Sex workers denounce the curfew

Sex worker activists with the Sex Work Autonomous Committee (SWAC) are denouncing the impacts of the curfew on their working and living conditions. After 21 months of pandemic, they fear that this measure will increase the repressions against them and create more violence and economic insecurity. Instead, they are demanding the decriminalization of their work, so that they can put in place strategies to reduce the risks of spreading the virus.

Following the latest curfew, many sex workers are wondering how they will manage to work and pay the bills.  SWAC activists also denounces that many SWers cannot get emergency financial aid such as the CERB and the CRB due to the criminalization of their work. Measures like curfews increase police repression against them and harm others who are afraid of leaving violent situations.

Sex workers also demand the decriminalization of their work, which would allow them to put in place strategies to preserve their health at work and limit the risks of contamination. But there's not much you can do if your employer doesn't care about COVID and acts like nothing happened.  If you report them, you'll lose your job, or your workplace will be closed down. Decriminalization would give us access to labor rights as in New Zealand where sex work is decriminalized!

Sex Work Autonomous Committee

Tiohtià:ke (Montreal)

Paid sick leave?

The Trudeau government has finally introduced Bill C-3, which provides ten days of paid sick leave per year to workers in the federally regulated private sector. Now that two cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in Ottawa, this legislation is even more significant. But it is only a start.

For over a year, Jagmeet Singh and other MPs and journalists have called for this. However, our health ministers should ensure that physicians, nurses, and all health professionals are fully covered. It is not enough for politicians to simply call us “heroes.” Health professionals are burned out; some are quitting. Quebec is short 4,000 nurses.  Governments need to provide them financial security. MDs need this also.

Private disability insurance is generally unavailable to cover MDs against COVID-19 related loss of income. It is unavailable to those over age 65, there is a waiting period of several weeks, and many with pre-existing illnesses would also be excluded.  Over 15% of MDs are over age 65.

All physicians – not just those in hospitals - need income-replacement from day one if they are forced to self-isolate or become ill with COVID-19. This might be similar to the SARS Income Stabilization Program in 2003 in Ontario.

Children are being vaccinated and high-risk groups receiving booster shots.  We must use all tools -- border controls (to reduce the influx of Omicron), adequate sick benefits, social distancing, and mask mandates in certain crowded indoor areas. 

When regions are overwhelmed, we need the ability to transfer patients to other provinces. In June, Ontario accepted 51 patients from Manitoba, and in October 27, patients from Saskatchewan.

Quebec must be part of this. It is now reporting over 1,100 new cases per day – the highest since late April. If the situation worsens, it may attempt to transfer patients elsewhere. But treating physicians must be given assurance that they will be paid.

Quebec does provide portable hospital benefits, but despite Section 11 of the Canada Health Act, it is the only province not to sign the Reciprocal Medical Billing Agreement (RMBA).

New Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos reacted with speed and decisiveness to the new Omicron variant. He and Conservative Health Critic Luc Berthold are both from Quebec. They should collaborate and urge Dube to sign, well before the pandemic becomes a crisis in that province.

Charles S. Shaver, MD

Ottawa

100 highest paid directors?

Every year the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Ottawa releases the results of their survey of how long it takes Canada's best-paid directors to gain the average salary of Canadian workers.  How fast this happens is always surprising to my wife and I who work full time, all year long, to support our two-child family.

This year (2022) by January 4, the 100 highest paid directors of firms on the Toronto stock exchange took home (I do not write "earn") the equivalent of the average annual salary of all Canadian working people. This is what "income inequality" means. 

Can anyone believe this makes Canada a genuine democracy? Is this the sort of country we want to build and support? 

Ben Cahill

Gatineau

The Minister of Anglicisation

On January 9th, MP Jean-François Roberge declared in a major francophone daily that the extension of Bill 101 to the college level was not necessary to halt the decline of French and that Bill 96 "went far enough". Once again, this elected official is causing astonishment.

Whatever the Minister may think, Bill 96 is nothing but a flimsy measure at a time in our history when the means to protect the French language are essential to ensure the survival and development of French in Quebec.

Several from the university community have urged the government of François Legault to support the extension of Bill 101 to the college level in order to halt the decline of French in Montreal and its surroundings.  Among them are researcher Frédéric Lacroix, who has published two books on this issue: "Un libre choix?" and "Pourquoi la loi 101 est un échec", sociologist Guy Rocher, co-author of the Parent Report and the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) with Camille Laurin, demographer Charles Castonguay, author of the book "Le français en chute libre" and others. Many commentators, activists and ordinary citizens also share the conviction that the CAQ is content with a cosmetic operation. And now Mr. Roberge has volunteered to hold the make-up box.

The government and the Minister of Education are doing the opposite of what needs to be done to ensure the status of French. By refusing to extend the scope of Bill 101 to CEGEPs, by granting $100 million for the expansion of Dawson College and by giving the land and buildings of the Royal Victoria Hospital to McGill University, they are alienating public property and giving them nearly $1 billion worth of public assets. Mr. Roberge is defending French by reinforcing the privileges of the forces of anglicization!

The denial of the facts is too serious to suggest that Minister Roberge and his government do not grasp the magnitude of the problem.  Why such blindness?  Because of a lack of courage? Out of complacency towards the English minority in Quebec?  To please the businessmen of the Chambers of Commerce?  The minister, current member of Parliament for Chambly, would do well to do his homework again, otherwise the textbooks of the future will remember him and his government as having taught resignation and done the opposite of what history and French Quebec have a right to expect from an elected official mandated to build the future. The masquerade in which he is engaging places him on the side of the gravediggers.  Anglicization has never been so well served.  (Translated)

Benoît Roy

Président du Rassemblement pour un Pays Souverain

Robert Laplante

Directeur de la revue L’Action nationale

Jean-Paul Perreault

Président Impératif français

Canadian Trucking Alliance statement to those engaged in road/border protests

The vast majority of the Canadian trucking industry is vaccinated with the overall industry vaccination rate among truck drivers closely mirroring that of the general public. Accordingly, most of our nation’s hard-working truck drivers are continuing to move cross-border and domestic freight to ensure our economy continues to function.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) does not support and strongly disapproves of any protests on public roadways, highways, and bridges. CTA believes such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed. Members of the trucking industry who want to publicly express displeasure over government policies can choose to hold an organized, lawful event on Parliament Hill or contact their local MP. What is not acceptable is disrupting the motoring public on highways and commerce at the border.

The Government of Canada and the United States have now made being vaccinated a requirement to cross the border. This regulation is not changing so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate. The only way to cross the border, in a commercial truck or any other vehicle, is to get vaccinated. (sent January 22, before the planned weekend event in Ottawa)

Stephen Laskowski

President of the Canadian Trucking Alliance

Exclusionary zoning

On my way to work each morning, we pass several gigantic homes hidden in a grove of trees. They are more visible now with the leaves gone.  I ask how this is possible in this age of so many homeless and destitute people?

My desk-mate says "It's exclusionary zoning".  What the heck!  I thought our city, claiming to be so "liveable", was working toward higher-density zoning?  And more outward sprawl is not the answer either -- it just creates more and longer-lasting problems.  City council has got to grow up, but I also suspect it's public servants who are bending the rules and accommodating these insults to the rest of us, insults like "exclusionary zoning".

If the Bulletin can't investigate and expose this practise, who will?  That's a genuine question! Please!

M.B. Wallace

Gatineau

Anti-Semitic vs Anti-Arab (racism)?

Thank you for the few letters on the Israeli-Hamas war.  Not that I really wish to see more, but here's a point ignored by North American media: if the Israeli on-going assault on Gaza, coupled with Israeli leaders' promises to 'get rid' of the Palestinian people living there, effectively claiming that Gaza will become settlers' territory, because who will live there safely once it is 'emptied', if all this is not to be reported as such (as on CBC news) because 'any criticism of Israeli is automatically anti-Semitic', then it stands to reason that any criticism of the Palestinians is automatically racist, anti-Arab -- does it not? 

Marie-France Powell

Gatineau

Change now to avoid climate catastrophe

It’s hard to believe I’m writing this, but it’s 2024 and some politicians are still arguing that Canada can’t afford climate action.

Climate chaos is already costing our communities too much. In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, out-of-control wildfires forced thousands of Canadians from their homes and burned more than twice as much land as in any previous year. All told, extreme weather caused $3.1 billion in insured damage across the country last year, the second year in a row that total has exceeded $3 billion.

Let’s be clear: fossil fuels are overheating the planet. Our dependence on oil and gas is making life more expensive, unsafe, and volatile, just so some billionaires can profit.

Cheap, clean, renewable energy is the key to a better future. We need to reject any politician who tries to delay or block the urgently-needed shift from fossil fuels to renewables.

Maxine Patenaude,

Gatineau

The mayor who laughed too loud

This train-wreak at city hall shows how out of touch we citizens have been; it seemed to many of us that Mayor Belisle might be the fresh face, from outside the political piranha-bowl of city council, to get things moving -- at least get the real estate vampires off the city's throat -- but how wrong we were!  First, creating municipal political parties was a disaster, thanks Quebec City!, causing a guaranteed "them vs us" environment, one blown out of all proportion by our un-social media, plus the region's publicity-hungry commentators, columnists and journalists. A perfect storm -- that anyone could see coming!

Interesting that Belisle, our first female mayor, blames herself for this mess as much as her political-party rivals; good on her, but although her departure may save her skin, it won't save ours. As she said, all this just feeds public cynicism about politics. Maybe that's what "toute le gang" has always wanted, a disengaged public.

A last ingredient in this political poison-pot is mysogeny -- fear of women, that is, women with the slightest authority.  We who survived the twentieth century and thought women's rights were finally human rights, are now facing a world-wide, religion-driven counterattack.  It seemed impossible that we would return to ancient prejudices (except in Afganistan, of course), but here we are, in Gatineau, facing the real grim reaper: prejudice, greed and "tradition" all over again. 

We're lucky in Aylmer to have an honest community media; folks, pay attention! 

Andy Black

Gatineau

Future of city hall behind the ugly veil of politics

What will happen at City Hall next? Isn’t it time that Quebec City calls it quits on this useless experiment that is called “Municipal Parties”? I live near Buckingham and never liked that my city councillor voted for projects in Old Hull just because the party told him to vote that way. Political parties are not for city governance, they waste time and money.

I don’t want my provincial tax money going to fund municipal political parties. No one asked me and while I voted this way or that way, it was a lost vote. I really think the mayor’s seat will keep being left empty unless it is a Party mayor because otherwise the pressure is too uncomfortable.

How can we go to a model that lets city council run council affairs and never mind politics?

Greta Lefebvre

Gatineau

Next mayor: please, will Gatineau have quality candidates?

It seems so natural to imagine that all mayoral candidates will be of high caliber. But this is a terrible job, no wonder the current candidates are either from political parties or chasing rainbows. At least we don’t have a pseudo-mobster anymore, I got worried that more former mayors would come out of the wood-work.

I’ve made plenty of pop-corn for the spring season of “who’s on first in Gatienau!”

Pat Brennanville

Gatineau

The Lemon Award!

Reflections on municipal taxation, here the case of Gatineau

Almost all taxpayers feel it is imperative that governments not increase taxes, ancillary fees and charges, given the substantial loss of purchasing power caused by inflation and rising consumer and mortgage interest rates. The people of Gatineau are losing purchasing power, and Gatineau is raising taxes! I don't know what you think, but I'm sure you do!

Common sense should have prevailed over Gatineau's stifling vision. The current economic situation would have called for a freeze, or almost! Nothing less! Or better still, a reduction in taxes by optimizing and rationalizing the use of revenues and resources.

Even though taxpayers are running out of oxygen, Ville de Gatineau, its Municipal Council and its administration preferred to play on the confusion between the review of assessments and tax rates. But taxpayers know how to read a total and can see quite clearly from their 2024 municipal tax bill that, instead of going down, the bill has risen drastically, and this at a time of stifling restraint for many citizens!

You are being forced to pay higher municipal taxes to accommodate, among others, the "fake Ontarians" who move to the Outaouais to take advantage of the generous services, but continue to fraudulently pay their taxes in Ontario. The city encourages this fraud because it collects HIS municipal taxes, and like Pontius Pilate, it washes its hands of it by not enforcing the Highway Safety Code!  This pressure from people in Ontario, 90% of whom don't speak French, is creating high inflation and overbidding on property and housing prices, not to mention anglicisation and ontarianisation, while misery, homelessness and poverty continue to grow!

An anti-ecological vision! The Council is talking about eco-taxation to further tax vacant lots, those essential green spaces in private homes that are the green lungs of ecology and quality of life. The damage caused by systematic clear-cutting by real estate developers and promoters, by promotional campaigns designed to charm Ontarians, by uncontrolled, ugly and chaotic development, by pollution, by sprawl, by densification and by the lack of public transit can be felt everywhere. But the city, its council and its administration want more!

