Latest news with #FrançoisLegault
Montreal Gazette
6 days ago
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: A welfare state Quebecers cannot afford
School boards, teachers and parents reacted with fury when François Legault's government announced last month it was cutting $570 million from the province's current-year education budget. Services to students, they argued, would inevitably suffer. The cutbacks having been announced without warning, the anger was understandable — and the government took note. On Wednesday, the Education Ministry responded by promising up to $540 million toward student services. 'We have listened to the concerns and needs,' Education Minister Bernard Drainville posted on X. 'Today, we act.' However, Quebecers would do well to get used to more financial restrictions: the province's fiscal situation is dire, and at this stage, there is no other choice but to slow the rise in expenditures, especially for the two largest parts of the budget by far — health care (44 per cent) and education (15 per cent). The effect of Drainville's olive branch remains to be seen. But several school boards had already announced layoffs of much-needed support staff, notably remedial teachers and speech therapists. Extracurricular activities have also been cancelled. A petition to the National Assembly demanding that last month's spending cuts be reversed gathered more than 150,000 signatures in two weeks. The government argues that, in fact, spending on education this year will be five per cent higher than in 2024-2025. This is true only according to clever calculations by Finance Ministry officials. If you compare the moneys actually spent last year to the amounts planned for this year, the increase is only 2.1 per cent. This is much less than what is needed to compensate for inflation and the generous pay increases negotiated with the teachers' unions. Consequently, school boards have no choice but to cut somewhere. The Coalition Avenir Québec government argues that since it was first elected in 2018, it has increased the education budget by 55 per cent. Exactly! Therein lies the problem: in education as in other fields, the province's expenditures have risen much too fast, so that the deficit is projected to reach a whopping $13.6 billion in 2025-2026. This has led Standard & Poor's to downgrade Quebec's credit rating, citing 'a confluence of factors including slowing population growth, higher remuneration spending, and lower revenues' that will produce 'persistent operating deficits and large after-capital deficits — even before heightened economic uncertainty related to tariffs.' The future is bleak, to say the least. Last spring, Finance Minister Eric Girard introduced a five-year plan to balance the budget. The strategy requires a drastic slowdown in expenditure increases. Even so, the government will have to find a yet unidentified $6 billion in expenditure cuts or additional revenues to reach its objective. In an editorial published this month, the Wall Street Journal noted that 'the crisis of the welfare state — fiscally unaffordable but politically unreformable — afflicts nearly every 21st century Western democracy.' This is certainly the case of Quebec, where the welfare state has become larger than in any other jurisdiction in North America. Of course, this is a policy choice Quebecers have made beginning with the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s: carry a heavier tax burden in order to benefit from more generous public services. Unfortunately, those services have become grossly inefficient while requiring ever increasing amounts of money — money the province simply does not have. That being the case, expect budget cuts like those announced in the education sector to be just the beginning. Such restrictions contribute to the current dissatisfaction toward the Legault government — and deservedly so, considering that the CAQ inherited a significant surplus and transformed it into a gaping deficit. However, even if the October 2026 elections were to deliver a new government, Quebecers will face the same intractable problem that for years they have sought to avoid: How to preserve the large welfare state they hold so dear if they cannot afford it?
