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BCRC Weekly Update for the week of August 8th 2022

 

The Weekly Update presents information on the status, needs and priorities of the English Speaking Black Communities.

NEWS

Montreal Pride parade cancelled hours before event due to lack of volunteers
CTV News | August 7, 2022

Montreal Pride parade organizer Simon Gamache admits that they messed up when they cancelled the event at the last minute Sunday.

Gamache said he was made aware at 8 a.m. that they did not have the resources to go ahead with the signature event of Pride week that draws thousands to Montreal's downtown core.

"It's totally on our part that the mistake happened," Gamache told CTV News Channel Sunday. "We did not request all the resources we needed for today."

The biggest issue, he said, was that they "didn't plan appropriately to deliver the parade."

To hold a proper parade, organizers needed about 200 volunteers, and they were missing around 80, a third of what they needed.
 

Montreal First Peoples' Festival is a place to 'feel the Indigenous spirit'
Montreal Gazette | August 8, 2022


André Dudemaine was not impressed by the Pope’s apologies to Indigenous communities during his recent visit to Canada.

“The Pope was here to turn a page on a chapter from the past,” Dudemaine said. “And in our book, we are no longer there; we are elsewhere. We are looking at the present. We are looking at the future.”

Dudemaine is co-founder of the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival, a.k.a. Présence autochtone, the 32nd edition of which celebrates Indigenous culture in its myriad forms from Tuesday to Aug. 18. He is careful not to dismiss the reactions of those who were moved by the Pope’s gesture, but feels that his festival’s purpose lies elsewhere.

“So, good for the people who believe in the Catholic Church,” Dudemaine said, “and good for the residential school survivors who have been touched and relieved by the words of the Pope. We are not against that, obviously. But when you look at the work (the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival) has done during the last 31 years, and the work (festival organizer) Terres en vues and the festival have in front of us for the next 30 years, for us the Pope’s visit was very short. And without false humility, we think what we do is a lot more important.”
 

Montreal police investigating death of man found in garbage bin as homicide
CBC News | August 8, 2022


Montreal police are now considering the death of a man whose body was found in a garbage bin on Monday morning to be a homicide. 

A sanitation worker made the discovery during garbage collection in the city's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood near the corner of Adam Street and Letourneux Avenue. 

Police say they received a 911 call just before 9 a.m. The man's death was confirmed at the scene shortly after.

Investigators say the man, who is in his mid-50s, bore signs of violence.

The death marks the city's 18th homicide this year. The investigation has been transferred to Montreal police's major crimes unit.

 

135-year-old Montreal pumphouse to be restored, used as learning centre
CBC News | August 9, 2022


It's been 70 years since Montreal's Craig Pumping Station managed the city's water system, but heritage advocates are hoping a restoration project planned for the historic building will highlight the impact it had on the city we know today. 

"It saved Montreal from flooding," said Danielle Plamondon, co-founder of the heritage group Les AmiEs de la Craig, who has fought to preserve the site for years. 

The pumphouse — one of the oldest in North America — sits abandoned and dilapidated under the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. But in 1887, it was one of Montreal's newest, built to prevent future floods after after the city's financial district was completely submerged in the spring.

Now 135 years old and useless after the construction of the seaway in 1959, I-beams bolted to the sides of the pumphouse keep the stone walls from buckling. 

"It's our baby and for me, when I saw those beams, I said, 'Oh my God, she's crumbling and we need to take care of her,'" said Plamondon.
 

Northern Quebec circuit court should be adapted to local conditions: report
CTV News | August 7, 2022
 

The justice system in Quebec's northern Nunavik region should be better adapted to local culture and have a more permanent presence in the area, according to a new report.

Jean-Claude Latraverse, who practiced law in the region for 20 years, wrote in his report that technology also needs to be used to improve access to justice in the region's 14 communities, none of which are accessible by road.

"It is of primary importance to recognize that the system, as it currently exists, has failed in many respects," he wrote in the report released Friday. "Reoffending rates have not declined, the Inuit have not been included and bridges with traditional dispute resolution methods have not been used."

Latraverse, who worked as both a public defender and a prosecutor, was commissioned by the provincial government and the Makivik Corporation, the legal representative of Inuit in Quebec, to study the region's itinerant court.

There is no permanent court in Nunavik, which comprises around a third of Quebec's territory. The provincial court travels to nine of the region's communities, while the Superior Court hears cases in three.
 

25 more COVID-19 deaths in Quebec as hospitalizations, ICU numbers subside
CTV News | August 9, 2022

Quebec health officials confirm 25 more people have died due to COVID-19, a total of 16,069.

The number of Quebecers in hospital has decreased by 19 for 2,038 people receiving care, including 686 due specifically to COVID-19.

Intensive care admissions are down by three, for a total of 58, including 33 due to COVID-19.

On Aug. 7, a total of 8,783 samples were analyzed.

