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
As opposition and concern grows over Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, the QCGN continues its series of webinars helping Quebecers understand the implications of language legislation. In this webinar, former senator and journalist André Pratte and independent journalist Christopher Curtis will review the Bill’s progress through the … 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
Join us for a Zoom Webinar to hear from the Honourable André Pratte and Christopher Curtis as they discuss the progress of Quebec’s Bill 96, An Act respecting French, and provide their insights on some of the legislation’s more controversial elements. Register here
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
Despite strong objections from the English-speaking community that included a 4,500-name petition tabled in the National Assembly, the Quebec government has eviscerated the Provincial Committee for the Provision of Health Services and Social Services in the English Language. The government is now recruiting replacement members. “Two days before the petition was tabled in the National … 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