Montreal Gazette
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Hanes: LaSalle College is the latest scapegoat in Legault's misguided language strategy
The quota limiting the number of students at English CEGEPs and colleges that was embedded in Bill 96, Quebec's law to protect French, was always a ticking time bomb. Rather than restrict access to francophones and allophones altogether, as some language hawks have long advocated, the government of Premier François Legault instead came up with a complicated formula to hold enrolment at English institutions to 17.5 per cent of the entire college network. If the cap is arbitrary enough already, divvying it up among the various schools is even more capricious. For good measure, the government set another booby trap: hefty penalties for any public and subsidized private colleges that exceed the benchmark. Oh, and if the enrolment numbers ever dip, the proportion allotted to English CEGEPs can never ever bob back up, according to the law. The sole purpose of these measures seems to be to limit the vitality of English institutions by backhanded means, since (last we checked) their doors are still open to all and they manage to appeal to graduates of English and French schools alike, much to the chagrin of language hardliners. So a sword of Damocles has been dangling over English CEGEPs and colleges ever since the law was adopted in 2022. It has made many administrators nervous as they recalibrated their admissions processes to abide by the cap while also overhauling their course offerings to ensure the francophone and allophone students they admit meet the same language requirements as graduates of French institutions. Now, the blade has finally fallen and it has struck a heavy blow against LaSalle College. The subsidized private college has been penalized $30 million for exceeding the quota of English-program students in each of the last two years. The government is trying to recoup $8.78 million from the college for going over the benchmark of 716 students for 2023-24 and $21.1 million for being 1,066 students over the quota in 2024-25. However, LaSalle says the majority of its English-program students are international enrolments, who pay their full ride and receive no subsidy from the government. Yet, the money the government is clawing back from the college funds the education of Quebec students, both French and English. There has been a lot of finger-wagging portraying LaSalle as an unrepentant language scofflaw that ought to have known better. On X, Higher Eduction Minister Pascale Déry lamented that LaSalle is the only college to contravene Bill 96 in this manner. Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge piled on, commenting that 'no one is above the law.' But as LaSalle College president and CEO Claude Marchand explained, the international students for which the school is being sanctioned had already been accepted or were in the middle of their programs when the government (belatedly) set the quota. LaSalle couldn't very well renege on their offers or kick people out of their courses (or at least it had the integrity not to). So its administration asked for a grace period to implement the cap. On top of that, LaSalle said the Quebec government approved the study permits of the international students attending. Given that most programs last two years, the college said it will be in compliance with Bill 96 by the 2025-26 school year. No matter. The Legault government has decided to make an example of LaSalle, as if the college is doing a dastardly deed by educating 5,000 students for careers in fields such as early childhood education, managing seniors' residences or accounting — yes, some of them in English — and honouring the commitments it made to international students, who registered at the college in good faith in pursuit of their hopes and dreams. Of course, its real crime was to try to reason with a government that concocted a punitive, political and discretionary quota system designed for the sole purpose of putting the squeeze on English institutions. But the practical consequences of this language crackdown could be severe. The hefty fine puts the future of LaSalle College, founded in 1959, at risk. If Marchand thought the government wouldn't dare let a valuable and established educational institution that employs 700 people go down the drain, perhaps he hasn't been paying attention. The Association des collèges privés du Québec has put out a statement in support of LaSalle. While recognizing the importance of protecting French, it said it has always had serious qualms about the penalties for missing the quota. It called for negotiations to reach a 'reasonable, fair and realistic solution' and 'avoid irreversible consequences' for the flagship college. You think that would be a no brainer — the first recourse, in fact. Alas, there are two things that are completely dispensable to the Legault government: the stability of English institutions and the fate of temporary immigrants, including promising and hard-working international students. This government has attempted to abolish English school boards and raised tuition for out-of-province university students, purportedly to prevent the anglicization of Montreal, a move that disproportionately hurts English academic institutions. LaSalle is contesting the fine in court — and could well be vindicated. But that may not even matter. English school boards have won two resounding legal victories, before Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal, defending their constitutional rights over Bill 40. Yet, the Legault government is nevertheless appealing the judgements to the Supreme Court of Canada. McGill and Concordia also won a reprieve from the out-of-province tuition policy in court, but Déry's office has said Quebec still intends to collect the higher fees, even if the government won't appeal the ruling that called the hikes 'unreasonable.' The contempt is stunning — but the antagonism of English institutions is only compounded by the Legault government's disregard for immigration, which the premier once characterized as 'suicidal' for Quebec's language and culture if increased. In recent months, the Quebec government has scaled back many programs for both temporary and permanent immigrants as it drastically slashes the number of newcomers it plans to accept. Last fall, the government froze the Programme regulier des travailleurs qualifiés and the Programme de l'expérience Québécoise, two tried and true pathways to permanent