Just one example - 300% more for green lungs! In a situation where two identical plots of land of the same size are located side by side, one a vacant green space and the other a built-up area, the vacant plot is obnoxiously taxed. The tax rate for the vacant green space is 0.018217% compared with 0.006318% for the built-up area, i.e. almost 300% more for a green lung! In terms of the total tax bill in these two cases, the vacant lot pays more in taxes than the identical built-up lot. All this deserves a LEMON award!

This is the result of a "political" decision by "our elected representatives" who are supposed to "represent" us. Politician's manipulation, that's what we call eco-taxation, a term that hides the opposite!

Keep an eye on your tax bills and rates, and don't be shy about discussing them with your municipal councillor.

Jean-Paul Perreault

Taxpaying citizen

President of Impératif français

Public bus system: why so broken, Gatineau?

I’m frustrated with the bus system in Gatineau. Why is it so unreliable? I want my teens to be independent and I want them to learn to use public transit. But it shouldn’t take forever to get from Aylmer to the Plateau area!!! Or to Starbucks to see friends! Why is it so bad? And never mind them getting to CEGEP. Once they are part of the Federal Public Service, STO will truck them back and forth to work, but otherwise, they are out in the rain. Literally. For 45 minutes rather than the ten minutes posted on their online planning service. We can do better.

Brandy Gauthier

Gatineau

Is it time to say ‘Au revoir’ to Quebec?

Let’s Talk about Quebec

With the current provincial government’s failures in all aspects of responsible governance, the CAQ administration joins a long, unimpressive list of governments who failed at the fundamental tasks of responsible financial and environmental stewardship, fostering harmony, and caring for citizens.

What's becoming more apparent to Quebecers across the spectrum of generations, ethnicities, regions and political leanings, is how the status quo of political power working against the interest of the minority anglophone community and other groups is unacceptable.

Heavily weighted ridings, a skewed electoral system, and stringent, traditional old-style party politics favor majority whim, which has led to demonstrably anti-democratic agendas that are damaging and harmful to minorities, our cities and some of Quebec's core institutions.

“The Quebec Conservative party garnered almost as many votes as the official opposition Liberals yet did not win a single seat” says Marc Perez, organizer, Coalition of Independent thinkers Parlons Du Québec. “Meanwhile, the Liberals are quickly becoming a rump relegated to a portion of greater Montreal, unable to capture the votes or imagination of enough Quebecers to make a difference. That means there's nobody to defend our interests, or the interests of our schools, healthcare institutions or business centres, imperiling future generations.”

“Francophones and anglophones have had enough of the division caused by the Legault government. Instead of focusing on the economy and health care, he's breaking his campaign promises again and blames the anglophone community. Montreal is the economic and cultural engine of Quebec, yet its institutions are constantly under attack by a majority government watching itself flail in the polls.”

The playbook is well-worn. Economic fails? Instigate a language crisis; Environmental scandal? Start an immigration scrap. And it goes on. We saw great hype around promised changes resulting from Montreal’ wresting metropolis status from Quebec, but to what avail?

One simply can no longer deny that Montreal and some Quebec regions are as distinct from Quebec as a whole, as Quebec claims to be from Canada. Regional perspectives are as valuable as any other and should not be dismissed as a mere chapter in a desperate party platform.

Perhaps it's time to consider another arrangement.

“People are so fed up with this, that partition, once a taboo topic, is now worth a conversation” says Perez. “Hardworking, engaged citizens envisage a province where equality and vision reign, and unity is not a bad word. Removing the perennial troika of boogeymen: language wars, constitutional scraps and referenda, we will finally have peace and catch up to Toronto.”

It's time to cherish what we are, protect what we have. Is it time to bid Au revoir to Québec?

We deserve better. Let's talk about it.

Join our April 18^th consultation where we will discuss and evaluate the concepts of partition. Everyone is welcome to voice their support for meaningful change in Quebec.

Register at: https://mrprz.co/QC-Partition

About Let's talk about Quebec

Let's talk about Quebec/Parlons du Québec is a Montreal-based think-tank conducting comprehensive research, analyzing data, and cultivating innovative solutions to offer informed advice on diverse political, economic, and social issues. To reflect a broad spectrum of insights, we commit to consulting with experts across various fields and engaging the public through structured voting, fostering rich dialogue, and incorporating diverse perspectives.

Marc Perez

Montreal

Questions for mayor candidates

Thank you Bulletin, glad to ask questions to the candidates for the mayor’s office. And thank you for publishing information about the council, about the mayor candidates – and I saw there is a debate in person? Fantastic, I’ve never missed one of your debates. It’s refreshing to see the candidates in action, how they act on the spot and how they might perform if elected. Keep it up!

Okay: here are my questions to the candidates:

1. How will the mayor steer the council in a way that makes funding available to all the old cities equitably? It still feels like all the resources go to Old Hull where they are wasted.
2. Would the mayor declare a tax moratorium for small businesses in struggling areas where businesses are closing like a flies trapped in a window?
3. Will the mayor find a solution to partisan politics at council? The residents don’t win with party politics (municipal party, provincial or federal allegiances).
4. Finally, will Gatineau respect and serve all residents regardless of sexual orientation, religion, heritage and language? And knowing that every candidate will answer “of course”, my follow-up question is: How will you serve minorities, in a concrete way?

Thank you Gatineau Bulletin, for publishing my questions in both languages,

Michèle Bertrand,

Gatineau

All Quebecers have a responsibility to preserve, protect and promote the French language

Mark Twain famously wrote there are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics – expressing his frustration at how the selective use of statistics prove almost anything, including opposing viewpoints.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government, language hardliners, and those who seek to achieve Quebec’s independence, have relied on certain statistics to cement the notion that the French language in Quebec, especially in Montreal, is in peril.

This becomes the justification for harsh legislative measures to “protect” French by curtailing English, restricting access to services in English – including health, education and justice – and damaging “English” institutions like McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s University.

In a propitious bit of timing, the same day the Quebec Community Groups Network held a conference to discuss the status of French here, no less an authority than the Office Québécoise de la langue française, reported the proportion of Quebec’s population using French in public HAS BEEN STABLE in Quebec since 2007 at about 80 per cent. And the proportion of those using English only in the public sphere has dropped over the same period, it said.

In other words, the draconian measures contained in Bill 96 haven’t changed anything, weren’t necessary and missed the target.

The QCGN has been arguing this for some time.

Featuring one of the editors and two contributors to an increasingly widely read book Le Français en déclin ? Repenser la francophonie Québécoise, the conference heard that while French will always be fragile because of its minority status in a sea of North American English, the statistics the government emphasizes – mother-tongue language and language spoken at home – don’t reflect the reality of Quebec’s public sphere. The OQLF numbers do.

The percentage of mother-tongue francophones has declined, along with the birth rate among historic Québécois descendants, while immigration has soared in recent years, said Jean-Pierre Corbeil, a Sociology professor at Université Laval, and one of the book’s editors. So focusing on Quebec’s English-speaking population is an error, he said.

The evening of the event was slushy and snowy, on a night filled with nuance-appropriate, because there are no hard and fast, cut-and-dried answers to most questions about language.

It was heartening to see the degree to which the speakers shared the QCGN view that ALL Quebecers, regardless of mother tongue or origin, have a responsibility to preserve, protect and promote the French language – and that doing so does not require the repression of English, which will always be a part of Quebec society, as it has been for more than 300 years.

It was also encouraging to sense that this event marked a positive step in the necessary effort to find common cause between all Quebecers, a harmonious place where all rights and privileges are respected, where no one is less a citizen because of the language they were born speaking.

Because, as full-fledged Quebecers, English speakers also have a vested interest in this essential element of Quebecers’ identity.

Eva Ludvig

President of the Quebec Community Groups Network

How to get a newspaper rack?

Dear Gatineau Bulletin team: I picked up a copy of the Gatineau Bulletin when I was out grocery shopping. When I got home, I realised I should have picked up copies for my neighbours because they are interested in the mayor election. I live in a building on Cité des jeunes and there is space in the lobby for a rack. Can we have delivery added to our building? There is no where else I can find this news.

Rollande Gendron

Gatineau

Garbage disposal exhibition Gatineau 2024

Didn't you know? Then let me give you the scoop. Our beautiful Ville de Gatineau is currently hosting a fascinating, breathtaking open-air garbage exhibition. The location: Ruisseau de la Brasserie. Yes, yes, right before you take the ramp to the Highway 50 expressway! It's a free, colorful, uplifting spectacle for children, as well as a delight for the eye and a must-see for taxpayers who... love the proliferation and spread of litter on their property.

The promoter of the event and the artists behind this magnificent firework display against a backdrop of greenery remain illustrious unknowns (?). The Municipal Council, Action Gatineau enthusiasts and others alike, seem to be quite happy with the work. One would have thought that our municipal representatives, with their common sense, concern for cleanliness and ecological instincts, would have eliminated the monstrosity as soon as it appeared. But no! They must have seen it as a combination of high-level artistic expression and original urban decoration.

The Exposition Vidanges Gatineau 2024 seems destined to defy time. No indication yet that our councillors and acting mayor intend to act and restore Ruisseau de la Brasserie to its original vegetation, minus the heap of garbage. So, you still have time.

Francois Brisebois

Secteur Aylmer, Gatineau

Residents' associations: Get your news published for free!

Are you a member of a residents' association within the five districts of Aylmer? If you have upcoming events, if you are recruiting helpers or looking for signatures – make use of your local newspaper! Every week, by 4 p.m. on Thursdays, you can send us your association's news in a maximum of 150 words, in any language.  The Bulletin can help!

Please make sure to include a signature and contact information as well as the name of the association.

The editor

“Community” - the definition of Association

We are blessed with a community newspaper (The Bulletin), similarly we are blessed with local community associations. There are so many neighbourhood associations – groups of people volunteering to help make sure the community has organizational structure when needed (consultations with the city, building park infrastructure, community clean-ups, emergency preparedness, community gardens etc).

The challenge has always been to transform isolation and self-interest into connectedness and caring for the whole. In addition to be committed to that, means you are willing to make a promise with no expectation of a return.

It's possible the pandemic and social media have wreaked havoc on our local social fabric and newspaper, but don't give up! Like our local newspaper, associations simply convene their neighbours and create wonderful things. They both remain vital for our local democracy, have faith.

Larry Prickett

Aylmer

Donation for the newspaper

I’m writing with a small donation to help. I am very concerned that we will loose our newspaper. I see everywhere in our country that newspapers are closing. While I appreciate picking up the newspaper when I go out for my groceries, I know I should pay for it. So please accept this donation and I will send more when I can.

Keep the paper going! (Trans.: BG)

Kendra Godin

Gatineau

Mayoral race off the rails: we need city leaders

I’m done with high-brown city planning. We need potholes filled and careful management of the city. Can we please get back to basics?

Phil Tremblay

Gatineau

Loved the open house at Archives Canada

What an impressive body of archives is located in Gatineau! I have attended a few open house events in my life, but the one over the weekend was extraordinary. I hope the Gatineau Bulletin was on location, I’ll bet there are enough topics from the one open house to run a new weekly series about all those holdings! (translated)

Monika Grey

Gatineau

Editorial about hate, a timely reminder

Lily, you wrote a beautiful, moving and thought-provoking editorial in the July 17 edition. I just read it and will pass this on for more people to read.

André Pinard

Gatineau

Editorial apology on hate, a response from a soldier

Having read you over the years, Ms Ryan, I have wondered if you are also a member of our forces? In a Remembrance Day section, once wrote about veterans being the most ardent anti-war advocates? Agreed. Last month you wrote about the damage of hate with an eye on an optimistic future. Agreed. You have written about a concern that miss-understanding among neighbours here in Quebec looks like slides into hate that caused wars in other places. Agreed.

The radicalism in our country is alarming. Folks have lost respect for difference of all kinds (political, social, linguistic, gender and more). It used to be that people of all stripes would play cards, raise money for local causes, work together, with respect and maybe a bit of teasing. We can have a difference of ideas on how to govern the country and still be friends.

But I have been in situations where people around me, were downright hateful towards linguistic minorities as well as other political views. Here in Gatineau!

Thank you for your reminder, Ms Ryan. The editorial is timely, and useful. I truly hope the next generation, as you note, travel, and find respect with each other. And that here in our home province, we can open up to each other and find common ground rather than slip into more intolerance. Please retain my name in confidence as I am in public service and need to be confidential on my opinions. (Translated)

Name withheld

Gatineau

Concerned about health care and un-equal access

Why is there not more major alarm about what is happening with our health care access in the region. Like many people, I have family who use hospitals in Shawville, Maniwaki and Wakefield. Gatineau is paying bonuses to imaging technicians who relocate to Gatineau, so the country side is losing most of their technicians.

