Designer Marie-Chrystine Corbin has her workshop in Charlesbourg, near the Trait-Carré. (Photo by Alphonsine Sefu) 
An ice sculptor captured the moment when this goalie made the save of the game. (Photo by Cassandra Kerwin) Negotiations progressing between province, nurses’ union Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter editor@qctonline.com The president of Quebec’s main nurses’ union has said negotiations with the provincial government are going “pretty…
OPINION: CAQ should consider financial impacts of its policies on anglophones
Submitted by the Quebec Community Groups Network
The government of Quebec must always consider the financial impacts of all government legislation, regulations, policies and programs on all Quebecers – and particularly on minority communities, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) told Finance Minister Eric Girard last week.
“Meanwhile, support should be provided to our school boards, CEGEPs, universities and other institutions to deal with the adverse financial fallout of recent government policies,” QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge told Girard, who is also the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers. She made the comments during a pre-budget consultation on Jan. 22 with groups serving Quebec’s English-speaking minority community in Montreal.
The QCGN also insisted that all investments to meet the needs and priorities of our community be made through the lens of the Community Development Plan – a vision for collective action which was developed, shared and endorsed by dozens of QCGN members, both organizational and individual, as well as multiple community stakeholders across Quebec.
“Community sector organizations have always been trusted and reliable partners of the government of Quebec,” said Martin-Laforge. “They play a vital role in Quebec’s social development by providing information, assistance, [service] delivery and support for key government mandates and services to the population, particularly to vulnerable citizens and groups.”
Faced with runaway inflation and the surge in the cost of living, funding for community sector organizations should be adjusted to reflect the additional demand from the population and the increased financial load, the QCGN told the minister.
“Organizations are feeling inflationary pressures as they struggle to provide services within budgets that are not keeping up with increased costs,” said Martin-Laforge. “In the face of mounting economic challenges, the Quebec community sector requires support to continue to do more with less.”
QCGN also called for a “real and meaningful dialogue” between Quebec’s English-speaking community and Girard to address the impacts of recent government measures that are harmful to businesses, institutions and the economy at large.
Meeting the minister for a second pre-budget consultation, Martin-Laforge repeated a longstanding demand that funding for community groups serving English-speaking Quebecers be adjusted to reflect the English-speaking community’s proportion of Quebec’s population and economic disparities between English- and French-speaking Quebecers.
“An estimate provided by the Secretariat for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers shows that organizations supporting English-speaking Quebecers receive only three per cent of funding allocated by the Quebec government to the community sector,” Martin-Laforge pointed out. “This persists despite widespread agreement among French- and English-speaking Quebecers that funding should reflect community size.”
Additionally, Martin-Laforge insisted the government of Quebec should work in collaboration with its English-speaking minority to maximize resources made available through the government of Canada to protect and promote French and to support the vitality of the English-speaking community of Quebec.
“The Government of Canada Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration is designed to support the protection and the promotion of French in Canada and Quebec and provides resources for enhancing the vitality of Quebec’s English-speaking minority,” she said. “We look forward to collaborating with the government of Quebec in any way that will improve the state of the economy and the living conditions of English-speaking Quebecers and our fellow citizens.”
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Thoughts on school board elections
Dear Editor,
On Nov. 3, 2024, the English community will have the opportunity to vote for school commissioners to “manage and control” our public school system.
Traditionally the turnout is quite low. That’s why during election time, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) resurrects ideas in the hope of increasing voter turnout.
Consider the remarks in the Montreal Gazette on Jan. 20 by QESBA president Joe Ortona, who is also chair of the English Montreal School Board.
He said more should be done to boost voter turnout by “holding school elections in conjunction with municipal ones.” He blames the government for not helping out.
The idea of twinning elections was first proposed by Liberal Education Minister Michelle Courchesne in her school board reform Bill 88, but she dropped the idea due to QESBA’s vocal reaction. They said it would be a “logistical nightmare … disastrous for school board democracy.”
On Jan. 23, Ortona told CJAD host David Heurtel that QESBA has suggested mail-in ballots to increase voter participation but received “no co-operation” from the government in the past 10 years.
The thought of mail-in voting has been rejected by many due to its lack of confidentiality. … On Jan. 27, Le Devoir published a letter titled: “Avec le vote en ligne, le retour du télégraphe” (With online voting, the return of the telegraph). On Jan. 24, the paper ran a letter: “Voter dans son salon” (Vote in your living room). Both letters criticized the idea, stating that it would compromise the sanctity of the secret ballot.
School board elections have been a problem for years. I ran for chair of the Lester B. Pearson board twice. The system is a mess. Recall the law calls for four-year mandates, yet we ended up having consecutive seven-year mandates from 2007 to 2014 and then from 2014 to 2021.
I believe the rate of voter participation does not have any impact on student achievement. We should focus on providing students with the necessary resources and support to shine in their studies, regardless of external factors such as voter turnout.
Chris Eustace
Pierrefonds
Civilian staff at CFB Valcartier represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada have been on strike since Jan. 22. (Photo by Alexandre Zacharie courtesy of PSAC) 
The world première of Grand-Mess’ at Église Saint-Charles de Limoilou on Jan. 31 coincides with Machine de Cirque’s 10th anniversary and the 70th Quebec Winter Carnival. (Photo by Danielle Burns) 
Former Quebec Nordiques player Owen Nolan will be in Quebec City to sign autographs at the Expo Cartes Sports at the Grand Marché on Feb. 10. Nolan was the head coach of the San Jose Jr. Sharks at the 2020 tournament. (Photo by Luc Lang) 
Remparts rookie goaltender Louis-Antoine Denault recorded his first QMJHL shutout in the 2-0 victory over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of the QMJHL/Jonathan Roy)