Worried about another 1980s-style constitutional crisis? Don’t be. There may be less than meets the eye to Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals have caused alarm. But it’s largely a game aimed at finding common ground between federalist and separatist voters in the province.
In Québec, the biggest child care provider by far is schools. Here, children raise their hands at a care centre in Montréal in August 2006.
CP PHOTO/Ian Barrett
As provinces and territories beyond Québec develop early learning and care plans, they should be aware of the pitfalls of taking shortcuts in response to parent demand.
The Northern Bruce Peninsula in Ontario has been a popular domestic tourism destination during COVID-19.
Luke Smith/Unsplash
Large Canadian cities, usually major tourist destinations, have have experienced drastic declines in tourists and tourism spending while some regional hotspots have been overwhelmed with visitors.
Canada should take cues from Québec on how it incorporates small businesses.
(François Gha/Unsplash)
The federal government should embrace Québec’s simplified incorporation model for small businesses. With some minor refinements, Québec’s regime can and should be deployed across the country
People take part in a demonstration in Montréal in November 2020 to protest against government funding for infrastructure projects at two English-language educational institutions and also calling on the city to set up a body to protect the French language.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
The federal government’s ambitious new plan to modernize the 51-year-old Official Languages Act is the most significant proposal on the status of French in Canada since 1982.
A resident chats with workers at Orchard Villa Long-Term Care in Pickering, Ont., in June 2020.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the scarcity of resources in long-term care. But it has also revealed how staff are undervalued.
According to a recent survey of public servants by the Commissioner of Official Languages, more than 44 per cent of French-speakers are uncomfortable using French at work.
CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A recent survey reveals a general uneasiness about using French among both francophone and anglophone public servants in administrative regions where bilingualism is required.
A man steps out of the trailer he lives in at a homeless encampment at Strathcona Park in Vancouver in December 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Adopting a universal basic income requires a fundamental restructuring of the existing social safety net in Canada, and would not necessarily conquer income inequality and poverty.
A young girl places a candle during a vigil for the victims of the mosque shooting on Jan, 30, 2017 in Québec City. In the years since the attack, little has been done to combat the Islamophobia that caused it.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Four years after the violent attack on worshippers at Québec City’s central mosque, the federal government has said it will honour the victims with a national day of remembrance.
A Scottish Saltire flag hangs in the window of an apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland, next to the EU flag in August 2020. Scotland could vote to separate from the U.K. in 2021.
(AP Photo/David Cheskin)
Scotland’s renewed push for independence is not only similar to Québec’s — there are also lessons for Scottish politicians in Canadian law on the concept of separation.
This pandemic year has prompted a lot of reinvention and food favourites are no exception, including the traditional tourtière.
(The Conversation Canada)
Culinary invention is a reinterpretation of heritage. The success of the tourtine in this pandemic year suggests that we feel the need to rethink the traditional dishes of the holiday season.
Syrian refugees play with their classmates in February 2016 at a Montréal school.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Québec’s partial suspension of refugee sponsorship by private organizations in the province highlights the challenges of Canada’s reliance on resettlement to welcome refugees.
Demonstrators hold a vigil marking the death of Joyce Echaquan, who recorded insults hurled at her by staff at the Joliette, QC, hospital while she was there for treatment.
The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson
Joyce’s Principle seeks to shift the way health services are provided to Indigenous communities and ensure they are free of discrimination.
Close to 3,000 Quebecers gathered at the Paul-Sauvé arena hours before the invocation of the War Measures Act would send Canadian troops onto the streets of the province and many people – some of them at the arena rally – were arrested in subsequent raids.
Éditions du Septentrion, CC BY-NC-ND
A new book argues that the War Measures Act was a response to the threat young people posed to authorities.
A newsboy holds up a newspaper with a banner headline reporting the invoking of the War Measures Act on Oct. 16, 1970, following the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross and Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte by the FLQ.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Bregg
After the FLQ manifesto was broadcast in October 1970, Québecers felt uplifted. It expressed many of their concerns. That changed after Pierre Laporte was found dead in the trunk of a car.
People wear face masks as they pay for parking in Montréal, July 25, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time people have been required to wear face masks for protection. Mask-wearing has a long history, and reflects society’s sense of shared responsibility.
Organizers sing at a demonstration to denounce racism and police violence, June 7, 2020, in front of the legislature in Québec City.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Québec’s schools operate in a model of inter-culturalism, while schools across Canada are shaped by the vision of multiculturalism. Neither approach critically addresses racism.
While primarily a protective measure, the COVID-19 mask has also become a symbol of good citizenship, but wearing a mask safely in public may require white privilege.
(Unsplash)
In the coronavirus pandemic, wearing a protective mask signifies a commitment to the social and collective good of society. But that changes when a face mask is worn by Black and racialized people.
Smiling schoolboys reveal their missing teeth.
Anthony Asael/Art in All of Us /Contributor via Getty Images
During this unsettling time, global leaders have assured children and adults alike that the tooth fairy, free from the risk of infection, is indeed an essential worker.
An elderly woman looks out from Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montréal suburb of Dorval on April 12, 2020. Isolating people in facilities where they are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 is a violation of their rights.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Civil liberties violations look very different in pandemics. That’s why the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is looking into who has been detained and fined, and why, during the pandemic.
Professor, Research Chair in Language Rights, Faculty of Law | Professeur, Chaire de recherche Droits et enjeux linguistiques, Faculté de droit. 2021 Fellow, Fondation Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa