Category: Quebec

Bloc Quebecois Leader Says Ottawa’s Refusal to Hold Public Inquiry Could ‘Destroy Democracy’

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says the Liberal government’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into foreign election interference will “destroy democracy.” “Canada is dragging Quebec into a crisis that is going to destroy democracy by covering [foreign interference] in secrecy,” he said in the House of Commons during question period on May 31. “How can [Prime…


Amid Hot, Dry Weather, Quebec Forest Fire Prevention Group on High Alert

Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency is maintaining a high alert and a spokesperson said Tuesday the hot and dry weather descending on the province this week is a cause for concern. The province on Sunday ordered a ban on open fires in forested areas, and on Tuesday the ban was extended to cover forests and…


Lone Tenant in a $400-a-Month Apartment Could Hold up Major Montreal Condo Project

As Carla White looks out the window of her yellow-and-pink, plant-filled apartment in the heart of downtown Montreal, she wonders where she’s going to live next. “I look out there and say, where am I going now?” she says, gesturing at the highrises that tower above the building where she lives. The apartment is small…


Quebec, Ottawa Pledge $300 Million for GM Electric Car Battery Component Plant

The governments of Quebec and Canada are announcing $300 million in funding for a factory that will make components for electric vehicle batteries in Bécancour, Que., located about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. The $600-million factory, a joint project between automaker General Motors and South Korean industrial materials maker POSCO Future M, was first…


Quebec Will Require Economic Immigrants to Speak French Before Arriving: Legault

Quebec Premier François Legault says the province will require that the vast majority of economic immigrants to Quebec speak French before they arrive. Sixty-five per cent of immigrants to Quebec come through the economic immigration stream, which is controlled by the province. Legault says his government is also considering increasing the number of immigrants it…


Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec Join Ottawa in Investigating ChatGPT

The governments of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec are joining the federal privacy commissioner in investigating the company behind the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, ChatGPT. Alberta’s privacy authority says the joint investigation would see if OpenAI, which is the parent company of ChatGPT, obtained valid consent from Canadians to collect, use and disclose their personal information…


More Than One-Quarter of Quebec Teachers Not Legally Qualified: Auditor General

Quebec’s auditor general says more than one-quarter of teachers who worked in the province’s classrooms during the 2020-21 school year weren’t legally qualified. Guylaine Leclerc presented her annual report today, revealing that more than 30,000 people who taught in schools during that period did not earn a teaching certificate or a provisional qualification. The Quebec government…


Quebec Justice Minister Faces Ethics Probe After Naming Friend to Provincial Court

Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette is facing an ethics investigation after appointing his friend as a provincial court judge. Ethics commissioner Ariane Mignolet opened an investigation after receiving a complaint from the Liberal party regarding the nomination of Charles-Olivier Gosselin to Quebec court. The probe was launched after Le Soleil newspaper reported that Jolin-Barrette had…


Quebec Premier Says Moving Forward on Politicians’ $30K Pay Bump Requires ‘Courage’

Courage was necessary to move forward on raising the salaries of provincial politicians by $30,000, Quebec Premier François Legault said Saturday as unions demonstrated outside his party’s convention to demand a raise, too. “It’s a file you have to have the courage to deal with to attract all people (to politics), not just people who…


Quebec Government Rejects Trudeau’s Immigration Plan, Fears Decline of French

Canada’s plan to increase immigration is stoking fears among Quebec’s political class, who say the changes would reduce the province’s influence in the country and make it harder to protect French. Provincial legislature members today adopted a motion declaring Canada’s plan incompatible with the protection of French in Quebecand that the province must have complete…