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Montreal Gazette
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
‘Terrified' Haitians in the U.S. are desperate for asylum in Montreal
Quebec News By The rise in the number of Haitians living in the United States applying for asylum in Canada started even before Donald Trump was elected, Frantz André recalls. In the months before his election in November, Trump had promised to deport more than 11 million undocumented migrants if he was elected. His anti-migrant rhetoric, coupled with baseless claims that Haitian immigrants were eating dogs in Springfield, Ohio, sent the message that their days in the United States could be numbered. Their fears were confirmed in late June when the Trump administration moved toward deporting more than 500,000 Haitians living in the U.S. by ending their temporary legal status. The number of Haitians desperate to come to Montreal has surged in the last weeks. 'I have been getting calls every day from people in the United States who are terrified they will be deported,' said André, a co-ordinator at the Comité d'Action des Personnes sans Statut who has been helping Haitians to settle in Canada for more than a decade. 'We have spoken to people who have been hiding out in church basements for weeks in the U.S. because they're worried ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents) will come to arrest them.' Many Haitians have been living in the United States under temporary legal status for more than a decade since the earthquake that devastated their country in 2010. Under President Joe Biden, the temporary legal status was extended until at least February 2026 because of gang violence, political unrest and other factors in Haiti. In June, the Department of Homeland Security attempted to move up the expiration date to Sept. 2 but was stopped by a federal judge in New York on July 2 who deemed the move unlawful. Despite the judge's ruling, 'Haitians don't trust Trump,' André said. 'So they're still coming to to Canada because that's the one place where they might feel safe.' In the first six days of July, officials at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing between New York and Quebec received 761 asylum claims, a more than 400-per-cent increase from the year-earlier period, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Bloomberg News reported. The number of claims at the crossing rose 128 per cent in June and is up 82 per cent since the start of the year. Most of those claimants were Haitians, the CBSA said. Advocates like André fear Haitians applying for asylum here could be putting themselves in greater danger of deportation because those who are refused entry to Canada are put into the hands of U.S. authorities, who could detain them or put them in prison pending deportation. Under the long-standing Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires anyone seeking refugee protection in Canada or the U.S. to claim asylum in the first of the two countries they reach, only Haitians who have close family in Canada can claim asylum here if they're coming from the U.S. Those who don't will be turned back. Even those with family here can be turned away if they don't have the proper documentation proving their case. 'Many Haitians living in the United States are not aware of these regulations,' said Marjorie Villefranche, the former head of the Maison d'Haiti organization in Montreal that serves the Haitian community. 'And they are trying to come in just as the Canadian government is making it more difficult for people to seek asylum here.' She also questioned how the U.S. planned to deport 500,000 Haitians to a country whose main airport is closed. Canadian authorities had returned more than 1,600 asylum seekers to the United States in 2025 without hearing their case for refugee protection, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Gazette reported in early June. Many have landed in ICE custody. André noted that Canada has put a moratorium on returning Haitians to Haiti because of the unsafe conditions in that country. He accuses the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney of 'hypocrisy' by refusing access to Haitians from the United States and then putting them in the hands of U.S. authorities who might send them back to Haiti. Asylum claimants should have the right to claim their cases here, he argued. 'Canada is actually deporting people by proxy,' he said. 'Carney is making the rules tougher — he's using immigration as a bargaining tool because he knows Donald Trump is very sensitive about everything that's immigration.' In an emailed statement sent earlier to The Gazette, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Julie Lafortune said the U.S. 'continues to meet the criteria ... to be a designated safe third country.' In 2024, nearly 80 per cent of asylum seekers who made their case to an immigration judge in Canada were granted refugee status.
Montreal Gazette
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Messing with history: Could Quebec City's new third link wake up ghosts of Battle of the Plains of Abraham?
