One of the most prominent figures in Quebec's student movement says the sometimes-violent protests over tuition fees in 2012 could be a taste of things to come.

It started as a provincial dispute over tuition-fee hikes and ended with the cancellation of those increases by the Parti Quebecois government.

But the Quebec student movement also exploded into a massive movement that grabbed the world's attention.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, one of the students' hardliners, says the so-called Maple Spring was not a spontaneous movement.

He says the students had been planning to take action for two years.

The former student leader says the next battle line between the province and students could be drawn at free education.

Nadeau-Dubois also went on a cross-Canada tour to speak to young activists in more than a half-dozen cities.

He says he feels the next big protest movement could eventually materialize in Western Canada, over concerns about the ecological impact of the oilsands.

Nadeau-Dubois has gone back to his studies and has left the student movement behind.

He's completing a major in sociology and history.

photo: Globe and Mail