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As they wove through gridlocked cars and buses downtown, then through Old Montreal and back downtown again, it was clear the thousands of students that joined the anti-austerity demonstration Thursday wanted to flex their protest muscles, left idle over the last 18 months.

“Who does the street belong to?” shouted one. “To us!” the raucous crowd responded.

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For many of the demonstrators and journalists and no doubt law enforcement too, there was a sense of déja-vu going back to the so-called Maple Spring of 2012. Then, as now, demonstrators wore red squares on their lapels and backpacks, drummers drummed, and a helicopter hovered overhead, as groups of riot police watched and waited on every corner.

But a lot has changed since the last time this many protesters took to the streets, leading up to the last provincial election.

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Then, they wanted Jean Charest’s head, and were driven first and foremost by the singular goal of stopping the tuition hikes the former premier had planned.