Montreal Pride lays out demands of LGBTQ2+ communities
Montreal Gazette | July 31, 2022

On the eve of Montreal Pride, running from Monday to Aug. 7, the festival issued a demand for adequate funding of LGBTQ2+ community organizations.

On Sunday, executive director Simon Gamache lamented the project-based funding of such organizations.

He said a lack of funds means that more than 150 LGBTQ2+ organizations in Quebec, whose services include sexual health and mental health counselling, risk losing their employees once a project is completed.

“This means continuity cannot be assured,” he said. “We want adequate funding so that we can really consider long-term planning.”

Montreal's anti-racism group highlights emancipation day
City News | August 1, 2022

Montreal’s anti-racism group, the Red Coalition, held a press conference Monday to highlight emancipation day and the continued fight against racism and discrimination.

Publicly lending their support to Montreal resident Bénédict Bois.

Montreal mom demands apology for police intervention at lemonade stand
City News | August 4, 2022

For the past two weekends, Ayana Partouche-Massa’s two children have been selling lemonade on their front lawn in Montreal’s Roxboro neighbourhood raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada – but things went sour when police stopped by responding to a noise complaint.

“Our mom has multiple sclerosis and we wanna help,” said 11-year-old Ness Partouche-Massa, alongside his 8-year-old brother, Ariel Partouche-Massa.

Brothers, best friends, and lemonade stand partners who made their mother proud when initiating the fundraiser themselves. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease two years ago.

“It’s a disease that truly affects not only the person who gets the diagnosis, but everyone around them,” said Ayana Partouche-Massa.

Excited to share their kindness with the community the kids some times used a megaphone to attract customers to their stand. Also drawing the ire of one neighbour who was upset with the noise.

Suspect in 3 seemingly random killings shot dead by Montreal police
CBC News | August 4, 2022

Montreal police say officers shot and killed a suspect at a motel on Marcel-Laurin Boulevard in the Saint-Laurent borough on Thursday morning, following a spate of seemingly random shootings in and around the city.

Investigators believe the 26-year-old suspect, Abdulla Shaik, was involved in three shootings in less than 48 hours in Montreal and Laval.

As a result of Shaik's death, there are now two investigations: one looking into the three fatal shootings on Tuesday and Wednesday that has now been taken over by the Sûreté du Québec's major crimes unit, and another that will focus the actions of Montreal police (SPVM) during the operation that killed the suspect.

Support for Bill 96 decreases with education, income; increases with age
Cult MTL | July 29, 2022

A recent study on Bill 96 in Quebec has found that support for the bill is currently 56%, down six points from when last measured in July 2021. Additionally, according to the Angus Reid Institute, support for Bill 96 decreases the more educated and wealthy one is, and increases with age.

Bill 96, or “An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec,” as it’s known legislatively, was introduced by the CAQ on May 13, 2021 in order to strengthen the French language in the province.

EMSB chair Joe Ortona blasts Bill 96 for its hostility toward anglos
Montreal Gazette | August 1, 2022

The chair of the English Montreal School Board, which is leading one of the main legal challenges to Quebec’s Bill 96, blasted the controversial law Monday for what he sees as a direct attack on the anglophone community.

“I’ve lived in Quebec all my life, I was born in Montreal and I’ve lived here for 41 years,” EMSB chair Joe Ortona said. “And I’ve grown up under Liberal governments and PQ governments and I can say that we have never had a government that is so hostile toward the English-speaking community, linguistic minorities, religious minorities, minorities in general. Bill 96 is a discriminatory piece of legislation. We know that because the purpose of the notwithstanding clause is to ensure that sections of that law cannot be struck down on the basis of fundamental freedoms that are guaranteed in the Charter, the Canadian Charter and the Quebec Charter.”

Bill 96, which was adopted by the National Assembly this spring, is designed to strengthen Quebec’s laws protecting the French language, with stricter rules for English-language CEGEPs, new rules regarding the use of French for businesses and limits on the number of people who can access public services in French. The Quebec government is using the federal notwithstanding clause to allow it to override certain provisions of the Canadian constitution.

Opinion: It's no wonder nurses are leaving Quebec's public system
Montreal Gazette | August 1, 2022

With August upon us and six ERs in Quebec partially closed, the government seems to be left scratching its head as to why we are in this mess in the first place. While Health Minister Christian Dubé says he wants nurses to see that a public hospital is an “employeur de choix,” he appears to have failed to prove his point. This summer has, so far, been a staggering failure.

As of late June, an estimated 60,000 health-care workers were absent from the network for an array of reasons — almost 8,000 more than last year — and it’s safe to say that some of them are nurses on stress leave or taking an unpaid leave of absence.

Compounding the problem is that many nurses have quit the public sector to either change careers or work for private agencies, though numbers are not readily available.

Former Ontario MP alleges Parliament Hill security of racial profiling
Global News | August 1, 2022

A former MP who says she was recently racially profiled by parliamentary security is calling on the service to address racism within its ranks.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes said she was questioned by the Parliamentary Protective Service members in June when she tried to access the precinct wearing her parliamentary pin.

The West Island Black Community Association
Presents to you

BACK TO THE 90s & EARLY 2000s
END OF SUMMER PARTY!

WHERE: Marcel Morin Community Center, 14068 Boul Gouin O, Pierrefonds, QC H8Z 1Y1

WHEN: Saturday August 20th, 6PM to 11PM

WHO: 18+

Come in your BEST 90s/00s outfits! (Prize to be won for the best dressed).

Steven High's new book Deindustrializing Montreal explores the history of Little Burgundy and Pointe Saint-Charles through the oral histories of long-term residents. It includes over 200 historic photographs and other illustrations as well as the art-work of Emanuelle Dufour, Amina Jalabi, and Josh Toal. We learn what it was like to grow up in the two neighbourhoods before the factories closed and how people experienced the effects of urban renewal, factory closures, and gentrification.

Join in for this free event Sunday August 28th (1-3pm) at Batiment 7’s Les Sans Taverne (1900 rue Le Ber) in Pointe-Saint-Charles. It is wheelchair-accessible and has a large patio for maximum COVID-19 safety.

The Jamaican Association of Montreal is pleased to announce the opening of its small local restaurant.

Here is a great opportunity for us to discover a gastronomy rich in color and taste, which you can taste on the spot or have it delivered to your home (or your office).

This small circular and solidarity business aims to finance the social activities of the association and the fees of the excellent chef who spares no effort to concoct good tasty dishes that will delight lovers of local cuisine.

Location:

Cool Runnings Restaurant
​​4065 Rue Jean-Talon O, Montréal, QC H4P 1W6, Canada
Open Hours: 12:00 PM - 6:40 PM