This is terrible news. But it is made worse by the fact that already these hospitals are in crisis! My question is why? I hear from my family who live near there that the decisions are coming from the Quebec government because of language issues. Can the Gatineau Bulletin look into this? I know there are changes around language rules and when a health care worker can speak English and when they can’t. This is why so many people think the unequal bonus systems are related to language, is my guess.

What a good question for area leaders.

(Trans.: BG)

Manon St-Cyr

Gatineau

New research underway in Quebec related to Multiple Sclerosis

In Quebec, one in 425 people is affected by multiple sclerosis (MS). This represents over 20,000 individuals, a number that is likely to increase in the coming years with the aging population.

Did you know that diet could play a crucial role in multiple sclerosis (MS)? Or that gender might influence the progression of this disease? What if we could not only slow down but also prevent MS?

I am writing to share some new research being conducted right here in Quebec, made possible by funds raised by MS Canada. Here is an overview of three ongoing studies that hold great promise for people with MS:

1. Sex Chromosomes and Th17 Cells: This research explores how gender influences the incidence and progression of MS, paving the way for new personalized treatments.
2. Gut Microbiota and Diet: Focusing on diet, this study aims to regulate neuro-inflammatory and degenerative processes, offering a new approach to alleviate MS symptoms.
3. Remyelination: Scientists are working to understand the molecular mechanisms of remyelination, with the hope of developing ways to promote this crucial process.

About Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

MS is considered an episodic disease, characterized by the occurrence of disabling symptoms whose severity and duration vary and are often followed by phases of remission. This condition can also present in a progressive form.

• Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world.
• On average, 12 people in Canada are diagnosed with MS every day, which is one every two hours.
• More than 90,000 Canadians are affected by it.
• MS is the most common central nervous system disease among young adults in our country.
• Generally, MS is diagnosed in people aged 20 to 49.
• Two out of three people with MS are women.
• According to data from the Quebec health system, it is estimated that more than 22,000 people live with multiple sclerosis in Quebec.

Jasmine Guilbert

Montreal 

Garbage pickup confusing

The new garbage pickup can be confusing. Many have their garbage as well as their compost left behind. Their wheels are either facing the wrong way or, there's not enough distance between them for the "claw".

Understandably, it takes a little time to adjust to new procedures. We have called the city because they neglected to take both our bins. The first employee from 311 said to call after 6 pm to issue the complaint and that there would be a pick up the next day but, I had to call after 6 pm.

I called and it seems that the procedures had changed over a few hours. They were not going to pick them up and, that I was stuck with my garage bin for the next 2 weeks and my compost until next week. 1 day later, we received an automated phone call from the city stating the new procedure for bin pick-ups. I think that there should have been at the very least a "forgiveness" pick-up.

The aging population, such as myself, may be confused by the new procedures and may not be tech savvy to look up or understand the new procedures. The forgiveness day should be applied to come back for only one pick-up with clear verbal instructions.

Claude Poulin

Gatineau

Back to School - Share the Sidewalks!

Well it's that time of year when the kids are going back to school. Seeing your friends after a long summer break, walking or cycling to school gives new independence to some, first school bus ride, parents seeing their kids off for the first big day and all of this happening on a beautiful sunny morning. Don't get me wrong, I've gone through all of this with my kids many years ago and every year I enjoy watching the students starting off on their new adventures. However in all of the excitement, students may have forgotten the rules of the road and sidewalks. People riding bikes please use bike lanes where they are available in order to let pedestrians of all sorts use the sidewalks. If there are no bike lanes and you must use the sidewalks please ensure that you slow down and make your presence known to pedestrians of all sorts. Better get a bell for your bike and use it in those circumstances. Congratulations to all of you who are going back to school. Keep yourselves and others safe today and for the school year. Thanks.

Laurie Anne Manion

Gatineau

Looking for Gatineau Bulletin archives

I have been reading up on old articles on the Gatineau Bulletin website. Glad it is there. I wonder if there is an archive of the whole paper? Where do I access old editions other than coming to the office – is there a paywall space with archives online?
Thank you,

Paul Smith

Gatineau

Waste at the du Versant High School

We can do better! Gatineau is not a dump, especially not the schools! Why is this happening, and why is left this way?

Jonathan St-Jacques

Gatineau

It’s time to tackle corporate greed

Working people power Canada’s economy. But despite our hard work, workers and our families are struggling to get ahead. Retired Canadians have had to seek work to afford basics.

The unemployment rate is rising despite increased corporate profits. Those that cannot work are left with no option other than homelessness and vulnerability to predators.

Our pay cheques are stretched thin. Grocery prices are sky-high, interest rates are crushing us, and the cost of a home is through the roof – all while the wealthiest corporations keep taking bigger profits.

Corporations won’t keep themselves in check – so we need our governments to step up.

As communities across the country head into municipal and provincial elections this fall, and with a federal election on the horizon, any politician that wants workers votes must ensure that big corporations and the wealthiest are held accountable and made to pay their fair share.

Canadians deserve a better future. We’re ready to make it happen.

Meghan McLean

Gatineau

Where to find information about city changes?

Dear Bulletin: I wish you were informing readers earlier about what is happening at City Council. Sometimes I drive around and see there is a building to be demolished or a new complex going up. Then I see it in the paper, but too late to really do anything. Why can’t you publish more information and earlier? I’m not driving around all the time to find out what’s happening, and I feel like you used to publish information a month ahead of the city plans. I know you keep a note on the front page about going to the city website for notices about bylaw changes. Is this what I’m supposed to do? Go to the city website all the time?
Would appreciate more information in advance, thank you.

Lorrie-Ann Wilno

Gatineau

Gatineau trees so spindly, how is this a step towards progress?

Gatineau city talks a big talk about creating a more livable city but the actions just don’t follow. At the city budget talks, my district councillor, Mr Lessard, brought up an excellent question. Can the city not encourage transplanting bigger tress rather than cutting them when they need to be removed? So often when a resident makes a request to remove a tree, it is just cut down and chipped.

Rather than give out saplings, which take so long (and so much water!) to grow enough to have an impact on the canopy, why aren’t the trees given to plan more mature?

(Translated)

Catherine Levesque

Gatineau

Heartbreaking sketchbook spotlights family separation

Migrants and undocumented people call on Prime Minister Trudeau to keep his promise to regularize permanent resident status for all. 

Evocative drawings by children of migrants separated from their families for decades and from those fearing family separation because of possible deportations were launched on Ontario's Family Day, at a pop-up art exhibit outside the office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Photographs of the drawings have been put together into a sketchbook by Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and were also mailed to every Member of Parliament. 

The drawings from children as young as two years old include inscriptions about family separation and fear. A migrant farmworker’s child wrote, “I miss my dad so much. I wish I could be with him in Canada, reunite our broken family, finish my schooling and make my dad proud.” An undocumented child wrote, “I am six years old, I have no friends, I can’t register in school because I have no status. Please help all the kids in Canada to get an education.”

Permanent resident status is the mechanism through which families can be united and everyone has equal rights; without it migrants are separated. We are sending these drawings by migrant children to Prime Minister Trudeau and every Member of Parliament to remind them of the cost of their decision and urge them to keep their promise, ensure permanent resident status for all, and stop the suffering.”

Sarom Rho, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Toronto, Ont

Spy balloons? Or drumming up war-fever?

A.  Is there any evidence at all that the now-destroyed "balloons" had any spying apparatus on board them? Any evidence at all, any recordings of messages they sent or received, any unusual antennae?  And why destroy them before they can be "captured" and physically investigated? 

B.  Is there any doubt that the prevailing winds of the world blow from west to east?  Or that nations do not use weather balloons normally?

C. Do any of the "big powers" NOT fly devices, satellites and spy planes over the entire planet? Is there any region of the world which does not have some external surveillance?  How unusual are such "balloons"? And now with drones? Didn't the USA itself get into hot water over it's U-2 spy flights over Russia, China, the Koreas, even over its own client state, Israel?

D. If these are spying devices, really, who cares?  The US claims they are spying on missile silos and airbases, but can't anyone at all drive around those places and take photos, recordings, use fancy spy-gear -- all from the backseat of their cars?  Why send a billboard floating across America's skies?

E. If these are spy devices, they must report their findings home -- but how? How is it that NORAD does not track all unusual messaging in its skies?  Especially once they spot one of these devices.

F. Why, given all these points, would anyone consider that these are dangerous spy incursions on our airspace?  Isn't it just as likely, say, that the NWT device was a trial run by the Dehcho First Nation's airforce!

G. In other regions wouldn't it be more likely to assume these are weather or scientific balloons blown off course?  They are not disguised. Does China want to provoke a US counter-strike?  Or are the rightwing nuts in the US banging the drums of war?  There's so much manufactured crisis in the news about Chinese "intentions", isn't this one more step closer to hostilities -- long promoted by the American right.

James Radey

Gatineau

This grandfather sets the record straight ...

I'm Roland Montpellier, a grandfather of four. I've been active in the climate movement for 15 years. Millions of people around the world are working hard to pressure their leaders to take the climate action that aligns with the gravity and the scope of the crisis. But our emissions keep rising. We are losing the war. 
The oil and gas sector is the largest and fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, so we can’t meet our climate targets without reducing these emissions.  Yet Canada continues to use taxpayers’ dollars to subsidize and finance the oil and gas sector despite its obscene profits — which have increased by 1,000 per cent in Canada since 2019. 
Renewable energy prices are more stable and predictable than oil and gas prices. If we want energy security, reliability and affordability, renewables are the way forward.  We need to do more to save our world. 

Roland Montpellier

Gatineau

Federal defence of the Official Language Act?

We wanted to share with you and Mr. Rock (columnist)  that our open letter is addressed to our federal Pontiac Member of Parliament, Ms. Sophie Chatel.  

We drafted this letter in response to her statements made to local media in early June.  In one article entitled "Federal language law amendment good for English and French says Pontiac MP" she states that Bill C-13 "invests in the minority language community..." and further specifies "the investment of $137 million in excess of existing funding to promote minority language education in the Pontiac and across Quebec,".  

We felt it vital that she, and the federal government, understand the current educational reality of English-speaking residents of our community (and our unique journey over the last 10-12 years) from the perspective of local, veteran educators, as government contemplates the allocation of said funds prior to the bill completing its third reading in the Senate.   

While education falls squarely under provincial jurisdiction, the protection of minority official language residents' rights to security (education and healthcare) are guaranteed in the Official Language Act of the Charter, and thus, within the purview of the federal  government.  From preschool programs through to post-secondary Cegep programming (and now access vis a vis transportation to and from) there is much to be considered as an urgent need.  

Gillian Patenaude and Concerned Teachers of McDowell  School

Shawville, QC

Letter to the editor about CHSLD Lionel-Émond

We hear a lot of bad things about our residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs). Personally, I have nothing but praise for the CHSLD Lionel-Émond. My parents-in-law spent the rest of their lives there and received excellent care. Every effort was made to respect their human dignity and to provide them with the constant care they needed, as they both suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

Despite the pandemic, our visiting rights were always respected, subject to the necessary health precautions. What's more, the management of the CHSLD was very transparent, keeping us regularly informed of the situation through virtual information sessions.

We must pay tribute to the volunteers and staff who are devoting themselves body and soul to meeting the needs of patients and ensuring their well-being, despite the shortage of staff and the many administrative constraints.

All in all, we are fortunate to have such an institution to take over from private residences, which unfortunately do not adequately meet the needs of elderly people who are not self-sufficient.

Long live Le Foyer du Bonheur! (Trans.)

Bernard Cournoyer

Gatineau

Question from reader: why is City Council not coming to neighbourhoods for meetings anymore?

I read recently that Gatineau councillors have decided to stop their spring tours of different neighbourhoods and hold 100% of their council meetings in Hull. What kind of strange decision is this? I loved going to the meetings in different sectors. I think councillors should experience local democracy on the ground. Is it laziness? Is it discomfort? Is it ivory-towerism? Is it that there is something to hide?

Bulletin journalists: will you investigate what is behind council’s decision this fall to scrap local council meetings?

Brenda Lafleur

Gatineau

Stop anti-larvae spraying in our marshes!

In response to Susan Gauhier’ letter to the Bulletin,:  "Pesticide control in Gatineau", we thank her for her interest in the Bti issue, a pesticide massively sprayed by our municipality to kill mosquitoe and black fly larvae. We also appreciate that she wishes that “the citizens make an informed decision before asking city councillors to vote on our behalf regarding this issue” at their next meeting in Aylmer.   Gatineau citizens must learn of the negative impacts of this pesticide on birds, fish, frogs and dragonflies, and that they be aware that it’s been sprayed by our city for close to 30 years in wetlands, ponds and streams in 7 districts in the East side of Gatineau.

A multitude of studies in the last 15 years have shown how Bti affects the whole food chain in these fragile ecosystems; since 2019 the Ministère de la faune recommends this insecticide be avoided by cities (precautionary principle). We recommend a CBC May 21 interview in which Professor Marc Belisle (Sherbrooke University, specialized in insectivorous bird declines), explains, in a nutshell, what is Bti and what are its impacts. 

