Postponed transactions
More than 160,000 Quebecers are currently waiting for surgery, including 21,066 for more than a year (figures from mid-December). As we know, a good part of the delays were caused by the load shedding carried out during the pandemic. Unfortunately, the shortage of manpower and the overflow of emergencies prevent us from getting into catch-up mode. “During the last year, the level of surgical activities at the national level has remained between 83% and 95%”, says the Ministry of Health. Hospitals often fail to open all of their operating rooms due to lack of employees. Private clinics are called upon, but Quebec has no specific objective to return to the pre-pandemic situation, contenting itself with affirming that it wants to reach it “as quickly as possible”.
Philip Mercury
The Eastern REM, take 2
Oh yes, of course, the REM de l’Est caused a lot of ink to flow in 2022. We had to denounce this high-rise train project that would have disfigured downtown Montreal. A project that Quebec had launched upside down, without evaluating all the options, without providing a solid financial package. Its retirement, last May, was therefore excellent news. Except that the East still needs public transport. Quebec and the City of Montreal are working on a new project with the Regional Metropolitan Transport Agency (ARTM), which feels the impatience rising. Let’s take the time to think carefully before launching a new version of the REM de l’Est. But, please, let’s not follow the same path as the extension of the blue line, which has been advancing at a snail’s pace for 40 years.
Stephanie Grammond
School delays
We suspected it, it’s confirmed: schools closed during the pandemic and distance learning courses have had an impact on students in Quebec, and they are obviously not positive. In 2022, students in 5e secondary were less likely to pass their French test than before the pandemic. Success rates in mathematics and science have also declined. To make matters worse, another phenomenon threatens our students: the attractiveness of work resulting from the shortage of manpower. Labor Minister Jean Boulet reacted promptly by announcing a bill for next year. Cheer ! We have to be careful: Quebec simply cannot afford to see its dropout rate increase.
Philip Mercury
The reform of the voting system
Okay, we talked about it this fall when the CAQ won 72% of the seats (90 seats out of 125) with 41% of the votes in the Quebec elections. Then, the issue was unfortunately relegated to oblivion, for the same reason as every time we have this debate: the party in power does not want to change the rules that allowed it to form the government. François Legault claims that the reform of the ballot only interests “a few intellectuals”, but according to a Léger poll, 53% of Quebecers are in favor of such a reform, against 27% who do not want it. These “53% of intellectuals” must come out stronger between two elections to prevent the subject from falling into oblivion again. It’s too important.
Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot
French in New Brunswick
We are quite right in Quebec to be concerned about the precariousness of French within our borders. But we should also be more concerned about the fate of Molière’s language elsewhere in Canada. And especially in New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province in the country, where Premier Blaine Higgs is currently making life difficult for Francophones. We don’t have enough space here to summarize everything he has said and done that demonstrates that he doesn’t care about the survival of French. It should be noted that he named, on the committee which must revise the Official Languages Act of the province, a minister who denigrates linguistic duality. There is no possible doubt: New Brunswick francophones urgently need support.
Alexandre Sirois
The rise of anti-Semitism
There is the word in A and the word in B: anti-Semitism and trivialization. We would like the one and the other never to be pronounced together. However, what we have seen in recent years is that hatred towards Jews is increasingly common and increasingly normalized. We only have to look at what is happening on social networks to be convinced. Rapper Kanye West is far from alone in displaying his anti-Semitism with pride. And it’s not just virtual. Antisemitic acts are on the rise, especially in Canada and the United States. In the country of Joe Biden, last October, 24% of Jews said they had been victims of anti-Semitism during the year. We must speak of this troubling drift. And stop trivializing it.
Alexandre Sirois