Legault wants to kill Quebec's English universities. He must be stopped
Let’s not mince words: Quebec Premier François Legault wants to kill Montreal’s English universities. On Thursday the Quebec government announced that it will hike tuition for mostly English-speaking out-of-province students by 33 per cent and require that 80 per cent of students at McGill and Concordia become proficient in French at a “Level 5”, or the schools will lose funding. For most non-Francophone students, that will require the equivalent of another semester of study — a sure-fire reason not to apply.Applications have already dropped by 20 per cent overall at McGill and by 33 per cent for international students at Concordia since the government floated the idea of doubling tuition in October. At the time, Legault said, “The number of English-speaking students threatens the survival of French.” Not exactly the best way to lay out the welcome mat
Speaker Greg Fergus knew better, he should resign
Some columns you just hate to write. This is one of those columns. But I’m writing it anyway, because if I didn’t, I would be committing the same error as my subject: letting personal bias cloud my judgement on a question of political importance.That is what House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus stands accused of doing, after he recorded a personal tribute to outgoing Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser that was shown at the party’s recent leadership convention. Fergus made the video in his office, in full speaker’s regalia, even though his role demands strict neutrality. He claims the video was to be shown at a private gathering, not to thousands of people, but the transgression was identical: making a partisan statement from a neutral perch.I’ve known Greg Fergus since we were teenagers, on the Montreal high school and college debate circuit, and later as young politicos. Greg was universally described as smart, funny, dedicated, and a really nice guy. Which is why this drama hurts, because good character is rare in politics these days.But politics demands more than good character, it demands good judgment
Another sham inquiry into foreign interference
Is Judge Marie-Josée Hogue the new David Johnston? The Quebec Court of Appeals judge was appointed in early September to head the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, months after “special rapporteur” Johnston had concluded that an inquiry wasn’t necessary.Sadly, Hogue now seems determined to follow in Johnston’s tarnished footsteps, using accusations of partisanship to deny standing in the first phase of the inquiry to both the Conservative party and the NDP, preventing them from questioning witnesses or seeing all the evidence presented.How did Hogue justify this limited engagement?
Catherine Tait makes the case for abolishing the CBC
Who needs Pierre Poilievre when you have Catherine Tait? If CBC was worried about the Conservative leader making the case for its demise, their president did it for them Monday night, on live television, no less. Appearing on The National with host Adrienne Arsenault, Tait was asked what Canadians will notice after CBC cuts 600 jobs, a full 10 per cent of its workforce, over the coming year.“Well, I hope very much they won’t notice too much,” Tait replied. She went on to add that the CBC will be more efficient, “doubling down on technology and automation. So my hope is that certainly in local news and in the regions, there won’t be that dramatic an impact for our audience.”That depends on what part of CBC you consume
First Nations sue over 'discriminatory' carbon tax — will Guilbeault resign?
A month after the federal government exempted home heating oil from its punitive carbon tax, another group is demanding a carve-out — and putting the government in a thorny position.
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The Chiefs of Ontario and Attawapiskat First Nation have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what they allege is “discriminatory and anti-reconciliatory application of the Greenhouse Gas and Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA)” to First Nations. Their main arguments resemble those advanced by rural communities, notably a lack of options when it comes to fuel for things like transportation or industry.
Canada, the land of imported ethnic conflicts
Immigration built Canada: does it now risk tearing our country apart? That is the troubling takeaway from a Leger-Postmedia poll published this weekend in the National Post. The research firm asked 1,500 Canadians their opinions about protests in Canada related to the Hamas-Israel War, as well as the recent spike in hate crimes. Their answers reveal great concern about these issues and the way ethnocultural diversity has shaped our response, as well as that of our politicians.
Africans are being slaughtered, but with no Jews to blame, the left shrugs
There’s a place on this earth where terrorists are shooting babies in the head, mass-raping women to “punish and terrorize” populations, and burning entire communities to the ground. Where women and girls have been taken hostage and are being held in “slave-like conditions.” Where an ethnic group is being targeted for its race by Arab terrorists bent on driving them out of their homeland.
Liberals drop the ball on outlawing deepfake porn
As if the federal government doesn’t have enough problems, it’s now being accused by its own experts of failing to fight online harms. During the 2021 election, the Liberals promised that by 2022, they would bring in new legislation dealing with online hate speech, incitement to violence and child sexual exploitation, as well as addressing the responsibility of social media platforms and offering recourse to victims. As 2023 draws to a close, with the internet feeling more like a sewer than ever before, that bill is still nowhere to be seen.
Only Justin Trudeau's vanity keeps carbon tax limping along
By now, the verdict is near-unanimous: the federal carbon tax is a farce. The exemption for heating oil in Atlantic Canada put a lie to the entire project: faced with declining fortunes in the East, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blinked and chose votes over virtue. Cue the outstretched hands from the rest of the country: what about propane? what about natural gas? what about everyone who heats their house east of the Quebec-New Brunswick border?And now, what about farmers? They use a lot of natural gas and propane for irrigation, drying grain, preparing feed, and heating and cooling barns and greenhouses. They already get a tax exemption if they use gasoline and diesel for these tasks. Hence Bill C-234, a private member’s bill introduced by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, which would level the playing field by exempting all farmers from the carbon tax regardless of the type of fuel consumed.Bill C-234 passed the House of Commons in March, mostly thanks to opposition support, and trundled off to the Senate, where it passed first and second reading earlier this month. Then yesterday, bam! Read the full column on the National Post website