Quebec News By QUEBEC — With all the local talk of traffic congestion and the need to build bridges and tunnels, Quebec City residents might have overlooked one little fact: They already have a tunnel running under their feet. One of the lesser known historical features of the provincial capital, the 1.6-kilometre train tunnel runs on a north-south axis underground through the city with its northern entrance just west of the St-Sauveur neighbourhood and the southern portal near the St. Lawrence River just east of Gilmour Hill and the Quebec City yacht club. The southern portal is located in the areas known as l'Anse-au-Foulon, which in the old days was called Wolfe's Cove. That's because it was at this strategic point on the St. Lawrence River that British General James Wolfe gained his foothold over the French-held city by having his troops, under the cover of night, scale the steep cliff to the Plains of Abraham. The rest is history with the British defeating the French in a short battle on Sept. 13, 1759. Both generals, Wolfe for the British and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm for the French, died in the battle that was a turning point in the history of North America. But on June 12, when Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault announced a new corridor for a possible third link between Quebec City and Lévis that could potentially run right through the area, the historical aspects of the potential route were not mentioned. Nor was the fact Guilbault's new 2.8-kilometre bridge from the south shore could make landfall in the same area. That is where the bridge would become a tunnel, either 1.75 km or 3.6 km depending on the route, bored out of Cap Diamant that protected the French from invaders for years. 'It shows Mme. Guilbault has no knowledge or respect whatsoever for history,' said Louis Vallée, president of the Fédération Histoire Québec and the Société d'histoire de Sillery. The borough of Sillery could be radically affected by the project the Coalition Avenir Québec government has been promising since 2018. 'It can't happen,' Vallée said. 'It would scrap an entire heritage area. It would be catastrophic.' A quick tour by bicycle of the L'Anse-au-Foulon area reveals an area lush with greenery (including poison ivy) and recreational facilities such as bike paths. That is mixed in with historic and military lore, all well-documented by information panels installed by the National Battlefields Commission, which owns the site. The tunnel entrance itself is partially hidden by Champlain Blvd., which runs along the river. It can be found by following the rail line from the water side, which leads to the arched entrance of the tunnel liberally covered in graffiti. On its own, the tunnel, known to every rebellious teen in Sillery as a place to sneak off to, is historic. The Canadian Pacific Railway built the tunnel to transport trans-Atlantic passengers disembarking in Quebec City at L'Anse-au-Foulin port to its rail lines to the north and on to Montreal and the rest of Canada. At the time, the masts of the ships were too tall to clear Montreal's new Jacques-Cartier Bridge located downstream, so ships had to drop their passengers in Quebec City. The official opening of the tunnel took place June 1, 1931, to coincide with the arrival of the Empress of Britain. The Empress of Britain and her sister ship the Empress of Ireland were then the fastest ships making the transatlantic run to Canadian ports. According to the March-April 2008 edition of Canadian Rail, 100,000 people witnessed the arrival of the Empress of Britain. Building the tunnel was a substantial job involving 600 workers and the removal of about 61,000 cubic metres of rock and other material. Work was done from both ends and advanced by about five metres a day. The entire project was completed in 11 months. The tunnel is about 100 metres underground, running under the Plains of Abraham, then north under what is now Belvèdere Ave. to emerge in the St-Malo industrial park. Much has been written about the tunnel and the location. In the July 1931 edition of The Canadian Magazine under the headline 'Where Wolfe landed an Empress docks,' author C.H.J. Snider wrote the building of the tunnel allowed authorities to gather until-then-unknown information about the rock under the Plains. 'More was learned of the country's foundations than was guessed about them during the whole pre-conquest regime,' he wrote. Canadian Rail notes the workers found limestone and shale in the construction phase. While the limestone posed few problems, 'the shale had to be supported with timbers until the concrete lining (which exists to this day) could be fitted. Inevitably, accidents occurred in the Wolfe's Cove project.' Ironically, on the day of Guilbault's announcement, officials at the Ministère des Transports et da la Mobilité durable (MTDM) mentioned previous studies and the 'presence of a railroad tunnel' permits the ministry to conclude the rock would be 'safe' to bore. Which raises the question, could the railroad tunnel somehow be transformed into the tunnel Guilbault wants that would be available to car, truck and public-transit vehicles? The question to Guilbault's staff went unanswered, as did questions about whether the ministry considered the effect the project would have on the heritage of the area. So the Gazette consulted an expert. 