At campaign launch, Bloc Montréal pledges to repeal Bill 96
Montreal Gazette | August 29, 2022

Bloc Montréal, the party of former Montreal mayoral candidate Balarama Holness, chose the grounds of Dawson College to launch its campaign for the provincial election on Monday.

The English-language CEGEP became a symbol in the battle over Bill 96 when Premier François Legault announced his government was shelving the school’s long-planned expansion project in favour of funding French-language colleges in the province.

“We have a provincial government that has imposed on us Bill 96, a bill that disproportionately affects anglophones, allophones, immigrants, Indigenous populations and students,” Holness said of the choice of venue for his party’s campaign launch. Bloc Montréal, he added, will fight to resurrect the Dawson expansion project.

“That’s why we’re here today, particularly at Dawson College, to stand up for the rights of not just students here at Dawson College, but for all anglophone CEGEPs and public schools that are disenchanted with the way that the provincial government is funding, or the lack of funding for our institutions.”
 

Montreal police arrest 4th suspect after shootings in northeast end
Global News | August 29, 2022

Montreal police have made a fourth arrest in connection with two shootings in the city’s northeast end earlier this month.

The police department issued a statement Monday confirming a 20-year-old man was arrested in Vancouver over the weekend. He is expected to be brought back to the city in the coming days.

The man is a suspect in a pair of shootings — 26 hours apart — on Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 in the city’s Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough. Two women were injured.

“Nearly 80 shots were fired during these events, after which a large police deployment made it possible to quickly apprehend the first two suspects,” police said.
 

On a budget of $20,000 per year, which included her salary, Casséus looked after 40 youths a day inside a community centre next to where she raised her only son, Jayson Colin.

But three weeks ago, Casséus lost her son to the same violence she’s dedicated her life to stomping out. Nicknamed “JayJay” by the family, Colin, 26, was fatally shot outside a local high school.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Casséus and Colin’s stepfather, Roberson Berlus, urged authorities to do more to help youths in the neighbourhood before it’s too late.

“We lost Jayson. He will never come back to us,” Casséus, 48, said while choking back tears. “But we want to know what will be done for all the other Jaysons of this world. How will we help them? How will we accompany them?”
 

Hundreds of students in Montreal stuck at home waiting for Quebec to approve English eligibility
CBC News | August 31, 2022
 

Elisa Silva is from Brazil but has been staying with her aunt and uncle in Montreal with hopes of attending high school in Canada.

The 15-year-old was supposed to start school last Friday. She was enrolled at F.A.C.E., a specialty elementary and secondary school downtown.

She chose the school for its art program because she loves to paint.

But instead, she's sitting at her aunt and uncle's house with nothing to do.

"I don't know when I'm going to study. I don't know when my school is going to start," she said.

She is waiting for her English eligibility application to be approved. Quebec's French-language charter restricts who can attend public school in English to those with family who also attended school in English. 

But there's a backlog of students waiting for approval, so Silva has been watching TV and studying French to pass the time.

Polls say question in Quebec election is not who will win, but who will come second
CTV News | August 30, 2022

With the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) dominating the polls at the start of the provincial election campaign, the most pressing question of the race may not be who wins, but who comes in second.

With five weeks to go before Quebecers vote on Oct. 3, experts say a clear challenger to CAQ Leader François Legault has yet to emerge.

While Legault's party is the clear leader in the polls -- with support more than double that of its closest adversary -- the battle for second is a much tighter race.

When the campaign started Sunday, four parties polled between 10 and 20 per cent, including the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Québec solidaire (QS), the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ).

 

Environmental groups hope climate change remains a priority in Quebec election campaign
CTV News | August 29, 2022

The economy is a major concern for voters but so is climate change and environmental groups are hoping the issue will be given enough airtime as the election campaign picks up steam in Quebec.

Quebec solidaire (QS) says it's placing the environment as its top priority.

The party commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The Parti Quebecois (PQ) and the Quebec Liberals have set a slightly less ambitious goal of 45 per cent.

Either way, that’s just eight years away and environmental group Equiterre says a massive cut in emissions is possible but will mean sweeping changes.

"In order to have an objective, it has to be accompanied by a robust plan, and that means transforming many sectors of our society — transportation, building, waste management, and agriculture — and they should all be aligned on a climate emergency," said Colleen Thorpe, Equiterre's executive director

Greenpeace says transportation accounts for roughly 45 per cent of Quebec's greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Quebec's election campaign has just begun, but many anglophones already feel sidelined
CBC News | August 29, 2022

Standing before a crowd of cheering supporters after winning a historic majority in 2018, François Legault took a moment to address anglophones in the province.

"I want to assure you that my government will be your government," he said, speaking in English. 

Days later, Legault appointed himself the minister responsible for the English-speaking community, saying he would "govern in a respectful manner with the historical anglophone community."

But in the years since, many anglophones say, Legault has failed to live up to that promise.

In interviews ahead of the Quebec election, mayors, community leaders and residents expressed concern that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government's policies on education, language and secularism have made them feel alienated and unwelcome.
 

Inflation emerges as main issue in Quebec campaign. Whose plan will help you more?
CBC News | September 1, 2022

The opening days of the Quebec election campaign have been dominated by different proposals to help Quebecers deal with the higher cost of living. 

It is not a surprising development, per se, given inflation is at levels not seen since the early 1980s. 

But in Canada's most heavily taxed province, it was suddenly hard to find a political leader not vowing to put money back into the average voter's pocket.

There are, however, important differences between how the parties aim to accomplish the feat. Some are focused on cutting income taxes, while others are targeting consumption taxes or tax credits. 

Arguably the biggest difference, though, is in how the parties plan to finance their inflation relief: Do we pay for it now, with money on-hand, or stick future generations with the bill?

Each of these options involves a set of trade-offs, and understanding whose interests a party is prioritizing might help voters figure out which box to check come election day, Oct. 3.

Canada authorizes Moderna's Omicron-targeting COVID-19 booster
CTV News | September 1, 2022
 

Health Canada has authorized the use of the country's first variant-targeting COVID-19 booster shot, marking what health officials are calling a "milestone" in Canada's pandemic response.

On Thursday, the federal health regulator announced it has given the green light to Moderna's Omicron-targeting bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, for those ages 18 years and older.

The "Spikevax Bivalent" booster dose is an adapted version of the original Moderna mRNA vaccine, and targets both the original strain of COVID-19 as well as the Omicron variant.

"Get the Word Out!” Literacy Festival
If you love to read & write and want to get involved building literacy in your community, or just want to improve your own literacy skills, check out the "Get the Word Out!” Literacy Festival taking place on Saturday September 10th, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Mill Dam Park in Shawville, QC.
For more info, contact Western Quebec Literacy Council (WQLC) at 819 648 2150, email info@wqlc.org, or check out their website.