On June 16, 2019, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government implemented Bill 21, which banned public sector employees from wearing religious symbols at work. Since then, many McGill students and staff have critiqued the secularism the Act purports to uphold, drawing particular attention to its effect on racial and gender[Read More…]
Tag: quebec
‘When Injustice is Fully Bilingual’: Emilie Nicolas’ Mallory Lecture discusses linguistic barriers to anti-racism work in Quebec
Emilie Nicolas, a columnist for Le Devoir and the Montreal Gazette, took to the virtual stage on Feb. 15 for this year’s Mallory Lecture, speaking about language barriers to anti-racism work. The McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) hosted the talk. Nicolas introduced her lecture by describing a[Read More…]
The cancellation of the Dawson expansion cuts deeper divides
On Jan. 28, the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government announced its decision to pull the $100-million grant dedicated to funding the expansion of Dawson College. Under the leadership of former Premier Philippe Couillard, the Quebec Liberal Party initially approved the project in 2018 to address the college’s overcrowded campus. Plans[Read More…]
Carving fish in the sand
Every time I’m in the lecture hall analyzing a poem, I’m of two minds. On the one hand, as an English student, I am thinking of the poem as a critic would—sifting and weighing the words. But on the other hand, I am reading as a Christian, conscious of every[Read More…]
Closing the curtain on political theatre
On Jan. 20, Quebec Premier François Legault held a press conference in which he made two statements: First, that citizens should “stand in solidarity” with hospital workers, and second that they should “stay prudent.” Combined with the shifting recovery plans in light of the Omicron variant, these remarks show that[Read More…]
Demystifying ARSACS, a rare neurodegenerative disease concentrated in Quebec
Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease first identified in the Charlevoix-Saguenay region of Quebec. The disease affects muscle control, making a range of activities, from swallowing to speaking to walking, more difficult. Brenda Toscano Marquez, a postdoctoral researcher, and Alanna Watt, a biology professor[Read More…]
There is a duty to right the wrongs of Quebec’s pre-pandemic long-term care policy
The Omicron wave is exposing and exacerbating a pre-existing crisis in Quebec: The failure to invest in long-term care (LTC). Throughout the pandemic, Quebec has seen disproportionately high COVID-19 death rates among its senior population, particularly those residing in long-term care and housing facilities (CHSLD), or LTC, facilities. During the[Read More…]
Abolish the SPVM
Content warning: Police violence, racism On Nov. 26, bystander video footage surfaced documenting two cases of police brutality against Black youth in Quebec. Pacifique Niyokwizera, an 18-year-old Black man, was waiting outside of a nightclub when five police officers brutalized him. In the same video, the same officers are seen[Read More…]
Quebec’s new program takes an ignorant course
On Oct. 24, the Quebec government unveiled a new education program called Culture and Citizenship in Quebec (CCQ). The new course will take the place of the previous Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program. Intended to broaden student engagement with Quebec values, the program is currently undergoing a curriculum drafting[Read More…]
Land acknowledgements are not political, but should be accompanied by political action
On Oct. 16, a Montreal Canadiens announcer read a land acknowledgement aloud ahead of the team’s home opener at the Bell Centre, with the Canadiens having declared earlier that day that it will now be a permanent addition to their home games. On Oct. 20, Quebec’s non-Indigenous Indigenous Affairs minister,[Read More…]