'The entry point of a tunnel has not been studied in detail,' said Bruno Massicotte, a professor in Polytechnique Montréal's civil, geological and mining engineering department who was also in charge of the first 2016 study of a tunnel between Quebec City and Lévis. 'My personal impression is the current tunnel would be too small and too low. The envisioned tunnel would have to be halfway up the cliff.' He added, however, building a tunnel in this area is 'feasible,' because current technology would work in that rock. There is a Montreal example of a tunnel being repurposed for modern needs. As of April, testing has begun for REM trains using the old tunnel running under Mount Royal that will connect the Du Ruisseau and Central Station stops once the next phase of the project is rolled out. That tunnel was built in 1912 and converting it was something of an engineering and logistical challenge. There is one other potential obstacle to whatever Quebec decides about the tunnel: It and the tracks are privately owned and still in use. In the late 1990s, the tracks, tunnel and infrastructure at L'Anse-au-Foulon were purchased by Quebec-Gatineau Railway, a subsidiary of the U.S. giant, Genesee & Wyoming. In an email, Quebec-Gatineau Railway spokesperson Tom Ciuba said the tunnel is still in use anywhere from one to three times a week depending on freight traffic. 'As far as we are aware, there have been no talks about converting or widening the tunnel,' Ciuba said. 'Any impacts to our business on a possible widening or conversion of the tunnel would depend on the construction.' The citizens of Sillery and their historical society president Vallée, however, are already up in arms. Not only would a bridge block their view of the river, the traffic generated by thousands of cars would create air and noise pollution affecting their quality of life. And they wonder what kind of underground excavation work through posh and historic Sillery would be required for a tunnel. Quebec just spent millions on upgrading the riverside attractions along Champlain Blvd. to make the site near the coves more citizen-friendly. The third phase of the project includes a beach and infinity pool that gives bathers the impression they are swimming in the St. Lawrence River. 'The area would wind up as lifeless as the area under the Jacques-Cartier Bridge,' Vallée said. 'They would be busting up a major recreational tourist area.' Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, who says the Quebec government has cut the city out of the planning process, has expressed skepticism, calling on Quebec to answer 10 key questions he has on the project. But would the bridge and tunnel improve the lives of motoriststs who currently have only two options to cross the river, the historic Quebec Bridge and the newer Pierre Laporte Bridge? One new study, written by Université Laval researchers and published June 12 after Guilbault announced the chosen corridor, concluded the total economy in time for motorists with her route would be two minutes, 18 seconds. Guilbault has promised more project details, this time costed, in the fall, but opposition parties are already calling her scheme another soon-to-be-broken Coalition Avenir Québec government electoral promise. She argues, however, the corridor she has selected represents the best of several options. 'Yes, there will be challenges, as there would have been for all the corridors,' Guilbault said in June.
Montreal Gazette
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
‘There are Quebecers who are disappointed' in the CAQ, so Legault plans to shuffle cabinet this fall
Quebec News By Recognizing Quebecers are disappointed in his government, Premier François Legault has announced plans to shuffle his cabinet this fall. Trailing in the polls to the Parti Québécois and the Liberals as Quebec enters the summer season, Legault revealed his plan Friday in announcing the name of the Coalition Avenir Québec candidate in the byelection in the riding of Arthabaska-L'Érable. The candidate will be local chamber of commerce president Keven Brasseur. 'I am aware there are Quebecers who are disappointed in certain issues handled by the CAQ,' Legault said at a news conference in Victoriaville. 'This summer, we will prepare changes ... including a cabinet shuffle. I will take the summer to plan the changes.' Legault heads a caucus of 96 MNAs. He did not say who might be added or removed from cabinet. The shuffle will happen as Quebec moves closer to the 2026 general election. This story will be updated.
