Canada

As the Quebec election campaign enters its final week, the focus could switch back to the student protests that dominated headlines earlier this year.

The student issue has gotten such little attention so far that it was even ignored in the only televised debate featuring all four leaders.

It could be catapulted back to the foreground on Monday. That's the day classes are resuming at several Quebec universities and there's talk that picket lines will go up again.

The most militant of Quebec student association, the CLASSE, says any protests won't take place at the entrances to universities.

Spokeswoman Jeanne Reynolds says any blockades will be limited to classrooms where the courses are taking place and where students have voted to continue their strikes. But she adds that it's up to student associations to decide how to apply the strike mandates.

The province's emergency law, Bill 78, prohibits blocking a classroom and it sets still fines for anyone who does so.

It's unclear how students, teachers, and university authorities will react Monday. It's equally unclear how the politicians, and ultimately the voters, will respond.

The vast majority of Quebec students have returned from their strikes. But Reynolds says more than 36,000 students remain on strike.

A number of student associations at the Universite de Montreal, Universite du Quebec a Montreal and Universite Laval have already voted to continue their protests.