer jobs, according to lawyer Michel Savonitto.

"These amounts aren't necessarily very big in some cases, but if you add them up it becomes astronomical.… A court will evaluate the amount of the damages at the appropriate moment."

More than 150,000 students were on strike at the peak of the Quebec student crisis last spring, representing one-third of the pupils at the province's universities and CEGEPs.