Of late, notably regarding the tuition targeting of Quebec’s three English universities, suggests CJAD radio host Elias Makos, more voices in francophone media have started “coming to the defence of Anglos.” Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), welcomes signs of this apparent turn: “It’s been a long time coming.” She emphatically … Read more
Critics of Bill 15, including the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), argue that the far-reaching legislation – on which the National Assembly may hold its final vote as soon as this week – would limit access to health care in English and jeopardize the status of bilingual institutions. A surprise amendment last week to the … Read more
The purpose of the Bill 15 petition submitted to the National Assembly is to urge legislators to “listen to the community, to take a step back, to do a proper consultation so that we understand how Bill 15 could potentially impact Quebecers, and of course specifically Anglophones in the province of Quebec,” Jennifer Maccarone, Liberal … Read more
A last-minute amendment to Bill 15 sprung by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government – and subsequently dropped – was aimed at “bringing in elements of Bill 96 and the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to the whole question of health care” under Bill 15, explains Eva Ludwig, president of the Quebec Community … Read more
The National Assembly petition, launched by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), argues that insufficient consultation has taken place on Bill 15, Quebec’s controversial and sweeping overhaul of governance and administration across the health and social services sector. Read more
“We expect our members of Parliament to support our minority language community,” Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), tells Global News. Read more
Quebec’s English-speaking community has been left with “the impression of not being considered by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government and that its relations with (the government of Premier François Legault) are worse than with previous governments in Quebec, including those of the Parti Québécois,” observes commentator Michel C. Auger. He cites Friday’s news release … Read more
A Canadian Press story quotes Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé on a controversial change briefly proposed for Bill 15: “You are going to explain to me what would change because if we have to modify it or remove it, we will remove it.” The story notes the intervention by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). … Read more
A La Presse story on Bill 15 notes that the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) has pointed out that Quebec government has not shut the door on closure to ramming Bill 15 through the National Assembly by the end of this week. Read more
The Journal de Montréal cites Friday’s news release from the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) in its coverage of the brief attempt to add a mechanism to Bill 15 allowing access to English-language health and social services to be stripped from institutions across the Quebec system currently designated bilingual. Read more
The QCGN is alarmed by the last-minute amendment in Bill 15 by the Coalition Avenir Québec government, which aims to give Santé Québec the power to revoke the rights of health institutions from offering services in English. “We are shocked that minister (Christian) Dubé would try and drop an amendment like this into Bill 15 … Read more
The latest volley against Quebec’s English-speaking community by the Bloc Québécois – this time being a critique of the funding it receives from the federal government – is a red herring, comments columnist Toula Drimonis. She makes note of the reaction by the QCGN, which wrote in a statement that the funding is meant to … Read more
Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), says she hopes the Quebec health minister really is taking the community’s concerns seriously. But she isn’t entirely convinced. “You’ll forgive me if I’m being a little bit sceptical,” says Ludvig: “We’ve seen the impact of Bill 96 in spite of all the reassurances and … Read more
Health Minister Christian Dubé backtracks Friday: “I will withdraw (a surprise fresh amendment proposed for Bill 15) if I am not able to realize, or put in place, the commitment that we’ve have made that there will be no change in services for anglos or the status of their hospitals. I just want to be … Read more
QCGN President Eva Ludvig was on hand at a town hall meeting at Dawson College earlier this week to warn attendees of the potential negative impacts Bill 15 could have on accessing health services in English. “This act is centralizing under one body, under control of the bureaucracy,” she explained. “They know nothing about the … Read more
Quebec’s Bill 15 has been structured to create a centralized provincial agency that will oversee the public health-care system — using a top-to-bottom approach many critics suggest constitutes a recipe for disaster. Elizabeth Zogalis reports, with video, on a Town Hall at Dawson College where Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), … Read more
Bloc Québécois MP Mario Beaulieu is spreading misinformation about the province’s Anglophones, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) responds to the former president of the nationalist Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal. Beaulieu says he has concluded that federal official-languages policy is “financing the anglicization of Quebec.” Federal support for the vitality of the English-speaking community of … Read more
Identical stories in the Journal de Montreal and on the TVA Nouvelles website, two Quebecor media arms, continue their coverage of this week’s assertions by Bloc Québécois MP Mario Beaulieu. Reporter Raphaël Pirro leaves it to the end to tuck in a capsule of the response from the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). He quotes … Read more
More than 150 individuals pack a town hall at Dawson College last night to express grave concerns about the potential impact of Bill 15. This sweeping proposed overhaul of the Quebec medical system would create a single, all-powerful Santé Québec to govern and operate health care throughout the province. “Command and control by a government … Read more
Concerns grow that Quebec’s sprawling new proposed health-care reform under Bill 15 will leave English speakers in the dust, jeopardizing access programs that guarantee adequate health and social services in English. CTV News reports on a petition (linked below) bringing forward fears that those living in regions without many English speakers would slip through the … Read more
Deep into its coverage regarding the Bloc Québécois targeting of federal funding for the English-speaking community of Quebec – and after quoting an assertion by Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon that it is “as inconceivable as it is unacceptable that our taxes are used to finance our own assimilation so openly and clearly” – … Read more
Quebec French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge expresses the hope that a portion of the $4.1 billion from the federal Action Plan on Official Languages be allocated to francization. This reiterates a request he issued last spring. Such a move would set a precedent. Ottawa officials confirm they are open to discuss this subject with Quebec, … Read more
Pascal Vachon of #ONfr summarizes many of the talking points of the freshly launched Bloc Québécois campaign to undercut federal funding that assists Quebec’s English-speaking community. The story cites the QCGN statement contesting the foundation of MP Mario Beaulieu’s approach, including his ”completely erroneous” assertion that federal funding is being used to anglicize Quebec. Read … Read more
QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge explains how Bill 15 could jeopardize access to health services in English. She speaks with Global Montreal’s Laura Casella. Watch here
Under the proposed Bill 15 to dramatically overhaul governance and management of the Quebec health and social service system, all 30 heads of regional authorities would report directly to Santé Québec, notes an analysis by the Quebec Community Groups Network published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. Read more