Fitzgibbon’s Freedom of Speech
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Resigning Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon and Prime Minister François Legault, last Wednesday
The resignation of “superminister” Pierre Fitzgibbon, announced Wednesday, sent shockwaves through Quebec. Many wondered whether his Bill 69, which aims to redefine Quebec’s energy strategy, or whether the battery industry and the Northvolt project would survive his departure. Time will tell. The policies put forward by the former Terrebonne MNA have often sparked debate, even controversy, but his lucid, straightforward statements have generally been praised, our columnist Stéphanie Grammond pointed out. “In Quebec, we need to tell each other our four truths to succeed in the essential energy transition,” she wrote. “And when it comes to speaking his mind, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon had an innate talent.” Will the new superminister of Energy and Economy, Christine Fréchette, have as much freedom of speech? The bets are open.
Read the editorial “Fitzgibbon’s Inconvenient Truths”
The Royalmount opens its doors
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The new Royalmount shopping center, Thursday in Montreal
After years of controversy, the Royalmount shopping centre, located at the junction of Highways 15 and 40 on the island of Montreal, opened its doors to the public this week. The project is far from complete (none of the announced apartments have even been built yet, for example), but customers can now make expensive purchases in luxury brand stores (Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace and Saint Laurent) and eat in a food court that aims to be attractive. So is the bickering over? That remains to be seen, because the owner of the Royalmount expects that 70% of the 25 million visitors expected for the first year will come by car. And the area is already one of the most congested in the city…
Read the article “Montreal luxury: the Royalmount is born”
Should the temporary foreign worker program be abolished?
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Temporary foreign workers harvesting celery on a vegetable farm
The increase in the number of temporary immigrants in the country must stop, according to François Legault and Justin Trudeau, who have just announced measures to restrict the recruitment of temporary foreign workers. But should the program be abolished altogether? According to economist Christopher Worswick, interviewed by Alexandre Sirois, the answer is yes. He believes that companies should increase salaries rather than rely on these workers. Daye Diallo, of the Conseil du patronat du Québec, and Charles-Félix Ross, of the Union des producteurs agricoles, instead defend this system, which is essential for certain sectors. Stéphanie Arsenault, a professor at Université Laval, warns against a purely economic approach, recalling that these workers are also people whose families would be affected by its abolition.
Read the column “Should the temporary foreign worker program be abolished?”
At the end of the road
PHOTO CHARLES-FRÉDÉRICK OUELLET, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories, Tuktoyaktuk is a small hamlet experiencing the impacts of climate change.
Opened in 2017, the four-season road linking Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, in the Northwest Territories, is the only one that allows Canadians to access the Arctic Ocean by car. Thousands of visitors now travel there each summer. There, the community is learning to cope with this influx, while hoping to benefit from it. Our collaborator Anne-Marie Provost made the trip accompanied by photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet. From a former residential school for indigenous people transformed into a community greenhouse to a striking testimony on the accelerating erosion, they collected the stories that dot this road.
Read the file ” The Press in the Arctic: at the end of the road »
Political divorce at the federal level
PHOTO CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV, THE CANADIAN PRESS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Thursday
The political divorce between Jagmeet Singh’s NDP and Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party has been acrimonious, with attacks and counter-attacks flying between the two parties since the breakdown of the support agreement that allowed the minority Liberal government to survive easily in the House of Commons. What does this decision mean for Canadian politics? Among other things, it marks the beginning of a countdown to a new campaign that would likely begin in the spring, says Paul Journet. According to Journet, Mr. Singh felt that the gains remaining to be made were limited. And above all, he was beginning to measure the cost of this alliance.
Read the article “Acrimonious political divorce between the NDP and the Liberals”
Read the column “The countdown has begun”