residency. The latter was especially popular with international students who enrolled at Quebec colleges and universities, gaining valuable academic, work and life experience that should make them a natural fit. Now, it turns out that not only have new applications been suspended, but files already in the pipeline have been put on ice, too, leaving many people in limbo. Last winter, the government reduced by 20 per cent the quota of international students it will allow to study in Quebec next year. (Memo to LaSalle College, just in case). Earlier this month, the Quebec government also put a moratorium on some new sponsorship applications for those who want to bring loved ones like spouses, parents or adult children here to live. Legault has repeatedly asked the federal government to relocate some of the asylum seekers who have been entering Quebec — a form of immigration that policies can't control and which is putting pressure on the province's social services. Quebec adopted a new law laying out how new arrivals should integrate, while Bill 96 also cuts off their access to public services in a language other than French after six months — nevermind the long waits to access language classes. Whether its quotas, caps, deadlines, fines, laws or unrealistic expectations, immigrants are being set up to fail and English institutions are tiptoeing over trip wires as part of the Legault government's Machiavellian strategy to protect the French language.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Quebec government reassigns head of auto insurance board amid scandal
QUÉBEC — The Quebec government has reassigned the president and CEO of the province's auto insurance board. Éric Ducharme's dismissal from the top job was confirmed by a government source who was not authorized to speak publicly. Ducharme was appointed to the position in April 2023 to restore order at the auto board, which has been in crisis since the disastrous rollout of its new online platform. He is being dismissed in the middle of a public inquiry announced last spring after Quebec's auditor general revealed cost overruns of at least $500 million in the creation of the platform. Quebec's anticorruption squad conducted a search of the auto board's head office in June. Premier François Legault has refused to publicly reiterate his confidence in Ducharme in recent months, but had suggested he would wait for the report from the public inquiry before taking any action. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CTV News
09-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Quebec government fires head of SAAQ
Éric Ducharme, president and CEO of the SAAQ, has been fired by François Legault's government. (CTV News) Éric Ducharme, president and CEO of Quebec's automobile insurance board, the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec, has been fired by François Legault's government, The Canadian Press has confirmed. Ducharme, a former Treasury Board secretary, was appointed to the role in April 2023 to restore order at the SAAQ, which had been in crisis since the disastrous rollout of its SAAQclic platform. In June, an internal auditor at the SAAQ, Nadia Brière, reported to the Gallant Commission, which was tasked with investigating the SAAQclic fiasco, that she believed poor contract management was continuing at the state-owned corporation. On June 18, the province's anti-corruption unit (UPAC) searched the SAAQ's head office. READ MORE: Quebec's anti-corruption police open investigation into SAAQclic fiasco Brière also corroborated statements made by her former colleague, Marie-Line Lalonde, that Ducharme had very little interest in internal auditing. Lalonde told the commission that she felt she had been 'spat on' during a meeting in January 2024 as Ducharme stood idly by, seemingly saying, 'I don't want your work.' Ducharme has not yet given his version of events to the commission, as Judge Denis Gallant denied a request by SAAQ lawyer Sébastien Laprise to have him testify. In recent months, Legault and Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault have refused to reiterate their confidence in Ducharme publicly. Annie Lafond, current vice president of policyholder services at the SAAQ, is expected to replace him as CEO, according to information obtained by The Canadian Press on Wednesday. Before joining the SAAQ a few months ago, Lafond spent five years as vice president of digital transformation and customer experience at Beneva. - This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 9, 2025.
CBC
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Free tickets for ceremony honouring late Quebec singer, Serge Fiori, available Monday
Fans and admirers of the late Quebec singer and Harmonium frontman Serge Fiori will be able to pay their final respects at a national tribute ceremony taking place at Montreal's Place des Arts on July 15. Tickets for members of the general public will be available on the Place des Arts website at 3 p.m. on Monday. Fiori died June 24 at his home in Saint-Henri-de-Taillon, Que., following a long illness. He was 73. His death prompted an outpouring of grief in the province, with Quebec Premier François Legault announcing a national funeral. The premier's office said the ceremony will allow the public "the opportunity to pay a final tribute to an artist and creator who profoundly marked Quebec culture and contributed to shaping our musical landscape." While tickets are free, reservations are required. Organizers warned that people acquiring tickets elsewhere than directly through the link to the Place des Arts ticket office would be identified and refused access to the ceremony. In November 2023, tickets for a memorial honouring Karl Tremblay of Les Cowboys Fringants, sold out within minutes, with some resale sites listing tickets for several hundred dollars. The premier's office said organizers had deployed all the technological means possible "to prevent the free tickets from being sold and becoming a source of profit." Born in 1952 in Montreal, Fiori founded the group Harmonium in the early 1970s with Michel Normandeau on guitar and vocals and Louis Valois on bass. The legendary group revolutionized Quebec music with three folk rock albums Harmonium, Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison and L'heptade. They were one of the few Quebec bands of the 1970s to achieve some success in the United States, despite their French lyrics. An online book of condolences is also available for people wishing to send a message to Fiori's family.
