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
The year 2021 was marked by a revival of the debate over the state of the French language in Quebec. And it’s not over. The anglophone community’s immediate concern is Bill 96, which the CAQ government wants to adopt before the October 2022 provincial election. “At its very core, Bill 96 is an attempt to … Read more
More than three dozen organizations are telling Premier François Legault that his restrictive definition of an historic English-language community is unfair and unacceptable. These groups, from across Quebec and from multiple sectors including arts and culture, education and health and social services have endorsed a resolution opposing the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s plan to limit … Read more
Rachel Watts writes: “As a Quebecer, and one with a unique perspective on this latest development, I’m of the view that labelling individuals “historic anglophones” based on schooling not only excludes anglophone newcomer families, as well as those who prefer to access services in English, but also puts Quebec identity on a continuum.” An open letter released … Read more
In 2021, human rights and minority rights in Quebec took a sharp turn for the worse. After years of relative calm, English-speaking Quebecers have been propelled into the middle of another language storm, centred on the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s overhaul of the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). When Bill 96 was introduced … Read more
Journal de Montreal columnist Antoine Robitaille remarks that representatives of Quebec’s English-speaking community should feel a responsibility to publicly rectify outrageous remarks such as those by the president of the Regional Association of West Quebecers who said Bill 96 is part of “xenophobic nationalism” that contains “totalitarian measures”. Robitaille then draws his own outrageous parallel, … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network criticized the Quebec Liberal Party convention last weekend for an “epic failure to listen to Quebec anglos who are worried about Bill 96.” This rebuke followed leader Dominique Anglade’s remark that anglophones are still better off with her party than with the Coalition Avenir Québec, reflecting a somewhat condescending presumption that the community has … Read more
Author Frédéric Bastien criticizes Arthur Ayers, president of the Regional Association of West Quebecers, for speaking out against the Quebec government, and making comparisons to Nazi Germany during the QCGN’s hearings on Bill 96. “We are not Nazi Germany, but we have taken a step in this direction,” Ayers said during the hearing. Read more