Our group is asking that citizens from all districts of Gatineau make it clear to city council on  April 18 (Robert-Middlemiss Pavillion at the Marina- 19H00) that we want Bti banned from our territory in Gatineau to preserve what is left of our regional biodiversity. See Petition Non au Bti dans nos marais à Gatineau.  I hope all readers will join us!

France Gagnon, FB Gatineau Sans Pesticides

Gatineau

Canadian Party of Quebec calls on feds to disallow Bill 96

(At the Parliamentary Press Gallery, May 12, I announced that our party, the Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) is calling) on the federal government to disallow Bill 96: "An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec" which would nullify current law.  On June 1, Canada’s constitutional window of opportunity to veto the law forever shuts.

On June 1, 2022, Bill 96 became law in Quebec.  This law allows the Government of Quebec to:  a) Shield the law from court challenge by pre-emptively invoking Canada’s Notwithstanding Clause;  b) Permit warrantless search and seizure powers to investigate anonymous complaints about violations of the law;  c) Intrude into private professional client relationships to require notes and interactions be kept in French;  d) Remove adults’ choice in language of education at the CEGEP level;  e) Require after June 1, 2023, civil servants to address citizens in French only if they could not prove they educated in English;  f) Unilaterally amend the Constitution Act of 1867 by inserting the concept of a territorial and ethno-linguistic nation into Canada's foundational document.

Even though parts of Bill 96 are before the courts, we outlined why the use of federal "disallowance" is vital to the future of Quebec’s English-speaking minority and to Canada’s reputation as an upholder of fundamental individual human rights.

Colin Standish, Canadian Party of Quebec

Kirkland, Qc

Bothsidesism is killing us

Our information ecosystem has become a massive false-balance machine. Fringe positions that have already been studied and shown to be wrong are legitimized, given a huge profile and presented as reasonable and respectable alternatives to the existing body of evidence.

False balance – also known as bothsidesism – occurs when opposing views are represented as being more equally valid than the evidence suggests. At its core, false balance is the misrepresentation of the scientific consensus. And it has become a significant issue.

It is happening with debates on the causes of climate change, the safety of GMOs, the effectiveness of unproven therapies, the value of transgender care, abortion and, of course, the benefits and risks of vaccines.

While the issue of false balance is usual y linked to how journalists represent topics, false balance is increasingly driven by social media echo chambers, the fragmentation of the news media and the ideologically motivated embrace of fringe ideas. Too often this has allowed a small cohort of vocal contrarians to have an outsized impact on public policy and public perceptions.

Timothy Caulfield

Cyberspace

Canada wants Digital Nomads, too

Though many digital nomads will find it easy to obtain the necessary documentation to travel to Canada as a visitor, there are some long-term considerations to consider. 

Most visitors are only allowed to remain in Canada for up to six months. As visitors, digital nomads do not have any medical coverage, nor any ability to obtain local identification documents such as a driver’s licence, which might make it difficult to open accounts.

Finally, though the government expects that many digital nomads will find work in Canada and eventually apply to change over to worker status and even permanent resident status, many will find it difficult to navigate the steps needed to change their immigration status and to do it in a timely manner.

Canada’s latest policy to attract digital nomads represents an alignment between Canadian immigration policy and the rapidly changing landscape of global work culture. However, IRCC must remain flexible and innovative to achieve the goal of not just attracting but also keeping these workers in Canada.

As an immigration lawyer, I regularly advise clients who have come to Canada on a temporary basis and who wish to remain on a permanent basis.  Digital nomads who wish to obtain Canadian permanent residency will face many of the same challenges that other temporary entrants have faced in the past, including confusion when navigating the IRCC website and understanding the eligibility criteria and timing surrounding applications to successfully extend and transition their immigration status in Canada.

Digital nomads should be excited to work in Canada, but they must exercise due diligence regarding our immigration laws, even before arriving. Those even remotely interested in permanent residency should seek  legal advice at the earliest opportunity to ensure a smooth stay in Canada.

(This letter has been editted to fit our Letters space)

Victor Ing, lawyer.  Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre

1 604 689 5444

Chalk River dump still threatens Aylmer, Gatineau, Ottawa

The Chalk River labs is still planning its untested, first-in-the-world sized nuclear dump, seven football fields of toxic waste, upstream from the Pontiac, Ottawa, Gatineau and beyond.

Stephan Harper, seeing the expense of dealing with these toxic wastes, privatized the job to reduce the federal government's legal liability for accidents.  The waste will last for tousands of years; by the time any accidents began, the corporate managers will be gone -- or living in places where they cannot be sued by us.  And what if they were convicted?  Do they have the billions of dollars needed to fix any disaster? Can anyone fix the potential deaths and disease?

No, this nuclear dump is a very bad deal for the Pontiac. But when has a federal Liberal government ever not supported the corporate sector (examples: SNC  Lavalin, Transmountain Pipeline and the Rodgers cable deal).

Good for MRC-Pontiac for objecting. We must keep up our protests, even if if our liberal MP, Ms Chatel, has said it's a done deal.

Kenneth Poirier

Iles des Allumettes, Pontiac

Hello, 21st century! The CBC.

I would like to add my opinion to the debate on these pages about CBC  -- whether it should be funded by Canadians (government) or have to compete with commercial stations, for example.  I listen to CBC radio a lot, since I now work from home, and as much as there is really no alternative, since commercial radio is so bad and trivialized, I have seen CBC's content and programming decline in quality immensely.  Yet I assume their budget allocation has not declined. I understand that ex-PM Stephen Harper took an alternative route and replace CBC's managing voices with people alined to his own views, rather than people committed to Canadian broadcasting. 

One of the biggest flops CBC undertook, and is still going strong, is this shift from current affairs analysis  to "blogs".   A blog, as I understand the term is equivalent to opinion columns (or feature stories) in the print media. Would we really want a newspaper which is largely all columns and features?  No, we want news and interviews of news-makers; we want clear and thoughtful analysis by experts or people directly involved -- not "stories" about these things.  One of your Bulletin editorialists wrote, a while ago, that media's (and CBC's) continual identification with "stories" and "story telling" reminded him of kids being chastised for "telling stories" -- lying, in other words.  Good analogy.  I am sorry I no longer teach media studies, because that is an important thing for broadcasters and the audience to consider: "stories"?  Really?  OK, stories are warm and cuddly and can make us feel good --- but is that the purpose of public media?  Make people feel good?  Hello, twenty-first century! Where are you?

The best suggestion in my view is that we should be pushing for improved news-gathering by CBC, not defunding it or reducing everything to what will sell cars.

Thanks for this debate on your pages, Bulletin!

F.G. Keown

Gatineau

Reduce inflation by paying less!

It is clear that due to out of control spending and poor negotiation,  federal and most provincial bureaucracies' salaries in Canada have ballooned.  In Ontario, the amount of workers on the Sunshine List  (those making over $100,000 a year) has grown from 4,494  in 1996 to a whopping 244,390 making that amount last year. There are 54 times more people on the list now. As a result of the government essentially printing money to pay such salaries, inflation has gone up and up.

Ontario's recent Education Workers strike/political action highlighted the poorest government workers, but what about these 250k workers at the top?  Do they need access to a food bank, like the poorest education workers, or can we assume that they are  swimming in money? I assume the latter.  So cut their salaries drastically! 

Make the poor richer, and make the rich poorer, this is the mantra of a progressive taxation system that takes more from the wealthy. But what is taken from the rich 250,000 government of Ontario employees? Nothing (except tax). There should be a "sunshine surcharge". All moneys earned over $100k should be considered excessive, so that 20k over $100k in one year, should be considered like $100K minus 20k the next year. So every employee who made $120k last year should receive $80k this year for the same amount of work. This is to make up for the 20k they shouldn't have been paid.

Take the universities ... an English professor made $100k 20 years ago, but then steadily increased to $200k a year. Are his skills so in demand and hard to find that you need to pay him 2 million of the course of 20 years? No. Pay the professor $60,000 and you will get the same result. There is no qualitative improvement  from spending more than $60k on a professor, or on any course instructor. If all educational institutions lowered their salaries, it would save billions with no effect on the quality of education.

I call for a province- and Canada-wide pay freeze and pay reduction. Cut employees, cut the salaries, put the salaries into reverse, make those earning over $100k taste what it feels like to be like the low-paying worker that the vast majority are.  Convert rich bureaucrats into common workers.

In fact, restart the salaries of the entire bureaucracy! $40k start, $50 for special, $60 for extra special. And it's that simple. Collect the $20 or $30 or $100 billion in savings.  If they don't like it they can quit, go to the U.S. 

The only high paying jobs are for those where genuine brain drain can occur -- doctors and specialists who can go to the U.S. or elsewhere for more salary. If anyone can do their job, that job starts at 40k. Time to turn back the clock on government salaries, it is 1990 all over again.  Pay 1990 salaries to reduce inflation to 1990 levels!

Robert Nelly

Westmeath, Ont

If you can't convince them, abuse them?

According to a survey by the non-governmental organization, Global Witness, almost 40% of climate researchers report having experienced online harassment or abuse related to their climate research.

This abuse is more than just raising objections.  One-third of the female climate scientists who report abuse said they had received attacks specifically relating to their gender.  Since these trolls hide their identity, they use the grossest language, unacceptable in any daily conversation.  I guess they feel they are geniuses because they can throw a stone, or rotten egg, without any chance of being caught!   Why do so many people on social media give up their own moral principles when they engage with other users? Controversy is helpful, but only if helpfully done.

These online attacks could discourage researchers from pursuing climate research (or any other subject) and, certainly, from sharing their findings with the public, according to an employee of Global Witness who is cataloguing these attacks.  It is up to all of us to condemn this destructive practise and certainly at minimum we should not respond to nor forward such brainless postings. 

Hubert Petrides

LePlateau / Gatineau

Stephen Harper & the Moonies

What strange bedfellows right-wing politics and evangelical religion make. And Canadian conservatism is right there under the duvet.

On Feb. 12, 2022 former prime minister Stephen Harper gave an address to the Universal Peace Federation World Summit 2022 taking place in Seoul, South Korea. The UPF is the political arm of the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon and now headed by his wife Hak Ja Han Moon.

Harper’s remarks were focused on the role of religious freedom “in our grand objective, the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.” Even Harper admitted that some of his remarks “may sound bizarre” in praising the Universal Peace Federation ... 

Michael Duffy

Cyber-space

Housing issue high

A number of social issues are clouding the future of people in West Quebec. Besides the need for a new hospital and better medical care, housing prices and lack of housing accessibility are a dead weight on the aspirations of young people.

Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have reneged on their responsibility to ensure that housing as a human right is kept as part of the social contract with citizens in Canada. Instead, they have enacted policies that passed the torch of housing to market forces.

Market forces have one over-arching goal: making profits. The needs of first time home-buyers, senior citizens and their special needs, and families with children, are not the focus of people who see housing as an investment for profit making. 

The Pontiac NDP is hosting a round table January 14, at 2 pm on housing, at UQO, on Tache Blvd in Hull. The session promises to be a much needed and interesting event, open to the public.

Carl Hager

Gatineau / Aylmer

Reduce inflation by paying less!

It is clear that due to out of control spending and poor negotiation,  federal and most provincial bureaucracies' salaries in Canada have ballooned.  In Ontario, the amount of workers on the Sunshine List  (those making over $100,000 a year) has grown from 4,494  in 1996 to a whopping 244,390 making that amount last year. There are 54 times more people on the list now. As a result of the government essentially printing money to pay such salaries, inflation has gone up and up.

Ontario's recent Education Workers strike/political action highlighted the poorest government workers, but what about these 250k workers at the top?  Do they need access to a food bank, like the poorest education workers, or can we assume that they are  swimming in money? I assume the latter.  So cut their salaries drastically! 

Make the poor richer, and make the rich poorer, this is the mantra of a progressive taxation system that takes more from the wealthy. But what is taken from the rich 250,000 government of Ontario employees? Nothing (except tax). There should be a "sunshine surcharge". All moneys earned over $100k should be considered excessive, so that 20k over $100k in one year, should be considered like $100K minus 20k the next year. So every employee who made $120k last year should receive $80k this year for the same amount of work. This is to make up for the 20k they shouldn't have been paid.

If they leave or retire, then more room for younger employees.  And don't rehire. Down with the bureaucracy sucking off the fat of taxpayers, off with their parasitic ways, off with their monopolistic self-interested control of the civil service.

Take the universities ... an English professor made $100k 20 years ago, but then steadily increased to $200k a year. Are his skills so in demand and hard to find that you need to pay him 2 million of the course of 20 years? No. Pay the professor $60,000 and you will get the same result. There is no qualitative improvement  from spending more than $60k on a professor, or on any course instructor. If all educational institutions lowered their salaries, it would save billions with no effect on the quality of education.

