Quebec urged to reconsider $30M fine against college over English-language enrolment
An association representing private subsidized colleges says LaSalle College risks 'irreversible consequences' if the provincial government won't change its position.
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Toronto Sun
9 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Greece to create new marine reserves to protect underwater wildlife
The new protected areas will be in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Photo by Handout / Under the Pole/AFP ATHENS — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his government was creating two new protected marine areas, fulfilling a promise he made at a United Nations conference on the oceans in June. 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 The new protected areas — in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea — would be 'among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean', he said in a video message in English. The prime minister said that the 'hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling' by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation. Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect. Mitsotakis said that he had 'made a promise to honour (Greece's) unique marine heritage' at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, 'and to protect it for generations to come'. 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. 'Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks… because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future.' Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometres (8,450 miles) of coastline and hundreds of islands. Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife. Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves 'will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of our territorial waters by 2030'. He said that the government would work with 'local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners (to) make these parks examples of what is possible'. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife. Neighbouring Turkey, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticizing such 'unilateral action'. 'International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues,' the foreign ministry in Ankara said. It said that Turkey was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas. Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions. Mitsotakis said that 'Ocean', a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves. 'Ocean', which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasizes the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet. Mitsotakis said 'Ocean' showed that the sea was 'not just beautiful scenery'. 'It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat.' Toronto & GTA Uncategorized Football Canada Editorial Cartoons
Montreal Gazette
13 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Hanes: Respect is a one-way street for Education minister
By Education Minister Bernard Drainville has been on a mission lately to instil civility in Quebec's classrooms. Starting this fall, students will be obligated to use the formal 'vous' to address adults at school, while smartphones will be banned outright to eliminate distractions. Despite these efforts to command respect from young people toward their teachers, he's failed to show much of it himself. In fact, Drainville's latest manoeuvres show outright contempt toward those running and working in Quebec's public school system, in both word and deed. Deep cuts to education were announced on the cusp of the summer holidays, catching administrators off guard. About $570 million was slashed after plans for the coming year were already set in motion, sending educators scrambling to review staffing and squeeze resources before classes resume in the fall. The last-minute timing of the reductions was disrespectful to begin with, but their scope was the real blow. Outraged teachers, union leaders and parents warned crucial services would be lost and the most vulnerable students would suffer. If Drainville was hoping the umbrage would die down over the summer, he was wrong. More than 157,000 Quebecers signed a petition spearheaded by Parti Québecois education critic Pascal Bérubé. And many took to the streets in protest. Drainville's initial response to widespread concern was to insist the government wasn't actually cutting the education budget, but rather limiting projected increases after years of budget growth. While technically true (education spending has been rising by about 7 per cent annually in recent years and the government belatedly decided to keep it to 2 per cent), the effects would, nevertheless, be devastating. Schools would have to lay off staff, shelve tutoring sessions, cancel lunch programs, or reduce pedagogical supports for the students who need it most. Attempts to dismiss the alarm came off as gaslighting. But it's when the government reversed most of the cuts that the real disdain emerged. Last week, Drainville came up with a 'new envelope' of $540 million to offset the previously announced budget compressions. But rather than just retracting what was previously announced, he attached strings to the money and lectured administrators about fiscal responsibility. 'Let's be clear: this is not an open bar,' the minister warned in a Facebook post. 'Accountability will be required.' To access some of the funding, each English school board and French service centre will have to jump through hoops. 'Of the $540 million announced today, $425 million will be in a dedicated envelope,' Drainville said. 