Opinion

University campuses across Quebec have come alive with students arriving for a new academic year. Some of them have chosen to move from cities like Calgary, Toronto or Vancouver to study — a decision made more difficult by Quebec’s current tuition policy. In 2023, the Quebec government imposed a steep tuition hike on out-of-province students. Though … Read more

The Burgundy Lion roared, and Office québécois de la langue française inspectors timidly backed off. By Robert Libman. Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but Toby Lyle, co-owner of the Notre-Dame St. pub, respectfully pushed back when the language watchdog asked him to change his sign to make it more French. He contested, with common … Read more

Notre intervention aujourd’hui en surprendra certes plusieurs. Notre histoire commune, notre désir aussi de poursuivre cette histoire commune, nous donne la force de surmonter nos différences et d’appeler à rendre le Québec meilleur. Par Frédéric Lapointe, président du MNQ, et Eva Ludvig, présidente de TALQ Le Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois (MNQ) et l’organisation … Read more

We are unlikely partners. But shared history has brought us together, and a desire to make some history keeps us working together to express a common and powerful desire for a better Quebec. By Frédéric Lapointe, MNQ President, and Eva Ludvig, TALQ President  The Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois and TALQ (formerly the Quebec … Read more

Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers and urged the federal and provincial government to step up at a unique moment to attract talent from around the globe. “As political and social tensions weaken the global research ecosystem, Quebec and Canada have a unique opportunity … Read more

Politics, they say, makes strange bedfellows. A recent convergence of thoughtful progressive voices on our shared future in Quebec may prove transformative for the relationship between wider Quebec society and minority communities. These developments could have far-reaching — and mostly positive — consequences for our collective life in this wonderful, if at times frustrating, province … Read more

The question of whether English-speaking Quebecers should stay or go has been raised again, now in a despairing April 11 Gazette column by Toula Drimonis, who recounted the story of a bilingual allophone tired of feeling like an enemy in her own home. It’s a familiar tale. As a board member at the Quebec Community … Read more

Presenting the Quebec budget on March 25, Finance Minister Eric Girard, who is also the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, announced that the Quebec government would receive $343 million from the federal government over the next four years aimed at funding education and other services for the English-speaking community. According to the budget, … Read more

The CAQ government’s most recent provincial budget has been met with mixed reactions, including from Quebec’s anglophone community. Yes Employment + Entrepreneurship, an organization based in Montreal that offers employment and entrepreneurship services dedicated to English speakers, had all of its provincial funding for employability services eliminated. “Very frustrating, like I think we were in … Read more

By QCGN president, Eva Ludvig “We wanted to have fireworks tonight,” Paul Simon said during Simon and Garfunkel’s 1981 concert in Central Park, “but they wouldn’t let us have that.” When the crowd started to boo, he quickly jumped in: “We’ll make our own fireworks.” As the Quebec Community Groups Network turns 30 in 2025, … Read more

Quebec’s National Assembly has unanimously adopted a motion affirming that English-speaking Quebecers don’t have to produce a certificate proving they’re entitled to English-language education in order to receive health care and social services in their mother tongue. Read more

As Quebec’s National Assembly resumed this week, it unanimously passed a motion on Thursday highlighting that English-speaking Quebecers do not need a certificate of eligibility for English-language education in order to access health and social services in English. French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge is revising Quebec’s new French-language directives for the health-care network after facing … Read more

Montreal’s West Island health authority — home to some of Quebec’s oldest anglophone institutions, like the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres — appears to be pushing back against the provincial government’s controversial language directive regulating health and social services in English. Read more

QCGN President Eva Ludvig joins CBC Radio’s Shawn Apel to weigh in on an op-ed published in the Gazette last week by former educator Ronald G. Macfarlane, who suggested that English-speaking youth consider leaving the province. “Macfarlane’s ‘cri de coeur’ should be taken as a wake-up call – not for the English-speaking community of Quebec, but … Read more

No two words can encapsulate French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge’s meeting with members of the English-speaking community Tuesday other than “total sham,” writes columnist Allison Hanes. She notes the fact that the QCGN turned down a meeting with Roberge to discuss directives on language in health care because provincial Health Minister Christian Dubé would not … Read more

The Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario sends an open letter to the Quebec Health Ministry expressing concern over the directives around language in health care, and the precedent that such directives could set for other minority language communities in the rest of Canada seeking care in their language. Speaking with ONFR, QCGN Director General … Read more

QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge joins Global’s Laura Casella to discuss the Quebec government’s directives on language in health services and the QCGN’s decision not to partake in a meeting with provincial French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge. The QCGN decided to “stick to our guns,” said Martin-Laforge, explaining that if a meeting is to be … Read more

Anthony Koch, a former national spokesperson for federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, voices his disapproval of the QCGN’s decision not to meet with provincial French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge to discuss the government directives on language in health care. The QCGN made the decision given the fact that provincial Health Minister Christian Dubé would not … Read more

The QCGN and Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge showed “a lot of chutzpah” by turning down a meeting with Quebec French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge to discuss directives around language in health services, says Andrew Caddell, president of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy. “Why sit down,” he asks, “when it’s going to be another one … Read more

“The government has been so adamant over the years saying ‘don’t worry, don’t worry, nothing will happen to health and social services,’” QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin Laforge tells radio host Aaron Rand on Montreal Now. “I guess some of us thought we should be believing them, but we must not.” Lawyer and QCGN board … Read more

Quebec French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge says that his government will issue a reworded directive on language in health care to reassure those who are concerned about accessing health services in a language other than French. The QCGN was among the groups that were not initially invited to meet with Roberge to discuss the directives. … Read more

QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge explains why the group turned down a “last minute” offer to attend a meeting with Quebec French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge. “This is not really about language, this is about health,” she told CTV News, adding that the QCGN turned down the offer because provincial Health Minister Christian Dubé would … Read more

After initially being left off the list of invitees to discuss government-issued directives on language in health care with Quebec French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge, the QCGN received an invite to a second meeting, but declined upon learning that provincial Health Minister Christian Dubé would not be present. “We have made it clear from the … Read more