I call for a province- and Canada-wide pay freeze and pay reduction. The current salary of an Ontario MPP is $116,500, which makes the MPP earn less than probably 200,000 other government employees. At the rate in which salaries are increasing, the janitor who cleans the washroom floor, the stablemate who collects dung from horses, and the Bovine Semen Collector will be making more than MPPs.

Cut these employees, cut the salaries, put the salaries into reverse, make those earning over $100k taste what it feels like to be like the low-paying worker that the vast majority are.  Convert rich bureaucrats into common workers.

In fact, restart the salaries of the entire bureaucracy! $40k start, $50 for special, $60 for extra special. And it's that simple. Collect the $20 or $30 or $100 billion in savings.  If they don't like it they can quit, go to the U.S. 

The only high paying jobs are for those where genuine brain drain can occur -- doctors and specialists who can go to the U.S. or elsewhere for more salary. If anyone can do their job, that job starts at 40k. Time to turn back the clock on government salaries, it is 1990 all over again.  Pay 1990 salaries to reduce inflation to 1990 levels!

Robert Nelly

Westmeath, Ont

What else can we do with radioactive water?

Soon Japan will start to release into the Pacific Ocean water contaminated by the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Treatment there has removed 62 of the 64 radioactive elements almost entirely, but there are some unanswered questions about hydrogen-3 (tritium) and carbon-14.

Some scientists claim the risks are negligible. Discharging tritium-contaminated water is part of nuclear power plants’ usual operating procedure, environmental scientist Jim Smith for example. Others are concerned that tritium could concentrate in the food web. “Have the people promoting this going forward demonstrated to our satisfaction that it will be safe for ocean health and human health?” asks marine biologist Robert Richmond. His answer is ‘no’.

Is the Ottawa River any different?  It flushes itself out by flowing .... but there is always water there and plenty of residues are caught by, or settle into, all the shoreline vegetation, beach sand, boats and docks, etc  etc -- including those of us actually swimming in it.  Or using it to bathe, wash dishes, etc. 

Will Chalk River's alternative be that they agree to store any leaking water (inevitable) forever?  And who would believe that? 

Alan Keyes

Ottawa

City finances alarming

I want to say that I’m very worried about our small local businesses. With the economy as hard as it is, will our local businesses make it through the next few years? Everything in Gatineau is getting more expensive. I’m retired and on a fixed income but the value of my home is going through the roof. If my taxes jump too high, I don’t know what I’ll do! Well, I do know that I’ll cut my spending to pay for my city taxes and basic needs. That means local businesses will have less income – my situation is surely common.

If the city does anything for economic relief my vote would be to: give a commercial tax holiday for very small businesses, freeze property taxes for senior citizens increase the welcome tax and drop the bus fees for students, seniors and the working poor. Let the surplus cover the rest.

Arleen Levesque

Gatineau (Touraine neighbourhood)

Dismayed that NCC closes parkways

The article of August 16 regarding the NCC’s announcement of parkway closures caught my eye.  As a member of the area’s Wakefield Walkers since 2008, I am perplexed and dismayed that the NCC closes the parkways which lead us to natural and historic sites (eg Champlain Lookout, Mackenzie King Estate) and so many of the favourite trailheads for our hikes.

The parkways are closed to private vehicles 4 out of 5 week days. The extra traffic is dumped onto the local roads (eg Kingsmere Rd.,Notch Rd. and Meech Lake Rd.). Couched as a conservation measure, the NCC’s closure of the parkways discriminates against all of us who do not have the ability to access the key sites in the southern sector of the park.

Adding insult to injury, no shuttles run on the 4 weekdays when automobiles are banned.

The NCC is discriminatory in its policy and dishonest in its presentation of the facts.  

Meriel Beament Bradford, Member Wakefield Walkers

Chelsea QC

43 conservation volunteers!

On September 16, conservation volunteers from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) helped clean up the shores of beautiful Kettle Island, the third-largest island in Quebec's Ottawa River. 

Forty-three volunteers pitched in, removing an impressive amount of trash from its shores. To give you an idea of the scale of their effort, they managed to fill a Cold War landing craft belonging to the naval league!

This volunteer activity was organised with the financial assistance of the Ministère de l'Environnement , through the Projet de partenariat pour les milieux naturels. The Ottawa Riverkeeper - Garde-rivière des Outaouais and the Navy League of Canada, Outaouais Branch, were essential partners in the clean-up activity.

We believe this initiative deserves to be shared with the public. The commitment of these volunteers to conserving our local environment is remarkable and deserves to be celebrated. 

Thank you to the staff at the Hôpital de Hull

A severe medical condition this week required me to be admitted into the emergency ward of the Hôpital de Hull. I wish to express my most sincere gratitude and my most sincere thanks to all members of the hospital staff with whom I came into contact during my stay. Their concern, professionalism & expertise will not be forgotten.

I furthermore wish to acknowledge the consistent organization, care & admirable work I observed during my two-day stay performed by the staff of the hospital toward me and my fellow patients.  I found this remarkable. I express my sincerest gratitude and my deepest admiration to the staff of the Hôpital de Hull.

Stephen Lloyd

Gatineau

Action against overdoses & a new report

A Day of Action Against Overdoses in Outaouais, was led by CIPTO last week. It included A Collective Memorial Art Action, A Tribute March for the dozens of lives lost to the toxic drug crisis and a Panel Discussion on Safer Supply at Le LAB (Hull).

The safer supply panel will convene people with experience of substance use, as well as experts in medicine, harm reduction and policy implementation. Panelists will discuss evidence-based solutions to harm reduction, including safer supply and decriminalization.

The panel coincides with a new report highlighting six community-identified actions that can help prevent deaths from the toxic drug crisis. It is published by CIPTO and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition,

The goal is to raise awareness about the drug poisoning crisis that is affecting so many families and to have a dialogue about solutions, including safer supply and decriminalization.

Janick Allyson, CIPTO

Gatineau

International Overdose Awareness Week

It’s International Overdose Awareness Week, with a father of a teen who died by fentanyl poisoning willing to comment   On this day of awareness, the grieving father has life-saving advice for parents and teens as we head into the new school year 

 In 2021, fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were identified in over 77% of adolescent overdose deaths.  Sammy Chapman, the 16-year-old son of Dr. Laura Berman and Sam Chapman, was one of those teens. Sammy died in the family’s home after taking a pill laced with fentanyl.

“Nationwide, fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 45.  Over 300 people die every day in the US from fentanyl poisoning,” says Sam Chapman, who has become an activist in the fight against fentanyl and overdose deaths. 

“My motivation is to save lives,”  Chapman told the media… “I wake up every day since my son died, devoting myself to warning other parents about this.” He says parents and educators can spot the signs of an overdose and stop it before it is too late, and lawmakers can help in the fight against fentanyl.  The latest tools for overdose reversal should be in parents' medicine cabinets.

Sam Chapman and his wife Dr. Laura Berman will be in the media—watch for them!

Bridget Sharkey

Toronto

Letters to the Editor Guidelines:

To make sure your letter is published:

All letters must be signed with a phone number (not published).

Any language is acceptable ... but be clear, civil, and not rude.

All letters are edited for grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc, and for length. 

Expect your letter to be edited.

No personal attacks, nor promotional pieces for political candidates or parties accepted.

The Editor

Are federal MPs spreading the Bomb?

The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and researchers from five universities are urging Ottawa to reconsider its financial and political support for extracting plutonium from used nuclear fuel. Plutonium is key to nuclear weapons— and is created as a byproduct in nuclear reactors. 

Last week, a House of Commons committee recommended that the government “examine nuclear waste reprocessing and its implications for waste management and [nuclear weapons] proliferation .”

Canada granted $50.5 million to the Moltex corporation, March 2021, for a plutonium reprocessing facility at the Point Lepreau nuclear site on the Bay of Fundy.

Plutonium reprocessing in Canada increases the risk of spreading nuclear weapons to countries that do not possess the means to make nuclear weapons. The risk is even greater if Canada sells the technology. 

Reprocessing is often justified as dealing with nuclear waste, but in reality, it only makes the challenge even harder. Instead of keeping radioactive materials in solid spent fuel, they get dispersed into multiple solid, liquid and gaseous waste streams.

University researchers are supporting an international review. Three letters were written to Prime MinisterTrudeau by nine nonproliferation experts. The Prime Minister’s failure to respond indicates an appalling lack of good governance on the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The government has not responded nor even acknowledged the significance of the nuclear weapons connection with reprocessing.

Commercial reprocessing has never been done in Canada but Canada has been complicit in producing nuclear weapons.  Cold War-era reprocessing was done at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory, while Canada sold both uranium and plutonium to the US army for nuclear weapons. This resulted in a permanent legacy of nuclear waste and radioactive contamination (at Chalk River).

The first reactors were built to produce plutonium for bombs, the first reprocessing plants to extract plutonium as a nuclear explosive. Canada has had an informal ban on reprocessing since the 1970s.  The U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel advised that the reprocessing technology proposed by the Moltex corporation “does not provide significant proliferation resistance.”

The need for an independent international review is urgent, as Moltex has announced it is seeking an additional $250 million in government funding.

Many researchers supporting an international review of plutonium reprocessing in relation to the spread of nuclear weapons have signed this letter.

Dr. Gordon Edwards,  Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

Dr. Susan O’Donnell,  University of New Brunswick

Ottawa

If you think MPs do little ....

When I read the following agenda for the House of Commons, I thought this info should go into our local paper.  Many people have little good to say about the work of MPs and about their work habits (ie they are off  now of until mid-September).  I ask my neighbours, read this list, and tell us if you still think a politician's life is easy!

• ïBill C-33, the Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act, second reading. 
• ïBill C-35, the Canada Early Learning and Childcare Act, third reading. 
• ïBill C-244,  Amending the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair), third reading. 
• ïBill C-252,  Amending the Food and Drugs Act (prohibition of food and beverage marketing directed at children), third reading. 
• ïBill C-26, cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act, and others, in committee. 
• ïBill C-40, amending the Criminal Code, second reading. 
• ïBill S-8, amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, report stage. 
• ïBill C-18, on online communications platforms; the House of Commons is considering Senate amendments. 

-------- Committee Updates 

• ïCIIT dicusses Canadian mining firms abroad today. 
• ïCIMM discusses an exploitation scheme targeting some international students.
• ïCACN discussing Canada-People’s Republic of China Relations. 
• ïENVI  discussing clean technologies in Canada. 
• ïFINA  pre-budget consultations in advance of the 2024 Budget. 

-------- In the Senate 

• ïBill C-13, amending the Official Languages Act, third reading. 
• ïBill C-47, Budget Implementation Act, third reading. 
•  

-------- Committee Updates 

• ïRIDR  issues relating to human rights generally. 
• ïAOVS will report on the Senate’s internal and external audits, etc.
•  

-------- ICYMI 

• Ministers Wilkinson and O’Regan tabled the government’s Sustainable Jobs Bill -- planning for jobs in the energy sector alongside the green transition. (Premier Smith claimed that this plan is a threat to Alberta’s oil and gas industry.)
• The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the "Safe Third Country Agreement" is constitutional. The pact with the USA (2004), seeks to control the flow of asylum seekers across the shared border. 
• Prime Minister Trudeau and deputy Freeland visited Kyiv, Ukraine, last weekend. The PM met with President Zelenskyy to reaffirm Canada’s support, and announced new measures and investments to support Ukraine, including $500 million more in military assistance.
• Prime Minister Trudeau spoke with President Biden to discuss the current wildfires and their impact on air quality.

If so, please write in: are MPs (and MLAs) just on the gravy train?

Ronald Sears

Gatineau

Demande en contestation constitutionnelle ...

Demande en contestation constitutionnelle de la Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse pour une protection accrue des enfants victimes de violence familiale et conjugale/contrôle coercitif : Présentement, la Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse ne protège pas adéquatement les enfants exposés directement ou indirectement à la violence conjugale, qui prend souvent la forme de contrôle coercitif post-séparation. Bon nombre de ces enfants et leurs parents victimes de violence conjugale/contrôle coercitif sont revictimisés lors de leur passage dans le système de la protection de la jeunesse puisque les intervenants de la DPJ ne sont pas en mesure de distinguer la violence conjugale et le contrôle coercitif des conflits de séparation. Cette réalité ne peut plus perdurer dans une société de droit qui est censée garantir et protéger les droits à l’intégrité physique et psychologique de ces personnes en situation de grande vulnérabilité.

Me Andreea Popescu ,

Montréal

City-planning without conspiracy-building?

