Latest news with #CoalitionAvenirQuebec
CTV News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Quebec fines LaSalle College $30M for having too many students in English programs
LaSalle College has been fined $30 million by François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government for enrolling too many students in its English-language programs over the past two academic years. The college confirmed the news on Friday morning, saying it was accused of contravening Quebec's French Language Charter, Bill 101. Its amended Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, states that the province's CEGEPs, or junior colleges, are only allowed to enroll a certain number of students in their English-language programs. In a letter sent to the college by the Quebec Higher Education Ministry, dated June 28, 2024, the school's officials were accused of surpassing their allowed limit by 716 English-speaking students for the 2023-2024 academic year. Simon Savignac, director of communications with the Higher Education Ministry, clarified to CTV News on Friday that an 'English-speaking student' in this case was any student enrolled in a program taught in English – regardless of their mother tongue or the language in which they completed their elementary or secondary education. 'The Ministry of Higher Education must recover the amount of subsidies paid in excess and collect the adjustment,' the letter states. That amount, according to the ministry, was $8,781,740. Additionally, for the 2024-2025 academic year, the school was accused of enrolling 1,066 too many English-speaking students in its English programs. For that, the school was asked to pay $21,113,864. 'Despite close monitoring and several warnings, it is important to note that LaSalle is the only subsidized private college that continues to defy the French Language Charter and fail to comply with the law,' said Savignac with the Higher Education Ministry on Friday, confirming that no other school in its category had been penalized. In a letter to Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry and French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge, dated Dec. 9, 2024, LaSalle College President Claude Marchand argued that the $30 million penalty imposed by the government threatened the school's very survival. 'In all transparency, we acknowledge that we have been unable to comply with the conditions imposed by the new legislative framework regarding quotas for English-speaking students,' he wrote. However, Marchand added that the college 'never had a real opportunity' to discuss the situation with government officials. 'These penalties will inevitably lead to our insolvency and a default on our obligations to our banking syndicate, the [Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec] CDPQ and Export Development Canada, which will recall the $150 million granted to LCI Education,' he said. Marchand also pointed to the major collateral damage the school will suffer, including abruptly interrupting the education of thousands of students, penalizing the jobs of 736 people, and hurting the college's international network. The college said it is contesting the fine in the Quebec Superior Court. LaSalle College, founded in Montreal by Jean-Paul Morin in 1959, offers more than 60 programs to students.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Highly anticipated Quebec byelection in Arthabaska riding to be held Aug. 11
The leader of the Conservative party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, greets his supporters during a rally in Victoriaville, Que., on Sunday, May 4, 2025. QUÉBEC — Quebec's government has announced that a hotly contested byelection northeast of Montreal will take place Aug. 11. The Arthabaska riding has been held by the Coalition Avenir Québec since 2012, but polls indicate the governing party is set to lose its stronghold to the Parti Québécois or Conservatives. Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime has put his name forward, hoping to win what would be his party's only seat in the legislature. His main opponent is former Radio-Canada journalist Alex Boissonneault with the PQ — a party on the upswing that has won the last two byelections. Poll aggregator Qc125 indicates the PQ and Conservatives are tied at 37 per cent support, with Premier François Legault's party a distant third in the riding. The CAQ's candidate is Keven Brasseur, a former president of the party's youth commission, while health-care worker Pascale Fortin is representing Québec solidaire in the byelection. The Liberals have not yet named a candidate for the riding left vacant after the CAQ's Eric Lefebvre quit provincial politics to run for the Conservatives in April's federal election. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025. The Canadian Press
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Aluminerie Alouette confirms $1.5 billion investment in Sept-Îles
Quebec Premier Francois Legault waves to people after his speech at the Coalition Avenir Quebec youth wing congress in Levis Que. Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Support for Quebec Liberal Party surging in the wake of Pablo Rodriguez's election: poll
The effect of Pablo Rodriguez's election as the new leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) on voting intentions has been confirmed, with a second poll showing the party surging in popularity. In the most recent Léger poll, conducted on behalf of Quebecor Media, 28 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the QLP if an election were held today. The Liberals have thus gained seven percentage points since Léger's previous poll, conducted in May, before Rodriguez became party leader. Voting intentions in Quebec A screenshot of a chart from a Leger poll released on June 26, 2025, showing current voting intentions in Quebec. (Source: Leger) In the poll released on Thursday, the PLQ is now only two points behind the Parti Québécois (PQ), which remains in the lead in voting intentions with 30 per cent. However, the sovereigntist party has lost three points since the May poll. A Pallas Data poll released last week, just