Category: Quebec

48K Without Power One Week After Deadly Storm Swept Through Ontario, Quebec

One week after a severe wind and thunderstorm swept through Ontario and Quebec, just over 48,000 homes in the two provinces were still without power on Saturday. At least 11 people were killed during last week’s storm and its aftermath as it toppled trees, knocked out power lines and caused heavy property damage. In Ontario,…


English School Board Says It Will File Legal Challenge of Quebec Language Law Reform

The English Montreal School Board says it will launch a legal challenge of Quebec’s recently adopted language law reform. The board said in a news release today that it believes the law, commonly known as Bill 96, violates English-speaking Quebecers’ constitutional right to manage and control their own educational institutions. The language law, adopted on…


Tony Accurso, Former Quebec Construction Tycoon, Loses Appeal and Heading to Prison

Quebec’s highest court has upheld a sentence delivered to ex-construction magnate Tony Accurso, who is to report to prison before June 1. Accurso received a four-year prison term in 2018 in connection with what a Quebec court judge called one of the worst examples of municipal corruption to come before a Canadian court. A jury…


Quebec Drops Section of Assisted-Death Bill to Ensure It Gets Adopted Quickly

The Quebec government is removing a section of its end-of-life care bill that would have allowed quadriplegics and people with cerebral palsy to receive an assisted death. Health Minister Christian Dubé told reporters today he is making the change to ensure the bill passes quickly through the legislature before the summer break and fall election….


Too Far or Not Far Enough: Quebec’s New Language Law Leaves Many Displeased

News Analysis The province of Quebec’s National Assembly adopted Bill 96 to protect the French language on May 24. But critics on both sides of the language debate are displeased, with Anglophones considering it a violation of their rights and Quebec separatists saying it doesn’t go far enough. Bill 96 updates Quebec’s French charter and…


Federal Government Would Join Challenge of Quebec’s Bill 21 at Supreme Court

The federal government will join a legal challenge to Quebec’s religious symbols law if it reaches the country’s highest court, Justice Minister David Lametti said Wednesday. “When it arrives at the Supreme Court of Canada, it is by definition a national issue, and we will be there,” Lametti told reporters in Montreal. Both the Quebec…


Quebec Bill Would Give Alzheimer’s Patients Access to Medical Aid in Dying

Quebec has tabled a bill that would extend the province’s assisted death legislation to people with Alzheimer’s disease. Health Minister Christian Dubé said today that Bill 38 would allow people with severe and incurable diseases to consent to an assisted death before they become mentally or physically incapable of doing so. The bill comes after…


Weekend Storm: Quebec Says Some Parts of Province Won’t Get Power Back Until Saturday

Quebec’s hydro utility says more than 80,000 customers are still without power following last weekend’s violent storm that left a trail of damage from Gatineau to Quebec City. Hydro-Québec president Sophie Brochu and vice-president of operations and maintenance Régis Tellier told reporters the utility hopes to restore power to more than 50,000 people by the…


Federal Government Says Court Challenge to Quebec Language Law Possible

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti says his government is not ruling out a court challenge to Quebec’s newly adopted language-reform law. But Lametti says he first wants to see how it’s implemented, adding that the law could be enforced in a way that doesn’t violate constitutionally protected rights. Quebec’s Bill 96, adopted on Tuesday, extends…


Conservative Leadership Candidates Meet in Quebec for Party’s French-Language Debate

Candidates running for leadership of the federal Conservative party will appear on stage tonight for its French-language debate. The event is taking place in Laval, Que., north of Montreal, and comes as a deadline approaches for candidates to have their supporters signed up as party members in order to be eligible to vote in the…