Quebec added 1,243 PCR COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 1,157,876 since the start of the pandemic.

There are 273,339 rapid tests that have been declared online with 228,598 positive results.

Monday, 236 were reported, with 198 positive.

Quebec is encouraging people to declare the status of their at-home rapid test so officials can get a clearer picture of infection levels in the province.

There are 4,199 health care workers currently absent due to COVID-19-related reasons.
 

New research shows Bill 21 having 'devastating' impact on religious minorities in Quebec
CBC News | August 10, 2022

New research shows that three years after Quebec's secularism law — commonly known as Bill 21 — was adopted, religious minorities in the province are feeling increasingly alienated and hopeless. 

"Religious minority communities are encountering — at levels that are disturbing — a reflection of disdain, hate, mistrust and aggression," Miriam Taylor, lead researcher and the director of publications and partnerships at the Association for Canadian Studies, told CBC in an interview.

"We even saw threats and physical violence," Taylor said.

Bill 21, which passed in 2019, bars public school teachers, police officers, judges and government lawyers, among other civil servants in positions of authority, from wearing religious symbols — such as hijabs, crucifixes or turbans — while at work.

Taylor and her colleagues at the association worked with polling firm Leger to gather a unique portrait of attitudes toward Bill 21 in Quebec.

Miriam Taylor, lead researcher for the study, told CBC she was distressed by the results that show Muslim women in particular in Quebec are feeling alienated, unsafe and hopeless. (Twitter)

The association surveyed members of certain religious minority communities including 632 Muslims, 165 Jews and 56 Sikhs.

Remains of Jesuit priest removed from Kahnawake church grounds
CTV News | August 10, 2022

The remains of a priest who allegedly sexually abused Indigenous children in Quebec was exhumed Wednesday morning.

"We never agreed to have him buried here in the first place," said community member Kahnekaken:re Lahache. "We have our native women who were not allowed to be buried here because they married out, but they let the priest be buried here. They actually begged for him to be buried here, which wasn't right."

Nearly 9 million Canadians have uncashed cheques from the CRA — worth $1.4B
CBC News | August 8, 2022

Canada's tax agency says nearly 9 million Canadians are owed some sort of government cash, and it's going to send out reminders starting this month to tens of thousands of people to let them know.

The Canada Revenue Agency said Monday that it has roughly $1.4 billion worth of uncashed cheques on its books, some of which has been owed as far back as 1998. As of May, 8.9 million Canadians had some sort of uncashed cheque attached to their name. The average amount owed is $158, the tax agency said.

"We want to make sure this money ends up where it belongs. In taxpayers' pockets!" the tax agency said.


WestJet brings back 17 routes for Canadians to escape the cold this winter
CTV News | August 9, 2022
 
Summer isn’t over yet, but winter is coming -- and WestJet is bringing back 17 sun routes that were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic to help travellers escape the cold.

Routes from across Canada to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America include Calgary to Nassau, Ottawa to Montego Bay, Regina to Cancun, and Toronto to Samana.

“The returning routes, which were suspended for more than two years, bring enhanced connectivity and vacation options for Canadians and communities across the airline’s network,” WestJet said in a press release on Tuesday.


 
Liberal 33%, Conservative 28%, NDP 21%: LÉGER
Cult MTL | August 10, 2022

According to the latest federal voting intentions poll in Canada by Léger, support for the Liberal Party is now 33%, 1 percentage point higher than last month. The Conservative Party is polling in second place at 28%, unchanged from last month, while support for the NDP remains at 21%.

Support for the Liberals is the same as their performance in the 2021 federal election, while support for the Conservatives has decreased by 6 points. The NDP are polling 3 points higher.


 

More Canadians report stronger attachment to their language than to Canada: poll
CTV News | August 11, 2022

​​A new survey finds more Canadians report a strong attachment to their primary language than to other markers of identity, including the country they call home.

The survey, which was conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, found 88 per cent of respondents reported a strong sense of attachment to their primary language, whereas 85 per cent reported the same for Canada.

 
EVENTS

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).

Buy tickets

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.

Register

Black Business Atlas is collaborating with the city of Lachine, notably the Rue Notre Dame and Projet Cumulus.

This is a street sale that will take place on August 27 and 28 (10am-4pm) the entire street on Notre Dame in Lachine between 9th and 15th avenue. Vendors from the Black community will be at the level of 9th and 10th street.

There will be lots of activities for kids and the entire family: inflatable games, musicians etc....

They will also have prizes to giveaway to the first 100 persons that register for the free upcoming event!
Register
MISC.

Black Girls Gather (A Book Club) is a bilingual program that is open to young Black girls and non-binary persons between 12 and 17 years old.

Registration period: August 1st 2022 to October 1st 2022

Duration of program: January 2023 to June 2023

For 12 to 14 year olds, register here!

For 15 to 17 year olds, register here!

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