after Rodriguez's victory in the PLQ leadership race, also showed an increase in support for the PLQ. That poll put the Liberals at 26 per cent and the PQ at 31 per cent. In the previous Pallas Data poll, published in March, the Liberals had garnered 22 per cent of support. Increased dissatisfaction with the CAQ The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) continues to plummet. François Legault's party lost another three points and now stands at 17 per cent of voting intentions, according to Léger. The CAQ remains ahead of the Conservative Party (14 per cent, up 1 point from the May poll) and Québec solidaire (9 per cent, down 1 point from the May poll). The CAQ's decline in support coincides with an increase in Quebecers' dissatisfaction with the Legault government. In the Léger-Québecor poll, 65 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the CAQ government's performance, four points higher than in the previous poll. In contrast, 28 per cent of participants said they were satisfied with the government's performance, down four points from the previous poll. Last week, when another poll showed the CAQ down in voting intentions, Legault said that such results make him want to 'fight' for Quebecers. When asked who would make the best premier of Quebec, 23 per cent of respondents chose PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, 19 per cent chose Rodriguez, and 17 per cent chose Legault. Half of respondents said that Legault should step down as CAQ leader. Sovereignty on the rise among young people When it comes to Quebec sovereignty, 33 per cent of respondents said they were in favour, 59 per cent said they were against, and 8 per cent said they did not know or preferred not to answer. While support for independence remained stable from one month to the next, one figure stands out: support for sovereignty stands at 48 per cent among the 18-34 age group. Support for sovereignty is therefore higher in this age group than among aged 35-54 (28 per cent) and those aged 55 and over (35 per cent), according to Léger's data. The Léger-Québecor poll was conducted online among 1,056 respondents in Quebec from 20 to 22 June. There is no margin of error, as online surveys are not considered a random sample of the population, but a probabilistic sample of this size would have a margin of error of no more than ± 3% (19 times out of 20). This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 26, 2025. By Mathieu Paquette, The Canadian Press
CBC
05-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Quebec floats cutting services for non-permanent residents
Social Sharing Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge said he isn't ruling out the possibility of cutting services for non-permanent residents in the province if the federal government fails to halve its annual immigration targets. At a news conference on Thursday, Roberge presented a report outlining the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government's potential immigration targets for 2026-29. "If we're forced to make difficult decisions, we'll make them. We're not at that point yet, and we don't want to get there" Roberge said, underlining that the provincial government spent $500 million last year to support asylum seekers. He added that the state of public services in the province is "unfair" to Quebecers "who pay taxes" and are already struggling to see family doctors and find housing. The report describes three scenarios the government is considering to bring down the number of permanent residents from this year's target of 66,500. Thresholds could be lowered to 45,000, 35,000 or 25,000 over the next four years. Roberge said that the government would focus its non-permanent immigration reduction efforts in Montreal and Laval to facilitate newcomers settling in regional areas, where French is less threatened. He said it also intends to prioritize current non-permanent residents for permanent residency. Immigrants admitted through the Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET), which is currently suspended until Nov. 30, could decrease from 72,000 to 65,000 over the same period. The government could decrease the number of international students from 128,000 to 110,00 by 2029, according to the document. 'Disconnect' between immigration targets, business sector The CAQ government's proposed targets come on the heels of the Institut du Québec suggesting an increase in the number of new permanent residents to lessen the province's reliance on non-permanent residents. The report by the Institut du Québec, published on Wednesday, outlines several scenarios, including one that suggested raising permanent immigration levels in the province to up to 90,000. According to the institute's study, focusing on permanent immigration is preferable to temporary immigration since "people who choose to settle permanently make a greater contribution to Quebec society and the economy." Véronique Proulx, president and executive director of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, said the ideas the CAQ government put forward today were surprising and disappointing. "There's really a disconnect between what the government is proposing today and what the companies in the regions of Quebec, but also in Montreal and Laval, are asking for," Proulx said. "The number one thing they're asking for is more immigration. Temporary immigration but permanent immigration as well." Arcelle Appolon, executive director of Maison d'Haïti in Montreal, said the government's immigration targets were "not realistic simply because for the past couple of years, the thresholds have not been respected." Quebec is projected to accept 10,000 more permanent residents in 2025 than it planned because of immigrants who completed the Programme de l'expérience québécoise (PEQ). "We are quite aware of the reality of what happens when people come and when we hear their stories, we see that the [government] narrative that is currently in place differs greatly from what they're telling us," she said. "We do hope that the government chooses to re-evaluate their numbers and consider the experts' opinions on the topic."
