Jacques Villeneuve Sounds Off on Montreal Protests
With the Formula One Grand Prix in Montreal scheduled for the weekend, student protests that have been going on in the area for months threaten to disrupt the event — something Quebec-born racing champion Jacques Villeneuve isn’t taking lightly.
Protests over university tuition hikes have gathered popular support from Quebec celebrities and the art community, but Villeneuve feels differently, suggesting that the students are an embarrassment to the province and country overall.
While specific threats to the Grand Prix haven’t been made by the protesters, they will undoubtedly use the event to gain more attention. At a cocktail party yesterday, Villeneuve explained his perspective on the students, who are protesting a raise in college tuition.
“I think these people grew up without ever hearing their parents ever tell them, ‘No.’ So that’s what you see in the streets now. People spending their time complaining. It’s becoming a little bit ridiculous. They spoke, we heard, and now it’s time to go back to school,” he said.
“It’s time for people to wake up and stop loafing about. It’s lasted long enough,” he said. “We heard them. We listened. They should stop. It’s costing the city a fortune. It makes no sense.”
Students stood outside the cocktail party Villeneuve attended while making those statements — a $1000-per-plate charity event that donated proceeds to a local children’s hospital.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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Good for him, its about time someone told the truth
right on, students should deal with reality, costs go up and bad behaviour should be punished.