'In order to access it, each CSS should demonstrate they've made efforts to diminish their administrative expenses and commit to using the money solely for student services.' The minister didn't bother to offer any examples of what 'administrative expenses' service centres and school boards are supposedly wasting money on. Instead, he made it sound as they were planning to throw parties with public funds. In reality, most principals, teachers, classroom aides, behavioural specialists, psychologists and speech pathologists probably buy supplies or snacks for their classrooms out of their own pockets. The 'open bar' remark was gratuitous. Worse, is Drainville's comments suggest he doesn't get these dedicated professionals are the ones who provide the services to students he has suddenly realized are so critical. This, after all, is what the entire education sector was trying to tell him when he announced the budget cuts at the start of the summer. Now, after weeks of 'consultation' (more like backlash) 'he's heard the worries and the needs.' It's as if he's throwing warnings back in educators' faces. He could have just stuck with 'You spoke and we heard you.' Drainville could have used the recent financial results showing Quebec went $3-billion less in the red last year than previously projected to justify a political climbdown, but he went with arrogance and haughtiness. 'We're choosing education, we're choosing students — without sacrificing sound management,' he declared, once again getting a dig in at school staff. Education budgets have been climbing since the Coalition Avenir Québec was elected in 2018 — 55 per cent, in fact. But that was after a period of Liberal austerity. And after many of the province's teachers went on strike in late 2023 to demand support so they can help their students learn. Education should be spared from belt-tightening as much as possible. It's an investment in the next generation. This one-step-forward-two-steps-back routine of adding money and then taking it away, then putting it back again is more than short-sighted. It's destabilizing for public schools. Hiring and then letting support staff go only exacerbates the teacher shortage. Premier François Legault has repeatedly claimed education is one of his priorities. But his government doesn't always act like it and his Education minister sure doesn't sound like it. When asked in 2023 why elected Members of the National Assembly deserved a 30-per-cent pay hike, but not teachers, he responded snarkily: 'Are you really comparing the job of being a teacher to being an MNA?' There's nothing wrong with schools establishing expectations for respect, but it should start with the Education minister.
Montreal Gazette
3 days ago
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec language watchdog targets barber for ‘too much English' — on sign, website, even Instagram
When Jesse Padulo opened The Corner Shop barber business in Montreal's St-Léonard neighbourhood, he never imagined his biggest challenge would be Quebec's language watchdog. 'I've been open a year,' he said. 'Six months in, the watchdogs came.' Since then, the 42-year-old father of six says he's been hounded by the language office over everything from his store signage to his online presence. He's taken down his website, removed his 'open' sign and started adding French subtitles to his Instagram posts, all in an effort to comply with demands he says keep changing. At the heart of the dispute is Bill 96, Quebec's sweeping language law passed in 2022. It gives the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) expanded powers to ensure businesses prioritize French. 'They said my shop was too much English. I said: 'OK, no problem. So what do we do?' They told me to contact them. I think it was March. I said: 'I don't work for you. I'm not going to contact you. Contact me. I'm running a business.' And they never contacted me,' Padulo said. 'Then I got two more letters saying my website had too much English, so I shut it down. Then they sent me another letter saying I'm too loud on Instagram with my English. Since when do you have jurisdiction over a public platform? 'They didn't really know how to answer me,' he added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pads the barber (@the__pad) But Padulo believes the complaints began shortly after he started speaking openly about his Christian faith online. A devout Christian, he named the shop in reference to the Bible's 'cornerstone.' 'The cornerstone in the Bible was the stone of the community. We're a community barber that we're trying to teach kids how to barber, about the Lord, you know, good values — and that's where the name came from,' he said. 'We're not even on a corner,' he added. Now, Padulo says he feels stuck after being told he must change the sign out front. That would cost him about $4,000 — money he says he doesn't have. But if he doesn't, he could face fines of up to $30,000 per day, which would force him to close the store. His sign already includes French, but Padulo says the OQLF told him that wasn't enough. 'They said the French has to be bigger than the English.' He points out all his customers are English-speaking, making the changes feel forced and out of touch with the reality of his business. He's planning to launch a GoFundMe campaign this week to help cover the costs. 'People know me here,' he said. 'The community supports me. What I don't get is why I'm being punished for serving the people who actually come through the door.' Padulo has a phone call scheduled with the OQLF this afternoon. 'I'm not expecting good news,' he said. 'I'm not the problem,' he said. 'I just want to run a business, not fight a government.' The OQLF did not respond to The Gazette's request for comment before publication time. But in a statement to CTV News, the watchdog said that online videos must be in French, adding: 'They may also be in other languages, provided that they are accessible in French under conditions that are at least as favourable.' This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 4:40 PM.
