Opinion

Squeezed for space, Montreal’s Dawson College has for years been planning an expansion of its medical technology department that would include a clinic to serve the community and train its students. Marlene Jennings, the president of the anglophone organization Quebec Community Groups Network, said the cancellation of Dawson’s medical technology building is a sign that … Read more

Plans for a new pavilion and medical clinic at Dawson College in Montreal have been shelved by the province, and many supporters of the project are feeling disappointed. “At this late stage, when the demand is there […] to find out that it’s been withdrawn because of the language in which the instruction was to … Read more

“We’re being told that we’re not welcome here unless we shut up, unless we assimilate, and that the government will take every measure possible to put the squeeze on our community,” says Marlene Jennings, President of the QCGN. Read more

Increasingly over the past few months, English-speaking Quebecers have been witnessing alarming signals. Less than two months ago, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government gutted the provincial committee responsible for advising the government on the delivery of health and social services to English-speaking Quebecers. It now seeks to replace the ousted members, presumably with others who may … Read more

QCGN President Marlene Jennings speaks with Noovo’s Noémi Mercier about the Quebec government’s decision to scrap the planned expansion of Dawson College. (33:25). Watch here

The lack of space at Dawson College has been recognized and documented by the Ministry of Higher Education, and the Quebec government-funded expansion was needed to create more space, explains QCGN President Marlene Jennings. She adds that the move to scrap this project is yet another example of the Legault government’s attack on the vitality … Read more

Marlene Jennings is known as someone who isn’t afraid to talk about the elephant in the room. And at 70, now president of the Anglophone rights organization, the Quebec Community Groups Network, the former federal politician and a self-taught expert in governance and organizational change, Jennings has no plans to kick back and relax. Read … Read more

Response Monday to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government decision to pull the plug on a long-planned expansion of Dawson College — an expansion Premier François Legault’s government had initially supported — was swift and angry. Marlene Jennings, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), called it “simply appalling” and “yet another example of … Read more

QCGN President Marlene Jennings speaks with CTV’s Maya Johnson about the decision by the Quebec government to shelve an expansion project for Dawson College in favour of “prioritizing francophone students.” Watch here

Quebec is putting Dawson College’s expansion plans on hold, despite promising the CEGEP millions for additional classroom space in 2020. An internal memo sent Sunday by Diane Gauvin, Dawson’s director general, says the infrastructure project was quashed following a meeting with Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann. “The government has chosen to prioritize, in [McCann]’s words, ‘francophone’ students,’” Gauvin said. … Read more

Dawson College has “suffered a serious setback” in its expansion plans after a “hastily called” meeting with the province’s higher education minister last week, the Montreal-based institution said in an internal memo. Diane Gauvin, the director-general of the English-language CEGEP, wrote about the meeting in a letter issued Sunday. “The government has chosen to prioritize, … Read more

  The Legault government confirms that it has asked Dawson College to “work on alternative options to its expansion project”, despite the millions promised to the CEGEP for additional classrooms. The president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), Marlene Jennings, is asking the Legault government to back down, arguing that the Dawson College expansion project is essential to … Read more

Today’s question on Radio Noon: Is Kent Hughes a Quebecer? Do you feel like one? QCGN President Marlene Jennings challenges Christopher Skeete, the Coalition Avenir Québec’s parliamentary secretary for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers, on whether or not he is defending anglophone Quebecers. Listen here

The Quebec government will not give a penny to expand Dawson College, Prime Minister François Legault said on Tuesday, judging that “it is better to expand the French-speaking colleges before increasing the capacity” of the 8,000 English-language college students. The president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), Marlene Jennings, was indignant at the “simply appalling” … Read more

The English education community is hopping mad that the Coalition Avenir Québec government has named a new assistant deputy minister responsible for the anglophone system without consulting it. It’s the second time in two months the government has ruffled the feathers of the English-speaking community. Earlier in January, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) denounced the government’s … Read more

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) explored Bill 96 from all angles at a webinar on the evening of Jan. 20. The wide-ranging, controversial legislation was first tabled in May 2021. Although it technically died on the order paper when Premier François Legault prorogued the National Assembly in October, the government has asserted its intention … Read more

In an open letter written by Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) to Premier Legault, QCGN states that the government definition of “English Eligible” is limiting and minority groups, under international norms, should define themselves. The current definition of English Eligible excludes between 300,000 and 500,000 English-speaking Quebecers, making the category far from inclusive and limiting … Read more

A regulation changing the composition of the Provincial Access Committee (PAC), the review body which oversees programs developed by regional health authorities to ensure access to English-language health services, was quietly adopted in late December. “It’s difficult to see the effect of this reform on the care provided to individuals, but it doesn’t make it … Read more

Questions are being raised about whether Quebec will reduce health services in English. The government has insisted on several occasions this is not its intention, but last month, it dissolved a committee that had spent years working to improve access to English services. “It was a surprise that the minister was changing the rules of what … Read more

The Provincial Government has issued a call for expressions of interest and applications to be on the Provincial committee on the dispensing of health and social services in the English language after having dismissed the entirety of the previous committee through a regulation change in the latter half of 2021. The Quebec Community Groups Network … Read more

Parents and students in Quebec are preparing to head back to school in one week amid a wave of Omicron cases. Adding to that stress, some parents of 12- and 13 year-old students say that, when it comes to the distribution of rapid test kits, they’ve fallen through the cracks. “I feel like what’s happened … Read more

Many continue to speak out against Quebec’s Bill 96, including businesspeople, community organizations, and politicians. English-speaking Quebecers fear that the bill would further marginalize their community, and that other minority groups, such as immigrants and Indigenous peoples, will also be penalized by various measures in the bill, says Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the QCGN’s director general. Read … Read more

Requests for tutoring services since the beginning of the pandemic have spiked, and the people at Phelps Helps in the Eastern Townships are getting ready to support students in this latest period of distance learning. Katie Lowry, programs director at Phelps Helps, discusses the uptick in an interview with CBC Breakaway’s Kim Garritty.  Read more

Alexander Reford, manager of the internationally renowned Reford Gardens (Jardins de Métis)  and president of Heritage Lower St-Lawrence has been named a Member of the Order of Canada.  Read more

The Daily Telegraph reports: “[Quebec’s] ruling nationalist party, Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) says tough measures are ‘urgently required’ for the survival of the French language… but critics say it will penalise bilingualism.” “It’s nothing against English Quebecers,” says Premier François Legault: “It’s about protecting French.” Read more