Protesting Quebec student leaders sing along in show at Francofolies fest

MONTREAL – Student leaders in Quebec’s tuition fee protest are getting the rock star treatment — literally.

The heads of the student groups spearheading the lengthy protest appeared on stage for a show-closing number with the Quebec rap group Loco Locass at Montreal’s Francofolies festival, singing a song about the end of Premier Jean Charest’s government.

But that wasn’t the only mockery for the provincial government.

The band also asked the crowd of about 80,000 to observe a moment’s silence for the Liberal administration.

Among those present was Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesman for the militant CLASSE group, Martine Desjardins, who leads the association of Quebec university students and Leo Bureau-Blouin, the former head of the college students’ association.

The band encouraged student protesters to show up for the huge outdoor concert in Montreal’s downtown and many arrived banging on pots and pans.

The band at one point also chanted the crowd numbered more than 50, which is the limit a new Quebec law has set for demonstrations.