Similar to the 100-mile diet, there is another concept in city planning, the ‘15-minute city’ , a plan proposed to keep shops, parks, cycling trails, and most of the services we need to live in any city within a 15-minute walk or cycle from their homes.  Gatineau itself proposed something similar, with neighbourhood cities, where yhe entire city is made up of self-supporting neighbourhoods (in terms of shopping and schools -- add workplaces and this concept really shines!)  Despite a lot of favourable talk about these concepts of neighbourhoods, the discussion has also sparked opposition by conspiracy nuts  who claim this is a plan to keep people in ghettos, easily managed by police and authorities. Apparently this fits with some QAnon threats about attacks on "liberty" and "freedom".  Can the nuts define their terms in a workable way?  I've yet to hear it .... but I wonder if Gatineau couldn't look again at the neighbourhood-centres concept of city planning?  One more alternative to mowing down all the trees and planting big boxes of condos?

Oliver Simms

Gatineau

Google responds:  Bill C-18 (the Online News Act) is now law  

We have informed the Government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada, and that C-18 will also make it untenable for us to continue offering our Google News Showcase in Canada. More information about what led to this decision and what happens next can be read on our blog post and FAQ.

Ever since the Government introduced C-18 last year, we have shared our experiences in other countries and been clear that unworkable legislation could lead to changes that affect the availability of news on Google’s products in Canada. We repeatedly offered constructive feedback and recommended solutions that would have made it more workable for both platforms and publishers, unlocking further financial support for Canadian journalism. We advocated for reasonable and balanced amendments to the legislation for over a year. None of our suggestions for changes to C-18 were accepted. 

Last week, as the Bill was approaching final passage and Royal Assent, the Government agreed to discuss the possibility of addressing some of the most critical issues, which we welcomed. In that discussion, we asked for clarity on a specific, viable path towards exemption based on our programs to support news and our commercial agreements with publishers, as well as clarity on financial expectations platforms face for simply linking to news. Unfortunately, they have not provided us with sufficient certainty that the regulatory process will be able to resolve structural issues with the legislation.

We’re disappointed it’s come to this, but we believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible. 

As for what happens next, we plan to participate in the regulatory process and hope that the Government will be able to outline a viable path forward. In the meantime, we have created a resource to address questions from users and publishers, which we will continue to update as we have more information. 

Suzanne Perron,  Google Canada

Ottawa

Thank you for the newspaper and no to spraying insecticides

It has been a real treat to find the newspaper in the PubliSac. I have lived in Tourrain for many years and love the neighbourhood. Getting to know news outside my daily routine has been been great – keep it up!

And by the way, thank you for the news about the City of Gatineau debating about spraying for mosquitos or not. I can’t believe this is even an issue – this planet needs all the help it can get, including making sure we don’t kill off the food chain that mosquitos are part of. No to spraying insecticides!

Jenny Levesque

Gatineau

People and Planet vs Polluters

Thousands of wildfires have burned over 13 million hectares of land across Canada. Unprecedented droughts are destroying farmlands, while Nova Scotians struggle to recover from torrential flooding. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel companies responsible for these crises continue raking in obscene profits.

Enough is enough. It’s time to stop the fossil fuel industry from making this crisis worse. Time for our government to step in and stop fossil fuel subsidies, prevent these companies from weakening critical climate legislation, and tax Big Oil.

We cannot afford more delays. To tackle the climate emergency, the world needs to rapidly phase out fossil fuels and make polluters pay.

The global shift to cheaper, more reliable clean energy is accelerating, no matter what Big Oil says. Canada’s choice isn’t between a just transition and no transition. It’s between a just transition and an unjust one.

Catherine Clysdale

City tax freeze for seniors, please

Such interesting coverage of the city Budget meetings! It is confusing to see our house evaluations skyrocket but hear city councillors fight for a low tax rate increase. I know it is more complex than 1 + 1=2. And I know Champagne is right when he says that services are going up and that costs money, so we might be paying more but we are getting more.

The fact though, is that plenty of home owners are people such as myself on fixed incomes (retired etc). We can’t afford paying a lot more – and if we can’t afford our current homes, we certainly can’t afford to buy or rent a new one (not that I’d want to leave the home and neighbourhood I’ve been in for decades).

There must be a way to help seniors stay in their homes? People like me have contributed for a lifetime to the building of community here. Switching up all the families in my neighbourhood is terrible for community-building.

Although --- I suppose if my community all moved to a rural neighbourhood that we could actually afford, we could possibility spend our last decade or two in an intentional community that is closed off from others. It would be a forced utopia rather than intentional one. Maybe. Sounds pretty terrible for Aylmer, and not what anyone of us wants.

Jenny Lacasse

Aylmer

Tramway study discredited

It is important to remember that any study can be biased if it is designed or interpreted in a way that favours a particular outcome.  Bias can come from the industry, the study's methodology, the choice of data, the people conducting the study and many other factors.

It is commonly accepted that the need for the tramway (to Ottawa) depends primarily on expected ridership.   Let me discredit one study on the subject.

The May 15, 2020, study titled "Update on the Progress of Insertion Analyses in Downtown Ottawa" nebulously explains that between 7,500 and 12,000 people per hour will need to be transported on the Du Portage Bridge within fifteen years, which seems unlikely.  Quebec City is planning for 3,200 passengers per hour. This is especially true given the widespread use of telecommuting. To meet this demand, the study recommends the use of 105 articulated buses with 72 passengers, or 25 streetcars with 300 passengers each, without specifying whether it is for one direction or for both, although this information is essential for a good understanding of the needs.

Let's assume that there are 7,500 passengers in one direction and 3,500 in the other, which would immediately saturate the tramway. By comparison, the articulated bus is half empty. With a capacity of 260 passengers, the Quebec City model would not meet the need. In comparison, the Waterloo, Ontario, model carries 200 passengers. The longest Spirit configuration by Alstom carried 344 passengers. Beyond that, it requires coupled streetcars, double-surface garages and disproportionately long stations. According to the scenario of this study, it is inferred that massive new investments will be required in 15 years.

It is important to note that the study requires a frequency of no less than 25 streetcars per hour, which is more intense than that of the Montreal metro. It is obvious that the safety of users is not taken seriously.

If you still believe that the streetcar ("tram") is the solution to public transit in Aylmer, don't worry. It is understandable; we are being bombarded with positive messages for streetcars. Not long ago, the tobacco industry would have us believe that smoking mentholated cigarettes was good for coughs.  The streetcar industry wants to sell streetcars!  ( Translated )

André Simonson

Gatineau

Ukraine face-off: USA vs Russia

Sadly for all of the world, the US Empire does not ever admit that their own criminal designs lead to incalculable suffering, and they fear to admit defeat, like any Russian leader. The US military has launched over 500 ''operations' since the end of WWII,  all of them international crimes. While I believe Putin's invasion of Ukraine is horrific, it pales in comparison to US history. Since the overwhelming majority of our media is State propaganda (Virtually all real journalists with any integrity have been banished to the margins.), the average USian is as ignorant of world affairs as Soviet citizens were always portrayed to be. Neither their government nor ours is likely to choose a humane course of action. We here may not suffer the bombs, displacement, etc., but we will all be negatively affected.  I wish only peace for the Ukraine.  Not victory or anything else.  Peace.

John Stuckey

Cyberspace

"Wake up, CBC"!

In response to all the letters pro and con about CBC and its funding through our tax dollars, I wonder if those against the CBC are really interested in quality news. Wouldn't they just listen to something else?  That's what most of us do, and if it costs us $7 each on our taxes every year - are we each going to go through the federal budget to decide if we want to pay for everything from new ice-breakers to rehab centres and universities?  I believe these nay-sayers are speaking politically, nothing about the CBC at all.  The Conservatives have made this one of their rallying calls, because it fits so nicely with their conspiracy-thinking.

Having said that, I must add that I too am very disappointed in CBC-radio.  Not because it costs me $7 or $100 but because their news services are of such poor quality, rarely prompt, and appear to be totally taken from US foreign policy statements. CBC-news sits square in the middle of those drumming for another war -- with Russia or China. We get no, absolutely no, objective analysis or background for any of these issues.  "Us good; them bad": that's CBC news' depth analysis!  But they use a crying mother or injured baby to make their point.

My proposal is that we unite and ask for BETTER CBC news, journalism and programming, not less, and certainly not more dependent upon private advertising.  That's a genuine Canadian response: improvements, not cancellations.  CBC, please wake up!

Thank you, Bulletin, for providing this public forum.

Albert Bis

Gatineau

Responding to university programs article

How interesting that the University of Quebec is branching out to more programs in Outaouais. (Gatineau Bulletin, October 6, Page 2). I’ve been concerned with the new Quebec legal changes around language of education. Since fewer students can study in English, I’ve wondered how the French universities and CEGEPs can handle all the students. I hope that these new programs at UQO will help with the overflow of students, even if not ideal that education will be happening in French not English.

Nathalie Sommers

Gatineau

Yay freethinkers! (2)

In matters of foreign affairs, if you have the nerve to mention the "mistakes" made by our side, (and not only the crimes of our enemies), then the blended word whataboutism will be used against you. ("whataboutism" was added to the dictionary in October 2021.)

In philosophy, whataboutism is known as "tu quoque," pointing out hypocrisy. I've yet to meet a person who doesn't become defensive when their hypocrisy, or their side’s hypocrisy, is pointed out.

When Michael Corleone, in Godfather II, said, "Senator, we are all part of the same hypocrisy," he eloquently, I would even say artistically, used whataboutism to neutralize any sense of moral superiority Senator Geary felt he had over him. Michael understood that his hypocrisy served his interests, and his family’s and that the same hypocrisy served the senator's interests. The hypocrisy the U.S. uses to serve and protect its interests is the same hypocrisy Russia, Turkey, China, U.K.—all nations—use to serve and protect their interests.

As to why Canada didn’t sanction the U.S. when it invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya et al.; it’s in Canada’s best interest to take a hypocritical stance of not showing disapproval of its southern neighbour's wrongdoings and sometimes going as far as supporting the U.S.’s wrongdoings.

Whataboutism was coined during the postwar years when American-Russian relations were rather tense, and the following back-and-forth occurred:

The Soviet Union would commit a crime, according to the West. Washington would call them on it. The Kremlin would then point out that the U.S. was also committing heinous acts. These accusations would contain the phrase "What about …" and point out America's Jim Crow laws, which until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 weren't entirely extinct, the U.S.'s bombing sprees, or any other embarrassing facts about the West. The U.S., and its western allies, began responding to the Russian critique by labelling it "Whataboutism." American intellectuals would later use the term "moral equivalence."

Whataboutism in action a few years back: Obama laments about Putin's 2014 invasion and seizure of Crimea. In response, Putin mentions Kosovo and the Scottish Independence Referendum.

Russia's crimes are well known, as are Western (-- e.g., Apartheid, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Turkish-Kurdish conflict, systemic racism, U.S.-led war in Iraq, human rights violations against immigrants & indigenous people, Guantánamo Bay, coups to the south, etc). Conveniently, mainstream scholars have never pointed out that all nations are amoral and capable of committing great evil.  How about you? Do you use "about-ism" or bury your head in the sands of my-country-right-or-wrong?

Nick Kossovan

Toronto

We need support!

Please continue supporting our Indigenous friends and allies who tried intervening before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission licensing hearings for the giant radioactive waste mound (NSDF) at Chalk River on June 2, 2022.

Five  Algonquin First Nations say they have not been adequately consulted about the plan and DO NOT CONSENT to the licensing of the facility at this time.

The proposed NSDF is a plan by a multinational consortium to pile up one million tonnes of radioactive and hazardous wastes in a gigantic landfill beside the Kitchi Sibi / Ottawa River in unceded traditional Algonquin territory. The promoters' own studies show that the giant mound would leak and disintegrate long before radioactive components like plutonium decayed to a harmless state. Staff of Canada’s captured nuclear regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, are recommending that the license be approved.

Lynn Jones

Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County

Open letter about school bus service

The Portages-de-l'Outaouais School Service Centre says that there may not be school bus service (yellow buses) for people who live far from the school and where there is no public transportation because they are unable to negotiate a new fair contract with the bus line that provides this service. Surely they can recognize that gas prices have doubled in recent months? They are also telling parents who will be forced to drive their children to school not to inconvenience the school and to park on nearby streets, but not too close. I guess their mandate has expanded to include traffic control on city property.

What I find very interesting about this is that the average person in the area works from home and will have to add an average of 2 hours a day of driving, which means adding hundreds of cars on the road for a several hours each day! I was under the impression that the government was pro-environment, so why are they trying to nickel and dime the bus company instead of controlling the price of gas? I guess they don't want to lose that extra revenue at the expense of the voters time and expense. I estimate that if this problem is not solved, it will cost me 2.5 hours a day and over $100 a week in gas.

All this being said, wouldn't it be smarter for the Quebec government, where an election is coming up, to please the masses and support their environmental agenda or even take a step forward and control the price of gas in the province, instead of continuing down the path full of holes they have chosen to take.


Michel Roberge

Gatineau

Become a Connexions Board Member!

