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MONTREAL — Young protesters skirmish with police in riot gear in downtown Montreal. Students trying to attend lectures are turned back by striking classmates calling them scabs.

At first glance, the early days of Quebec’s “Printemps2015” action launched this week look a lot like the student protests that gripped the province in the spring of 2012.

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But there are signs of a shift in attitudes that will make it harder for the students to rekindle the spirit of three years ago, when opposition politicians and ordinary folk joined in their pot-banging protests against higher tuition.

The administration at the Université du Québec à Montréal, which in 2012 stood by as roaming mobs broke up classes, has signalled a significant change in approach.

On Friday, the eve of the latest student mobilization, the university advised nine students that they face either one-year suspensions or, in more serious cases, outright expulsion as a result of actions committed during protests on campus over the past two years.