Quebec teachers' federation calls for Bernard Drainville to step down as education minister
Quebec imposed a hiring freeze in the public education sector as of Nov. 1 due to its tight financial situation. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
The Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) is demanding that Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville step down, calling the $570 million cuts in education 'the last straw.'
'This is the worst end of year we could have imagined,' said FAE President Mélanie Hubert. 'We are only just beginning to grasp the scale of the cuts, the consequences of which are already proving disastrous for students, young people and adults, as well as for public schools.'
She argues the FAE no longer believes Drainville is fit to lead the education ministry, calling the cuts 'improvised, incidental and pointless' and an 'attack on the teaching profession.'
'Despite repeated warnings from everyone working in education, he persisted in centralizing management that is out of touch with educational issues,' the FAE stated in a press release issued Monday, pointing out that there is a 'glaring shortage of staff, difficult working conditions and crumbling buildings.'
Additionally, it adds that one in three students lives with learning difficulties, and schools are increasingly welcoming a growing number of allophones.
'The most precious thing about Quebec, and what the [François] Legault government must invest in, is not motorways and battery factories. It's our children and their future,' said Hubert. 'Minister Drainville's credibility has been tarnished, and it's time for Premier François Legault to appoint someone who listens to and respects the education community.'
The federation insists the public school network is already in crisis and is accusing Drainville of slashing more than $1 billion in the sector, imposing a debilitating hiring freeze, allowing people to obtain a teaching licence without having ever taken a course and dismantling francization services for adult education.
The federation also criticizes the Quebec government for centralizing power, 'undermining several fundamental rights of teachers,' duplicating existing mechanisms and adding a layer of bureaucracy, 'instead of listening to the players on the ground.'
The FAE insists that it will spend the summer documenting each cut 'to paint a true picture when the summer holidays return,' as the full scope of how the sector could be affected may not be seen until the start of the new school year.
'Teachers, students and their parents will spend the summer worrying and wondering what services they will have access to next year,' she said. 'The minister has admitted that there could be a breakdown in services, which is indecent and inexplicable.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Sheryl Saperia: Canada failed to learn the lessons of the Air India bombing
Article content Among the alleged would-be attackers was Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, who immigrated to Canada and was granted citizenship despite previously appearing in an ISIS beheading video. Together with his adult son, Eldidi was intercepted by police 'in the advanced stages' of an attack plot and in possession of a machete and an axe. Article content In another incident, police intercepted Muhammad Shahzeb Khan as he was en route from Toronto to New York City, where he allegedly planned to 'kill as many Jewish civilians as possible.' A Pakistani citizen, Khan was here on a student visa and had even applied for refugee status. Article content 'Today we were unlucky, but remember we have only to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always,' wrote the Irish Republican Army's leadership, after failing to murder Margaret Thatcher in the Brighton hotel bombing. This is the insidious calculus that terrorists make. Article content Four decades after the Air India tragedy, remembrance should go hand-in-hand with resolve to prevent future acts of terror. Article content Yet, just as Canada catastrophically ignored and enabled the predations of Khalistani extremists who were explicit about their murderous intentions 40 years ago, Canada's civic institutions have withered once again, this time in the face of Canadians shouting their support, admiration and ideological fealty for the genocidal intentions of Hamas and the Iranian regime. Article content While ideological terror is often defined by its moral clarity and political audacity, Canadian leaders too often respond with ambiguity and temerity. Article content Today, Canada's anemic response to its newfound stature as an importer, exporter and hub of violent extremism and antisemitism betrays the same latticework of systemic failures that were laid bare in the wreckage of Flight 182 in 1985. Article content Our immigration laws, security protocols, Criminal Code provisions and frameworks for supporting victims — including those who are injured or killed outside of Canada — all demand an immediate overhaul. Terrorism usually does not begin with an explosion or a bullet; it gestates within gaps in the systems it seeks to exploit. Article content Article content The 40-year breach between Canada's worst terrorist attack and the broad policy recalibration that Canada has yet to undertake has created ideal conditions for a cascade of epic proportions, which, given the new technologies available to terrorists, could irreparably alter Canada's security landscape and social cohesion. Article content Those whose lives have been devastated by terrorism have not only earned our sympathy, but our admiration for their resilience. The victims and their families have been leading the charge in advocating for systemic changes that, once adopted by our federal government, will help keep all Canadians safe. Article content Article content
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Prime Minister Mark Carney visits military cemetery in Brussels ahead of EU-Canada summit
Published Jun 23, 2025 • 3 minute read Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) and his wife Diana Fox Carney (2nd R) attend a wreath laying during a visit to the Schoonselhof cemetery, on the sidelines of an EU-Canada summit, in Antwerp, on June 23, 2025. Photo by JASPER JACOBS / AFP BRUSSELS — Prime Minister Mark Carney began official events for his four-day trip to Europe Monday by visiting a military cemetery in Belgium before a meeting with European counterparts at the EU-Canada summit. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Carney said on social media Sunday he was in Brussels to launch 'a new era of partnership' between Canada and the European Union to benefit workers, businesses and security 'on both sides of the Atlantic.' Carney started the day with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. Carney toured the cemetery alongside his wife, Diana Fox Carney, and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Carney also took part in a wreath-laying ceremony with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and National Defence Minister David McGuinty. Stephane Dion, special envoy to the European Union and Europe, also attended. Carney is expected to meet later Monday with De Wever, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the EU-Canada summit, Anand and McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the European bloc — an agreement one European official described last week as one of the most ambitious deals the continent's powers have ever signed with a third country. The security and defence agreement opens the door to joint purchases of weapons with European countries and participation in the ReArm Europe initiative — which will allow Canada to access a 150-billion-euro program for defence procurement called Security Action for Europe. Canada will need to sign a second agreement with the European Commission before it can take part in the program. A government official briefing reporters on the trip said the partnership is expected to make procurement easier and more affordable, while also allowing Canada to diversify its sources of equipment. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the EU-Canada summit, leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement pressing Russia to end its war on Ukraine through measures like further sanctions, and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The joint statement is also expected to touch on climate change, trade and digital and tech policy. De Wever said Canada's partnership with the EU is critical now because 'we've woken up in a world that doesn't look that friendly anymore.' 'We're living in a world where we have an imperialist power in the east who uses military force, we have a peculiar figure in the White House who is choosing the road of protectionism and even isolationism. So those who like a rules-based world, a multilateral world, should find each other's company now,' the Belgian prime minister said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. De Wever said allies will need to spend more on defence and should do so wisely by developing their industrial defence bases together. 'Those countries who still like multilateralism are the countries that have to look up each other's company and make good agreements,' he said. Carney posted on social media early Monday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump overnight. He said the conversation addressed the need to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East. Carney said he and Trump also spoke about trade and their shared commitment to a stronger NATO. Carney has called for a 'diplomatic solution' in the wake of U.S. strikes on three key nuclear facilities in Iran. In a statement Sunday, Carney called Iran's nuclear program a 'grave threat' to international security and said Canada has been 'consistently clear' that Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Speaking to reporters Monday, De Wever said he had no sympathy for the 'evil' Iranian regime and called the country a 'big sponsor of terrorism.' De Wever said that while there should be regime change in Iran, it would be preferable if it came through a democratic process and not one that 'starts with bombing.' Leaders at the EU-Canada summit are also expected to discuss global trade and commit to working toward ratifying and implementing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Canada-Europe free trade deal known as CETA. The pact took effect provisionally in 2017, and most of its contents now apply. But all EU countries need to approve CETA before it can take full effect; 10 members still haven't ratified the deal. Carney, Costa and von der Leyen are scheduled to hold a joint press conference Monday evening. On Tuesday, Carney travels to The Hague for the NATO summit. The international meetings come as Canada looks to reduce its defence procurement reliance on the United States due to strained relations over tariffs and Trump's repeated talk about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls MLB
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Windsor city councillor submits resignation for new role
A member of the Windsor City Council has submitted his resignation as he is moving into a new role leading the area's community housing organization. Ward 2 councillor Fabio Costante submitted his resignation to the city clerk Sunday evening after being hired as the new chief executive officer of the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation. Costante's resignation from the council will be effective June 26 as he moves into his new role effective July 7. He says he is resigning from council because it won't be possible to do both jobs to the fullest extent, and it was something the CHC also requested. 'There's so much overlap between the two bodies,' says Costante. 'There are so many housing issues that come before the council that I'd have to declare a conflict on. There's just operational fuzziness that would create issues.' The next municipal election is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, which means city council will have to decide on how to fill the Ward 2 seat following Costante's resignation. Costante was first elected to city council in 2018, representing West Windsor, and then re-elected in 2022, and during that time served on many committees and boards, which included the Windsor Essex County Housing Corporation and as chair of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. He says he felt strongly that he could do more for the community in this new role as we're amid a housing crisis. 'I look at this as not stepping away; actually, I look at it differently,' says Costante. 'I look at it as diving deeper into community service and community service that is specifically focused on the biggest issue that we face unequivocally as a community today.' According to the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation's website, it is the largest social housing provider in Windsor and Essex County and the fifth largest in Ontario, offering over 4,900 homes to seniors, families, and singles in need of affordable housing. Costante says he's proud of several accomplishments during his time serving Ward 2, including the $20 million University Avenue road improvement project, ongoing investments and upgrades to the Adie Knox Arena complex, road reconstruction and streetscaping work in Sandwich Town, along with several bylaw and policy items he was involved with advocating for, including the vacant home tax and improvements to the dirty yards bylaws to crack down on negligent and absentee landlords. Costante says he can't thank the mayor and his fellow councillors enough for all the work they did together over the past six and a half years. 'I feel like I am and felt like I was part of the most amazing, hard-working community. Not just in our region but across the province. The west side-this is our cliché-the west side is the best side. It always was and always will be,' he says. According to a release issued Monday by the CHC, the hiring comes after a months-long recruitment and evaluation effort and the final candidates were independently assessed by Vokes Leadership Group, combined with input from the CHC board members, community partners, and oversight of external legal counsel, ensuring the appointment of the most qualified leader to guide CHC into its next chapter. Joyce Zuk, Executive Director of the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team and member of CHC's Selection Committee, says, 'the Selection Committee undertook a rigorous and thoughtful process to select the new CEO. We were fortunate to meet with an exceptional group of candidates, each bringing unique strengths. Fabio stood out as the clear choice-a leader whose vision, experience, and integrity make him exceptionally well-suited to guide CHC into its next chapter.' Joe Bachetti, chair of CHC's board of directors and deputy warden for the County of Essex, says, 'Mr. Costante's appointment comes at a pivotal time in CHC's history. CHC's Board of Directors is confident that under Mr. Costante's leadership, CHC will effectively tackle the hurdles posed by the national housing crisis, advancing CHC's mission with purpose and integrity.' Nolan Goyette has been serving as interim chief executive officer of CHC since June 2024. ~ By Rusty Thomson, AM800 News.