Connexions is looking for a motivated and passionate individual who lives in the Outaouais to join our Board of Directors! 
As a member, you will have the opportunity to play a significant role as a driver of change towards improving and contributing to the health and well-being of the English-speaking community in the Outaouais.

For more information about this opportunity, send us an email by October 28. To explore our activities and initiatives, visit our website.

Connexions

Gatineau

Radioactive dump hearings soon

The final licensing hearing for the Chalk River Mound is coming up on May 31.

Here are three things you can do to help derail the forces that are pushing to create a giant radioactive waste mound beside the Ottawa River, against common sense, Canadian regulations and international safety standards.

1) Apply to intervene orally or in writing at the final licensing hearings that begin on May 31. Many interventions would be good! Oral ones have a bigger impact. Deadline to apply is April 11.

2)  Send a postcard! This is a campaign initiated by our good friend and colleague Dr. Judith Miller of the First United Church Water Care Allies.

3)  Submit comments on Canada’s draft radioactive waste policy, much needed to avoid bad proposals like the NSDF. Participate in an informative briefing session and submit your comments by April 2.

Thanks everyone for your ongoing interest and support. Please share this update with any of your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues you think might be interested. 

Lynn Jones, Concerned Citizens

Ottawa

To watch the nuclear dump hearings ...

The first day of licensing hearings for the giant radioactive waste mound (NSDF) on the Kitchi Sibi (Ottawa River) began Monday, May 30.

You can watch the hearings on the CNSC website at this link:  https://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/webcasts/index.cfm  You can view the agenda there also.

Lynn Jones,

Ottawa

Canada, from constitutional monarchy to constitutional democracy 

This is a rare opportunity for Canadians to decide the future of their political hierarchy. Do they want to continue be “ruled” from England or do they want their head of state to be a Canadian? I opt for a Canadian.

First, this is about institutions, not personalities. ... not about Charles. It is about figureheads of Canadian democracy.

A British king as head of state no longer reflects Canadian democracy, our independent state or our ethnic diversity. How can new citizens comprehend Canada when they must swear allegiance to someone from England?  Using the British monarch as our head of state inhibits the development of Canadian identity.  As the Canadian Bar Association  reported (1979), “... if we want to promote confidence, pride and a sense of belonging, the head of state should be a Canadian.”

We need Canadian figureheads who will represent the country’s bilingual and multicultural attributes, be models for our youth, and project Canadian values on the international scene.

The British monarch should remain titular head of the Commonwealth — of which Canada would remain a leading member. The royal family could continue to be invited to visit Canada.

The Governor General should become our head of state. This fine, descriptive title has been part of Canada’s tradition. All the Crown’s rights in Canada, both in the written Constitution and by convention, would be transferred to the Governor General, avoiding a debilitating debate over their definition.

It is politically useful to maintain a separate institution of “head of state,” one distinct from the position of prime minister as the “head of government.” The head of state also fulfils other functions such as: naming a new prime minister in times of political ambiguity; relieving the prime minister of many ceremonial duties; acting as both a “humbling presence” and a sounding board for the prime minister; and reminding citizens there is a state that persists even if they do not like the party in power.  It would be beneficial to have a relatively long term of office, say five years, renewable once. Experience, recognition and wisdom will be important.

New Governors General should not be elected, to avoid  duplication and conflict between the offices of governor general and prime minister.

As one newspaper has suggested, the Officers of the Order of Canada might operate as a nominating committee for a short list of candidates. A nomination coming from the Order would add prestige, legitimacy and merit to the position. The Order of Canada’s list of candidates should be submitted to an “electoral college” — a joint, federal-provincial, electoral group formed of MPs and members of provincial legislatures. The eventual governor general would require ratification by two-thirds of this group for some degree of all-party approval.

This new regime, a “constitutional democracy” rather than a “republic”, would  emphasize our tradition of balancing constitutional protection of “peace, order and good government” with popular democracy “by the people.”

This change of regime will require care with the details -- a national learning process.  Canadian leaders should discuss these possibilities among themselves. Neither their policies nor their ideologies are endangered.  As I am doing here, no “politicking.”

Amending our Constitution would be too long, complex -- and cantankerous. But it need not be so.  Our political leaders could request a neutral body – say the Royal Society – to provide names for a commission of experts to address this, then agree to implement its recommendations. I repeat: there is no need to politicize this.

In the end, we would well and truly be a government for and by Canadians.

(abridged on request from the Ottawa Citizen)

John E Trent, ret

Chelsea

Mega hospital or a good hospital?

I have found all the letters about the new mega-hospital very stimulating.  It's location is but one issue -- a bigger issue is the competence of the CISSSO to manage something like this. They have proven quite incapable to even continuing the level of care we used to get -- before the Liberals' "health reforms" -- let alone expand that care. They have essentially gutted local autonomy and management of our regional hospitals which were close to the population.   Do we really need another mega-institution, too big for local input and too big to even care about local problems?  And where are the CAQ's new "health reforms"?  The best reform would be to go back before Minister Barrette and the Liberals absolutely gutted our regional health services!

RT Stevenson

Shawville, Pontiac

We can do something about high prices

Everybody is complaining about high prices -- from groceries to gasoline to rent.  We can complain all we wish -- or we can do something about it. Yes, we can!  We can build a stronger local economy (right across the country) by putting our money where our mouths are: by shopping locally!  Build a strong economy right around us by actually using those services around us.  Giving your money to Amazon is great news for Menlo Park, California, but it means nothing for Gatineau, Quebec. 

Jay Silversmith

Gatineau 

‘Whataboutism,’ Is There Such a Thing?

If everyone is guilty of something, is no one guilty of anything?

Morality doesn’t pick sides. It doesn’t care about borders, political ideologies, socio-economic status, religions, genders, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or whether you like pineapple on your pizza. (Have I covered everything we use to divide ourselves?). 

There's good, and there's bad. Bad behaviour is bad behaviour. Yes, it's that simple—it's that black and white. However, these days calling out bad behaviour is fraught with self-righteous deflection. 

Increasingly, the following scenario occurs.

You'll be having a conversation. Perhaps over coffee, a few drinks, or a meal. Inevitably Russia will come up, or Trudeau, or Biden. Your conversation partner bought into the social pressure that they're a Russian sympathizer if they don't stand by Ukraine as we're being told to do. Finally, you give in to your animal instinct and ask the “elephant in the room" questions. "Obama launched airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Where was the outrage then?" or "Canada sanctions Russia for invading Ukraine. Why did Canada not sanction the U.S. when it invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, etc.?" 

Yay freethinkers!

Nick Kossovan,

Toronto

Reinstatement of English language debate?

Our party, the Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) is running in our first election campaign and wants to represent Quebecers who feel they have been taken for granted for far too long. Our leader, Mr. Colin Standish, is steadfast in his advocacy for fundamental human rights, the integrity of the Canadian Constitution, and equality between Canada’s two official languages.

During the 2018 election, Quebec’s four major parties held an English-language TV debate for the first time in Quebec’s history. This allowed English-speaking Quebecers to hear vital issues and concerns addressed in their mother tongue.

It also looked like there would be an English-language debate in this campaign.  However, in May, both Premier Legault and the PQ leader decided not to participate in an English language debate.  As a result, the English-language media consortium canceled the debate  scheduled for September 20th.

In the CaPQ’s opinion, such a flagrant disregard for Quebec’s official language minority is disrespectful and unbecoming of both party leaders. How dare they be so dismissive of English-speaking Quebecers who - like their francophone neighbours - deserve an opportunity to hear directly from them?

Close to 1.25 million people in Quebec identify as English-speaking Quebecers or 14.9% of the population.  We are urging the media to invite seven of Quebec’s party leaders - including Mr. Standish and Bloc Montréal’s leader, Mr. Balarama Holness - to an English language debate.

If Premier Legault and Mr. Plamondon still refuse, we propose a five party leaders’ debate with Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade, Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Parti conservateur du Québec leader Éric Duhaime, Bloc Montreal leader Mr. Holness, and CaPQ leader Mr. Standish.

Noah Weinberger, he Canadian Party of Quebe 

Montreal

Celebrating Gatineau's 20th Anniversary?

Not sure if everyone  saw this announcement on the City of Gatineau website: 

https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=20e_anniversaire_ville_gatineau&ref=bandeaux 

I think it is very insulting to the taxpayers of Aylmer and reinforces my belief that we got the short end of the stick. No mention of any accomplishments over the last 20 years in Aylmer except for uploading us with multi unit housing, no infrastructure to handle it and taking all the tax revenue and spending it elsewhere in the city . Oh, it was pointed out we got Boulevard des Allumettieres which just sucked further businesses out of Aylmer. and was mostly funded by the province. 

And all our streets are still in horrible shape. I have yet to see any paving and resurfacing going on in our area. Yes, they started to fix storm drain grates on the Aylmer Road and then patch. It needs resurfacing all the way to the marina. We need to starting screaming more because if not the "more things change the more they stay the same!" 

Come on, Aylmer, lets demand what we deserve!  We elect the politicians.

Bernie Mcdonald

Aylmer

The tenth of shame

In addition to charging an exorbitant amount for their gasoline, the oil companies are making a mockery of the consumer by adding tenths of a cent (most often 0.9) to the posted prices. When they sell a liter of gasoline at more than two dollars, do they really believe that a tenth more or less will influence the choice of the banner. Do they fear bankruptcy. We have rightly rid our wallets of the cumbersome black pennies, why add a dime to an already high price. Will they have to wait until gasoline reaches ten dollars a liter before they are forced to do so because of a lack of space on their signs.

The oil companies are holding the owners of gasoline and diesel vehicles hostage, they could at least show them a modicum of respect by dropping this ridiculous practice that dates back to the days when gasoline was less than a dollar a gallon.  (Translated)

Bernard Cournoyer

Gatineau

Political extremism from the politicians

As we prepare for another election, this time for Quebec, I am trying to list three to five things which every person running for office should comment on or even commit to, if they are elected.  I see that Alberta is picking a new premier, the leader of the governing party.  In this campaign, one of the big issues is "will you clamp down with another lockdown, or not?"  Never a lockdown?  Is that for real? These are not politicians from the lunatic fringe - none that I heard were on the Truckers Convoy last winter! So if Covid roars back or some new variation -- we already have Monkeypox appearing -- so no matter how bad it gets, the new premier of Alberta will not shut down social meetings, etc??  These politicians do not do "democracy" any favours by going to such extremes. They just show that we can't trust people to elect good leaders.  I hope our candidates here do not go to such extremes.  I hope this newspaper and its readers also hold their candidates to clearly state their promises, especially on big issue like the mega-hospital in Gatineau, which is supposed to help us who live hours and hours from it! 

Jonny Thorpe

Allumettes Island (Pontiac)

Is this racism in Quebec?

With Premier Legault refusing to participate in an English debate (for the coming election), this guy has finally shown his true colours. Hasn't he claimed to be the Premier of all Quebeckers?

Mike Beard

Aylmer

Immigration, not a one way street

An important and complex issue such as immigration requires careful and in-depth coverage. Barrett's recent editorial opinion on extremism skirts the issue.  

Canada has had immigration as a policy  for many decades. Immigration is important for topping up the birth rate, for economic activity as new people build and buy things needed to live, including housing, and for bringing new ideas to our cultural scene. In other words, immigration is positive and needed.  

For Quebec, immigration is defined primarily in language terms as Quebec tries to defend -- in face of a massive demographic trend -- the use of French in Quebec. Countries in Europe have had their immigration situation complicated by the massive infusion of refugees who flee wars in Syria and other places. Canada's record on taking in refugees has been poor,  as thousands of would-be Canadians are stranded in Afghanistan right now. 

Quebec wants its immigrants to speak French and adopt the values of their new society. For the vigour immigrants bring to the country, for their hard work and initiative, for the hope they bring to build a better life,  we as hosts should show them respect and recognize and value their unique attributes and contributions. Immigration is not just a one way street. 

Carl Hager 

Gatineau

Quebec's Liberal party is playing politics with my son's education

The Liberal Party's amendment to Quebec's Bill 96, the controversial overhaul of French-language laws, could force anglophone CEGEP students to take three core courses in French or three French-language courses starting in 2023 or 2024.

I voted for a party -- and MNA -- that traditionally fought for the rights of Outaouais' communities.  Now they  have kneecapped my son’s future as he embarks on his last year of high school.

The Liberals have betrayed all their supporters. Their Bill 96 amendment will have harmful consequences for all local communities . They  hope we don’t realize it until their MNAs get re-elected. Pontiac MNA André Fortin, who has fought for this region, must show full transparency on the amendment's impacts.

He and his party leader need to drop the rhetoric that the  Coalition Avenir Québec won’t let the party change its own backstabbing amendment.

As for my son, rather than properly educated, he will now be part of a great experiment, implemented without any input from education experts. This is cruel, and feels like right-wing identity politics. It feels “Trumpy.” Indigenous leaders in Quebec are calling the changes "colonial" and damaging to their youth.

