Latest news with #CEGEP
Montreal Gazette
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Don't censor teachers, Vanier College says after Quebec investigation into tensions at CEGEPs
The director general of a CEGEP in Montreal says a recent government investigation into the climate at the school may have had a chilling effect on teachers. Benoit Morin says the investigation exacerbated tensions at Vanier College, which has been under scrutiny since last fall after complaints that the Israel-Hamas war created an unsafe atmosphere on campus. The Quebec Education Department published a report last week about Dawson and Vanier colleges that found the schools have little control over course content, including language classes focused on Palestinian culture. The report says the Quebec government should pass a law to regulate academic freedom in the college system. But Morin says it would be a mistake to create an environment in which teachers censor themselves, and says teaching staff should be trusted. The report also found that prayer rooms in colleges can foster radicalization and divisions between students, but Morin says he has not seen that at Vanier.
Montreal Gazette
13-06-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
As Trump turns U.S. inward, Quebec is missing chance to attract international students, study says
Applications from international students to Quebec universities dropped by 46 per cent for 2025-26 — a decline a new study links to recent restrictions it calls ill-timed, warning the province is missing a chance to attract talent deterred by U.S. policies under Donald Trump. Students from other countries are essential to the 'vitality and viability' of Quebec's universities and play a major role in the province's economy, spending $4.2 billion and supporting 48,000 jobs annually, according to the study by the consulting firm Volume 10. Since 2020, there have been 10 changes to international student admission policies in Quebec, according to the report, titled Knowledge Without Borders. The most recent involved major cuts to international admissions. 'The repeated changes to the system regulating international students, both in Quebec and Canada, have created confusion in student networks,' the study said. 'In a context where word of mouth plays a central role, this uncertainty is detrimental to Quebec's image at a time when global competition is becoming more intense.' In addition, Quebec's English universities complain that the Legault government has alienated many potential international recruits by suggesting non-Quebec students who don't speak French are a major threat to the province's majority language. There are 57,000 international students in Quebec universities, making up 17 per cent of the student population. These students 'help keep many programs, weakened by demographic stagnation, afloat,' the study said. 'Their presence is especially decisive at the graduate — mainly doctoral — level, where international students represent almost half of all PhD students in Quebec. These students contribute to research in strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, engineering, and health sciences.' In areas such as engineering and engineering technology, international students make up 72 per cent of those pursuing Master's and doctoral degrees. In mathematics, computer science, and information science, they account for more than half of graduate students. 'There just aren't enough Quebecers pursuing graduate studies in science,' Rémi Quirion, Quebec's chief scientist, told the study's authors. 'When I was a researcher, my lab would never have achieved such international success without the work of international students.' Quirion, a former vice-dean in the faculty of medicine at McGill University, advises the Quebec government on science issues and promotes Quebec research in Canada and around the world. International students cost a lot less to educate if you account for the fact that their pre-university studies were undertaken elsewhere. The Quebec and Canadian governments spend $337,000 to take young people from birth through CEGEP, the study said. That expense is not required for students brought up elsewhere. Upon graduation, about 31 per cent of international students remain in Quebec. 'Among those who choose to stay, 86.6 per cent quickly integrate into the job market,' the study found. 'Those who leave become scientific, economic, and cultural intermediaries for Quebec on the world stage. In both cases, international students contribute to the growth of Quebec's economy and the expansion of international markets.' The study suggests Quebec can benefit from turmoil in the research and university sectors in the U.S. since Trump began his second term as president in January. His administration has cut the budgets of major government agencies, restricted research funding in some scientific sectors and blocked specialists from some countries from entering the U.S. 'This hostile climate has made researchers and academics question their future in the U.S., creating a brain drain other countries are working hard to capitalize on,' the study said. 'For Quebec, this is a unique opportunity to show the world that it is a destination of choice for the brightest scientific minds.' The study was sponsored by several major Quebec foundations.
CBC
31-05-2025
- General
- CBC
High school science teacher's advice leaves lasting mark on student
As part of CBC Quebec's The State of Our Schools project, we asked our audience to share stories of teachers who positively impacted them. Meet high school science teacher Andrea Hawkins, whose words helped a former student through a tough time in CEGEP.
