Sept. 28, 2025, marks five years since the death of Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman who died of pulmonary edema—fluid accumulation in the lungs—due to medical negligence in a northern Montreal hospital, Centre Hospitalier de Lanaudière. Joyce livestreamed the persistent mistreatment and discrimination she endured while seeking medical attention,[Read More…]
Tag: quebec
Safety and speech aren’t either/or
Hate-fuelled harassment deserves a firm legal answer. But Canada’s Bill C-9—also known as the Combating Hate Act—risks the criminalization of non-obstructive protests near community institutions, serving more as a tool to stifle political protest than to combat hate. As currently drafted, Bill C-9 would establish new intimidation and obstruction offences[Read More…]
Quebec cuts into education in a callous attempt to balance its budget
After large public outcry from various parents’ associations, teachers, and administrators, the Quebec government rescinded the $570 million CAD budget cut it made to education back in June, promising to put $540 million CAD towards student services. Though this attempt at financial redress seems like a genuine commitment to meeting[Read More…]
With far-right extremism on the rise, McGill must actively counter hate
On Sep. 9, white nationalist group the Second Sons announced the opening of a Montreal division. This expansion is part of a rising wave of extremist ‘active clubs’ across Eastern Canada. Framed as organizations propagating a combination of fitness and men’s mentorship, these ‘active clubs’ co-opt medieval aesthetics and martial[Read More…]
Quebec’s proposed public prayer ban could decrease inclusivity at McGill
The Coalition Avenir Québec announced in late August that it plans to propose a law this fall banning public prayer. Introduced by Quebec’s Secularism Minister, Jean-Francois Roberge, the measure is intended to reinforce the province’s existing secularism laws, including Bill 21, which the government implemented in 2019. The newly proposed[Read More…]
Quebec fines LaSalle College $29.9 million CAD over anglophone student quota
LaSalle College overenrolled 716 and 1066 students in its English-speaking programs in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In response, the Quebec Government imposed a $30 million CAD penalty on the college, forcing the institution to postpone the school year kickoff, initially scheduled for Aug. 25. The cost of such substantial defunding[Read More…]
McGill discusses potential consequences of drop in international student enrolment
Universities across Quebec and Montreal have experienced a significant drop in international student applications for the Fall 2025 semester. Concordia University and Université de Montréal have seen a 37 per cent decrease in international student applications, while McGill University has seen a 22 per cent drop. McGill’s student body is[Read More…]
Quebec’s threshold of grace: Suffering, solace and the right to die with dignity
There is quiet strength in the decisions made at life’s edge—a reality Quebec has been able to realize through its approach to end-of-life care. Quebec has long been at the vanguard of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)—a medical protocol which allows an eligible individual to receive assistance from a medical[Read More…]
Bill 97 bulldozes Indigenous livelihoods
Quebec’s government is moving toward securing unbarred executive control over 8 million hectares of the province’s forests for the forestry industry’s industrial logging agenda. This legislation—Bill 97—pads the pockets of industrial logging companies, while bulldozing constitutional and humanitarian obligations to the Indigenous communities who steward much of the targeted land. [Read More…]
A welcome until it wasn’t: The double standard of Quebec’s secularism
Montreal’s city hall recently took down a welcome sign in its lobby that portrayed a woman in a hijab, less than a year after its installation. This decision comes amid a series of changes implemented under Quebec’s Bill 21 and the continued movement towards secularization—the separation of public institutions from[Read More…]