I grew up proud of my province of birth. Now, many people speak to me like I am not a native of this province. Why?  Because I learned French as a second language.

All Quebec parties voted for the amendment that will hurt my son’s ability to prosper. CAQ is freezing English CEGEP seats at 2019 levels despite the population boom in our region. Close to 50 per cent of English CEGEP students are francophones, wanting to learn English. We had 500 new English high-school students in the region this past year.

Education experts are clear: our kids’ success will be impeded. The brightest students will have their ability to compete for university hindered, and those who struggle will fall out of the system.  If the CAQ wanted to  support bilingualism, this reform would begin in the first year of school, preparing students along the way.

Despite generations of my family being born in Québec, we are now labelled historic anglophones. My son’s 12 years in Quebec’s public education have not prepared him for this abrupt change in curriculum.

What does the Liberal Party say about this colossal gaffe? It is too busy campaigning for the fall election! Even after this direct hit to our region, Fortin and provincial Liberal leader Dominique Anglade were in Chelsea last week, welcoming a new candidate for the party.

These laws threaten to divide our thriving bilingual communities. On est des Québécois, mais nous ne sommes pas les bienvenus.

Kelly Nolan

Aylmer

Pierre Polievre must take the high road

Mr. Polievre has won the leadership of the federal Conservative Party.  I'm not a Conservative but some of their platform could benefit Canadians. However I also see danger when he tells us he is fighting for our “freedom”.

Statistics or “real news” tells us Canada is one of the best places to live.  Why do you think this is so?

We have areas that need to be improved -- universal childcare / dental care -- but there is so much that we do have. Universal health care is no doubt the number one area that makes our country unique. My family and friends in the USA tell me health care is their number one concern.  Families there can pay out thousands of dollars per month for health insurance, so when looking for work or changing jobs, health care insurance is their number one priority in work contracts. I recently had surgery costing hundreds of thousands of dollars; while recuperating, I didn’t have the worry of hospital bills. I was also equipped with the necessary mobility aids, free of charge. Something we Canadians don’t think about.

Out of work or laid off in this country, there are programs to help us financially i.e. - employment insurance or welfare. Single moms can apply to these services and stay home until the child enters school. Women have the “freedom” to terminate a pregnancy without legal consequences.

We complain about taxes, but services cost money and a lot more money could be coming out of our pockets, because paying as a country rather than an individual costs less.   Those who choose the “freedom” of working  “under the table” -- our health care or welfare services are there for them as well. It comes down to what you consider important in your life when you look at the idea of “freedom”.  When we are young, healthy, and with a good paying job, we may not see how universal services benefit us. The day that your family needs help these services become very important.

The icing on the cake is if you don’t like the government in power, VOTE, which I'm finding out many people don’t do. Our most important freedom is our right to vote.  This is NOT a right in every country and NOT a right of women in many countries.   When Canadian politicians claim our freedoms are being infringed upon, beware! Generations of Canadians know when these rights and privileges were being fought for and became law. My mother was a young woman when she voted in her first provincial election Instilling in her family the importance of exercising one’s right and expression of choice through voting was paramount.

Technology plays a prominent role in our lives, and it has great benefits. During Covid Canadians struggled with confinement and isolation. The internet became even more prominent. This gave us greater exposer to a culture that does not fact-find and where there's much deliberate misinformation.

This is not a time for politicians to divide Canadians but a time to bring us together and highlight the privileges and freedoms we have. Politicians have a due diligence to  provide Canadians with information based on facts. My hope for Mr. Polievre is that he does not fall into the trap of making the disenfranchised of our country believe that he can make them freer than they already are. That's a Trumpian attitude, taking advantage of the misinformed to get elected. He must help all Canadians by running his campaign on truth and on  understanding how our country’s “Freedoms” really work. He owes us that much!

Kathryn Dupuis

Fort-Coulone

New Hospital: what's in it for us?

In all the letters published by the Bulletin on the new regional hospital,  everyone seems only to be pulling the blanket to their side of the bed .... what I would like to see from the government is more discussion about the whole re-arrangement of health services in our region.  For example, if the hospital goes just below Chelsea, how will that affect services in existing hospitals, like Shawville's, which has lost services steadily since the Liberal Party of Quebec brought in the cuts and centralization?  Wakefield's old facility will become an old-age centre of some sort -- but what?  And in Shawville's birthing facility, lost several years ago due to a shortage of nurses, so we're told, will pregnant women soon have to travel even further? How is that an improvement, Mr Bussieres?   

And what about that very question of staffing shortages?  Great to have a new bricks-and-glass building, but where will the staff come from?  Will they be pulled from outlying CLSCs or even the remaining small hospitals?   That's probably the stupidest decision, so we can hope for better -- but where will they come from, and how will foreign-trained people even know about Gatineau's opportunities? How will their accreditations be speeded-up?

How about real information, not just campaign-style announcements? 

Andy Black

Gatineau

Monument re Law 96

The day freedom died?  The day democracy died?  Nope those were years ago.   I think we need a monument to remember the day Bill 96 passed - The day Quebec minorities lost.  I’d like to have a place to visit and place flowers some day with my grand children.  Explain to them the story of the misguided empire who drove us from our homeland.
As a country we can spend money on helping those persecuted under dictators and regimes around the world, why not here?  ... The least they can do is place a commemorative plaque where I can visit, place some flowers and raise a glass - well played.

Liam Mccormick
Aylmer

The cost to taxpayers of the Royal Family up 245%

The Sovereign Grants Account costs the UK taxpayer a small fortune. One analysis shows that the monarchy cost the taxpayer 87.5 million pounds (GBP) in 2021. That's a 245% rise from the 2015 figure.

A significant portion (49.5M GBP) went to the maintenance of palaces. Buckingham palace alone consumed 31.6M GBP. The palace has outdated electrical cabling, heating, and plumbing that require an urgent overhaul.

The government also installed a covid-secure bubble to protect the late queen, the late Duke of Edinburgh, and their staff. Other monies funded the Royal Family’s official travels and catering for its hospitality needs.

Another portion of the funds went to helping The Royal Household fulfill its commitments to reducing its environmental impact. It helps the royals support charities, plus maintain its Fire, Health, and Safety programs.

The Sovereign Grant act that anchors the fund has attracted sharp opposition. In 2020, Republic, a group agitating for the scrapping of the Monarchy, launched a petition calling for the disbandment of the fund. The petitioners took issue with the manner of the fund’s calculation.  This touches us here, too -- remember the bills for police protection during Royal Visits?   Are these really of benefit to Canadians?   Which benefits?  If the Royals contribute to holding us all together or to unifying English-speakers everywhere, or whatever,  why do ordinary people have to pay for this "unity"?

Bruno Mayer

Gatineau

Bubbles and fish fingers 

What happens in bubbles is that particular information and views get repeated, while others get systematically filtered out. If this sounds benign, consider bubbles more accurately described as echo-chambers or labs of propaganda. Consider the reality of social media, dominated by big-tech, as a reality in which the likes of Cambridge Analytica are a norm rather than a one-off scandal. Consider that we no longer live in one bubble containing a spectrum between left and right. We now exist in various bubbles of information, academically described as a "post-truth" environment. It's less overwhelming to think of our reality as a collection of bubbles. 

In bubbles, things that are obviously untrue outside the bubble start to appear true, after being repeated x times. It turns out humans aren't attuned to scientific fact, but rather whatever gets repeated as fact. Contrary to our pride of intellect, most of us follow along with what others say. Did you know fish fingers are made from large fleshy starfish with fingerlike fins? This may sound as absurd as Ukraine being run by Nazis, but one of these views is being actively propagated as fact. 

The new protesters in Canada's capital are again donning no political labels, because they believe they are standing for truth. They don't see that they are in a bubble, or that they are pawns in a political ponzi scheme. 

If we are all in bubbles, how do you determine that your views are more true? Spend a little time in another bubble. If you are left of centre, spend a little time in far right blogs, chats, forums and media. And vice versa. You'll recognize a pattern there and start to recognize the same pattern in more diverse media without the political labels, where it masquerades as truth. 

In coming weeks the repertoire of messages will, no doubt, emerge in the capital with claims of vaccines as genetic experimentation, Nazis ruling Ukraine, and mandates as political leveraging of a totalitarian leader in Canada. This might make about as much sense to you as fish fingers coming from fish with fingers. Increasingly, political news is available primarily through social media. Bubbles. The post-truth reality is a difficult adjustment, and some of us are still equipped with twentieth century ideas of critical thinking, as if there were just one bubble. 

Luke Parent

Gatineau 

It’s time for national standards for long-term and home care 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown we can no longer afford to ignore the long-standing issues with long-term care and home care. More than 80 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada occurred in long-term care facilities, the highest proportion – by a longshot – among the 14 developed countries that track this data. Reports from the Canadian Armed Forces detailed the tragic conditions in our long-term care homes, conditions that were made worse by COVID-19 but that sounded all too familiar to those with experience with long-term care.  

Add to this the fact that Canadians are living longer and more of us are dealing with chronic conditions and diseases, especially as we age. By the end of this decade, those aged 65 and older will make up almost a quarter of the population. The demand on the health-care system is only going to increase. 

Our health-care system has not kept pace with Canada’s aging population, and if we do not make changes soon, we will not be equipped to meet the health needs of Canadians. It is time we include older adult care in our national health framework and start managing, funding and regulating long-term and home care in the same way as other parts of our system: with national standards tied to funding.  
National standards will guarantee a standard level of quality care, the availability of equitable and consistent services across the country, and adequate levels of funding for these types of care.  

All levels of government must resolve to work together to fix long-term and home care and ensure older adults can access the care they need now and in the future.  

Laurie Manion

Aymer

Overcoming the ecological crisis : public transit (1)

While various provincial parties are proposing more ambitious targets to reduce GHG emissions, the government elected on October 3 will have to modernize the funding structure for public transit in order to effectively fight climate change in Quebec.  IRIS estimates that the implementation of new eco-tax measures would add $12 billion to the Quebec government's coffers over ten years, all other things being equal. 

GHG emissions from light-duty transportation have increased by 26% over the past three decades in Quebec, offsetting half of the emission reductions achieved by Quebec industries. These data clearly show that Quebecers continue to use individual vehicles to get around, which limits the possible gains in greenhouse gas reduction. 

Moreover, automobile transportation represented approximately 16% of the current consumption expenditures of Quebec households in the summer of 2022, while the external costs of using a gasoline-powered car are twenty-eight times greater than the costs of bus transportation. Improving the public transit network would not only help households reduce their dependence on the automobile, but it would also help protect their purchasing power in the face of inflation. (2)

Quebec's public transit systems are currently struggling with significant underfunding due in part to a significant drop in ridership following the pandemic. For the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), for example, this decline will result in an annual shortfall of $150 to $200 million if the network does not manage to recover its ridership by 2020. In inter-regional transport, the revenues of Canadian transport companies have been cut by almost half between 2019 and 2020. 

Currently, the funding model for public transport networks is partly based on the user-pay principle. However, the current contributions from users are not sufficient to finance all the costs of these networks, which is detrimental to the quality of services and encourages significant fare increases.  Tax revenues from public transit use are increasing five times faster than those from road use, such as vehicle registration fees and gasoline taxes. The imbalance between the contributions of car users and those who use public transport must be corrected if we are to reduce the bill they pay.

Three eco-tax measures to encourage sustainable mobility

Several measures can be put in place to make up for the current shortfall in the operating budgets of public transport networks. It would be possible, for example, to dedicate part of the QST revenue on fuel to public transport, to increase the contribution to public transport of light trucks, such as SUVs, or to increase the tax on so-called luxury vehicles. By dedicating the revenues from the eco-tax to a fund dedicated to public transit, the government will encourage Quebecers to make environmentally friendly mobility choices.

Implementing eco-tax measures for mobility would allow the government to increase annual funding for public transit in Quebec by $1.2 billion: this amount represents an increase of nearly 50% over ten years of the budget that would have been allocated to public transit if the new Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI) promised by the CAQ were to be implemented.   

Camille L. Thuot,  l’IRIS

Montréal

(Translated)

June is National Pollinators Month

It is a great opportunity to do more in your backyard to support pollinators. Butterflies, bees, bats and hummingbirds rely on our backyards and other community green spaces for food and shelter…and we rely on them, too! Here’s why. 

• About 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat exists because of pollinators
• 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants depend on pollinators to reproduce
• More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields

You can support pollinators in your own backyard by selecting flowering plants that thrive in your yard’s conditions. Consider the following when choosing your plants: climate zone, soil type, sun/shade ratio, and average rainfall. Another way to help pollinators in your backyard? Plant a healthy balance of grasses, garden flowers, shrubs and trees.

To learn more, check out this infographic from TurfMutt: www.turfmutt.com

Debbi Mayster, TurfMutt Foundation

USA