Montreal Gazette
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Coalition of parents and educators urges CAQ government to cancel education budget cuts
Quebec News A coalition of parents and educators is calling for the Legault government to walk back its planned cuts to education. The province has instructed school administrations to slash spending by $570 million. Although Education Minister Bernard Drainville has asked administrators to reduce effects on services to students as much as possible, the groups say that's just not possible given the scale of the cuts. 'A seven-year-old child with difficulties reading has to receive services now. It's not in three years, when public finances are better, that we can give him the service,' Richard Bergevin, president of the CSQ-affiliated Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement union, said Thursday. 'What's happening now in education is unacceptable, and that's why different actors are mobilizing. We're cutting jobs, measures essential to learning and students' well-being. The system has to be upheld in line with Quebecers' ambitions. It's our future,' said Nicolas Prévost, president of the Fédération québécoise des directions d'établissement d'enseignement. 'Budgetary restrictions always lead to real world losses. We lived it recently and this government recognized and denounced it. It would mean more children deprived of services, of support and stability, and parents who lose confidence in the capacity of the school to respond to the needs of their children,' said Sylvain Martel, spokesperson of parent group Regroupement des comités de parents autonomes du Québec. Although the groups had initially spoken out separately against budgetary cuts, they've now formed a coalition, a movement they're calling 'Ensemble, unis pour l'école' (United together for school). And Bergevin, whose union represents the majority of primary and secondary teachers in Quebec, said he wants more people to jump on the bandwagon. 'It's more important that the population, but also school administrators, teachers, support personnel, professionals — everyone — assembles to tell the government that there's still time to change its mind. There's still time to re-inject money in the system, even if it would already be late for educational organizations,' Bergevin said. A petition on the National Assembly's website calling for the government to cancel the budget cuts had accumulated close to 59,000 signatures by Thursday around 1 p.m. This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 8:56 AM.
Montreal Gazette
10-06-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
‘Stable' Quebec avoids a second credit rating downgrade
Quebec News By QUEBEC — A second credit rating agency has taken a look at the Quebec government's finances and says it is comfortable with the province's debt situation. In a statement issued Tuesday, the Canadian agency DBRS decided to maintain Quebec's credit rating, which determines the costs of borrowing to finance the debt, at AA (low) with a 'stable perspective.' The DBRS decision is the opposite of the decision to lower Quebec's credit rating by another agency, Standard and Poor's, in April. S&P lowered Quebec's rating from AA- to A+. It was the first time in 30 years that Quebec suffered a credit downgrade. It came as a blow to Premier François Legault's government, which was first elected in 2018 promising sound fiscal management. 'Because or the ongoing tariff threat, Morningstar DBRS anticipates some near-term deterioration in Quebec's fiscal and debt metrics, potentially reducing flexibility within its current credit ratings,' DBRS said in a statement. 'However, the slowing pace of expenditure growth and continued commitment to restore fiscal balance, along with the province's large and diversified economy, give us comfort that Quebec can minimize the deterioration in its public finances. 'Despite the near term deterioration, the province remains committed to restoring fiscal balance by 2029-30, consistent with the goal articulated in last year's budget.' In his 2025-2026 budget presented March 25, Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard forecast a $13.6-billion deficit, a historic record. The budget included an annual increase in spending of only 1.7 per cent but record spending on infrastructure projects as a way to counter the effects of an economic downturn sparked by American trade tariffs. S&P based its downgrade on the increase in government spending, including the infrastructure allocation. DBRS takes note of Quebec's approach but remains optimistic. 'As a result of near-term deterioration in the fiscal outlook and a substantial capital investment program, Quebec has relaxed its debt reduction targets. The province plans to reduce net debt to GDP to 35.5 per cent by 2032-33 and 32.5 per cent by 2037-38 (previously 33 per cent and 30 per cent respectively). The agency adds: 'While the ongoing trade uncertainty is expected to weigh on consumer and business confidence and investment intentions, domestic consumption should remain supported by easing monetary policy along with relatively strong labour markets and household savings.' Legault has said if Quebec is hit with full 25-per-cent tariffs on its trade, the province could lose 100,000 to 160,000 jobs.
