Montreal students protest, attack police MONTREAL, March 7 (UPI) -- A protest march over tuition hikes by thousands of Montreal university students turned violent Wednesday, police said. There was no immediate estimate on how many students took part in a morning gathering and then marched to Quebec's provincial lottery headquarters, the QMI Agency reported. The student group that represents 127,000 striking students said police started the violence and said a police demand for an itinerary for the demonstration wasn't legal. Almost all of the student protesters were French-speaking, as English students have voted against any demonstrations, CTV News said. Despite the protest, Premier Jean Charest announced Wednesday he wasn't backing down on phasing in $300 per year tuition increases for each of the next five years. The current cost to attend a Quebec university is now $2,519, far lower than any other Canadian province. Quebec will still be the cheapest post-secondary province after the five years of increases, the report said.