Montreal Gazette
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Letters: Balancing academic freedom with safety on campus
The open letter by CEGEP teachers demanding the resignation of Minister Pascale Déry puts a spotlight on the challenges of maintaining both safety and freedom of speech on campuses and the difficult tightrope the government must walk to navigate this balance. The conflict in the Middle East evokes strong emotions that have exploded into educational spaces. Allegations of harassment and inappropriate use of classroom time has given rise to the investigation by the ministry of higher education. This comes amid another investigation by various groups into dozens of antisemitic, racist and misogynistic slurs by Quebec medical school applicants on the popular social media platform Discord. Schools must remain places where academic freedom and open dialogue are cherished, but there is a limit to this freedom when students do not feel safe on campus and teachers cannot be trusted to maintain neutrality in their course content. The investigation by the ministry aims to ensure a respectful and peaceful climate in our schools. Our government not only has a right to deal with racism and antisemitism head-on, it has an obligation to do so. Marcy Bruck, The Foundation for Genocide Education, Montreal Anglos helped build Quebec, too Re: ' 'Go Habs Go' fiasco wasn't a one-off ' (Allison Hanes, May 2) Allison Hanes has hit the nail on the head. While we mock and criticize the 'language police,' they are doing their job according to the laws and policies of the Quebec government. With its approach and attitude of disrespect — and all-out campaign against the use of English in Quebec — it seems clear the CAQ government refuses to acknowledge the important role the anglophone community has played in the growth and development of our province. Gerry Raven, Hampstead Respect must be a two-way street In his first comments after being sworn in, Prime Minister Mark Carney described Canada as 'a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: Indigenous, French and British,' and called the Crown a link to 'Canada's proud British heritage.' We are used to being hit over the head with notions of Quebec's unique French heritage, but let us not forget that English Canada has a heritage and identity as well. The history of the Crown is intimately tied to all three of our founding peoples. It is the reason the Loyalists fled the American Revolution. It is the source of security for our treaties with Indigenous Peoples. And it offered the continuation of the French language, civil law and Catholic religion at a time when these were under severe pressure from American expansionism. Canada is careful to tiptoe around matters of identity, as Quebec rightly demands respect for its distinct society. But to get respect, you must give respect. Jordan Black, Rosemont Submitting a letter to the editor Letters should be sent by email to letters@ We prioritize letters that respond to, or are inspired by, articles published by The Gazette. If you are responding to a specific article, let us know which one. Letters should be sent uniquely to us. The shorter they are — ideally, fewer than 200 words — the greater the chance of publication. Timing, clarity, factual accuracy and tone are all important, as is whether the writer has something new to add to the conversation. We reserve the right to edit and condense all letters. Care is taken to preserve the core of the writer's argument. Our policy is not to publish anonymous letters, those with pseudonyms or 'open letters' addressed to third parties. Letters are published with the author's full name and city or neighbourhood/borough of residence. Include a phone number and address to help verify identity; these will not be published. We will not indicate to you whether your letter will be published. If it has not been published within 10 days or so, it is not likely to be.
Montreal Gazette
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Dawson student could lose youth medal following investigation into racist Discord channel
By Quebec Lieutenant Governor Manon Jeannotte's office has contacted Dawson College about its investigation into racist trolling on the social media platform Discord by medical school applicants to determine whether to rescind a youth medal awarded to a student, The Gazette can confirm. The Dawson student, who is enrolled in the enriched health science program at the CEGEP, is alleged to be one of the ringleaders of a gang of trolls on the Discord channel Med serveur who had been exchanging a virulent stream of antisemitic and other racist messages since February. On Friday, Discord deactivated the Med serveur channel after inquiries by The Gazette. On May 1, Dawson proclaimed on its website that two of its students had received the lieutenant governor's youth medal at a ceremony in Laval on April 26. Dawson has since taken down that announcement from its website, replacing it with another message that is solely about the other student, who is studying psychology and is not under investigation. Ian Préfontaine, a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor, said on Wednesday that his office will await the outcome of Dawson's investigation before taking any action, if any, about the medal. 'We would like to thank The Gazette for bringing this matter to our attention,' Préfontaine said. 'You can imagine that from our side, we were not aware of the situation. And so we've made a lot of inquiries about this. As a result of the information that we received, we quickly contacted the collegial institution to obtain some clarification about the acts that were denounced.' 'For our part, we are letting the institution continue its investigation, and afterward, we will take the appropriate decisions at the opportune moment,' he added. Préfontaine declined to identify the student, citing provincial privacy legislation. Dawson has also chosen not to make the student's name public. The Gazette has decided not to release the student's name, but has reached out to them through their Gmail account. Still, the individual's name, academic accomplishments and pro-Palestinian activities, including fighting against islamophobia, are well-known by fellow students in the enriched health science program at Dawson, sources have told The Gazette. On Monday, Dawson's director of communications and corporate affairs said the CEGEP's internal probe was making headway. 'The investigation is advancing,' Donna Varrica said. 'We are awaiting clarity on a couple of important points before considering any action or calling it closed. As for any changes to web pages on our website that reference specific students in order to identify them in another context ... I can't comment on that.' Meanwhile, the Service de police de la ville de Montréal has begun its own investigation, even going so far as to share information with the RCMP and CSIS concerning some of the perpetrators. Officially, a SPVM spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny that it is conducting an investigation. The latest controversy at Dawson has attracted international media attention, with two Israeli newspapers reporting on it in recent days. The Times of Israel published a story on Sunday about 'Holocaust jokes and denial on (a Discord) social media platform accessed by 1,400 people.' For its part, the Jerusalem Post wrote about how some 'aspiring doctors (in Quebec) ... spread Holocaust denial, praised the 'Final Solution,' and degraded women.' Although the bulk of the online vitriol was antisemitic, Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith also captured screenshots that were homophobic, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous. Some of the posts threatened violence against Jews and members of the LGBTQ2S+ community. B'nai Brith Canada has exposed a public Discord server used by Quebec medical school applicants and attendees that became a cesspool of antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and hate. For months, a number ofaspiring doctors openly posted Holocaust denial, praise for the 'Final… — B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) May 8, 2025 Sources have told The Gazette that 20 to 30 anonymous accounts on the Med serveur channel spewed the hateful content on a daily basis. And when some people on the channel raised objections, they were quickly excluded from the chat group by the moderator. Since Discord took down the channel, hundreds of med school applicants have switched en masse to another server on Discord called ADMISSION MED QC 2024, which had seen little activity since last year. But Sunday afternoon, one user openly praised Hitler as a 'charismatic' orator on the revived channel. On Monday, Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry condemned the incendiary rhetoric on Discord and appealed to both students and medical school applicants to come forward to assist in the investigation by authorities. In December, Déry opened an inquiry into complaints of racist bullying from students at Dawson and Vanier colleges as part of the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, some academic union leaders have accused Déry of political interference after she demanded Dawson justify the content of a French course discussing Palestinian issues. The racist social media posts are the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents — including firebombing synagogue entrances and shooting at the buildings of private religious schools — that have traumatized Montreal's Jewish community since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas committed the worse massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
