Quebec’s government apparatus is gearing up for guaranteed minimum income. The signs can be found in the Quebec 2016-2017 budget documents made public on March 17, 2016. However, they contain clear evidence of systemic discrimination against unemployed persons living alone. The income they are currently guaranteed compares badly to that…
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In an interview that aired on Radio-Canada, Health Minister Gaétan Barrette invoked the “failure” of the “initial concept of CLSCs” to justify significant activities and resources being transferred from local community service centres (CLSCs) to family medicine groups (FMGs). The Minister’s statement suggests that CLSCs are primarily responsible for this…
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Overshadowed by the Brussels attacks and the death of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford which both took place the same day, Bill Morneau’s first budget, unveiled on March 22nd, is also deserving of our attention. It gives us a better idea of what the country might expect under Liberal rule….
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As the Premier is fond of saying, the worst is behind us, and Quebec is now set to enjoy more prosperous days. Despite Mr. Couillard’s assurances, it was hard to take his word for it at the beginning of the year. The announcement last month that daycare funding is under review…
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We all know that there is a line below which we cannot fall, a minimum income short of which we are unable to live decently. It’s like sinking under the surface of water: it leads to drowning. Living with less than the required minimum is damaging for one’s physical and mental…
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Since the beginning of the new year, Quebec’s departments of Environment and Transportation have demonstrated that their management of the province’s Green Fund is opaque and characterized by improvisation. The ever more apparent lack of economic and environmental vision is striking. The Green Fund, like the Generations Fund, is a crafty…
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Slyly making dire changes to social assistance legislation “to allow a better match between training and jobs and to facilitate labour market entry,” Bill 70 is set to be the worst infringement upon the Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion since it was passed with unanimous support from Quebec’s National…
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The media often talks about workers’ and student unions, but rarely about professional corporations. In a study published late in 2015, we asked ourselves if they we functioning properly, i.e. if they were aptly fulfilling their mission to protect the public. We realized that there were a number of important…
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Late last month a governmental study was released, ordered by the Quebec’s strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on Anticosti. It attempts to estimate the profitability of oil and gas drilling on Anticosti Island despite there being no proof at the moment that there are enough fossil fuels in the area. Since…
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In late November, the Finance Minister of Quebec presented an economic update on the state of public finances. As should be expected, it did not include any grand announcement. First, Minister Leitao announced that the budget has indeed been balanced this year. Even better still, the expected $2.3-billion deficit for…
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