Letters: Rich list, $10M handbag sad reminders of inequalities

Montreal Gazette

16-07-2025

The big headline on the front page of last Saturday's paper screamed: QUEBEC RICH LIST. Another article published that day was about an original Birkin handbag that sold for US$10 million at auction at Sotheby's in Paris.
What happened to the adage 'sharing the wealth'? The other side of the story is homelessness and poverty. I feel sad about this imbalance.
Eleanor Arless, Pointe-Claire
Look beyond LaSalle College
Whatever the details in the conflict between LaSalle College and the Quebec government, the main source of the issue must not be overlooked — Bill 96, which caps the number of students allowed to enrol in English programs in public and private colleges.
Were it not for this law that targets English institutions of higher learning, this contentious situation involving a college founded in 1959 and a government bent on exacting severe punishment in the form of exorbitant fines that threatens the school's existence would not have occurred.
LaSalle College thrives and survives with the presence of international students and provides jobs for hundreds of teachers. Not only is it lamentable that this battle must now be fought in court, but it is deplorable that the government will fight it on the basis of a law that, in my view, is morally offensive.
How many English-speaking students are too many? What will it take to calm the anxieties of the CAQ government over 'too much English' being heard on downtown streets?
The courts may sort out the details of this specific conflict, but it is Bill 96's discriminatory targeting of English-language institutions that needs amending.
Goldie Olszynko, Mile End
CAQ's attacks on education
I'm appealing to the Quebec government to stop its unwelcome policies that serve to minimize the value of education in our province — from the $570 million in cuts to education announced last month to the $30 million penalty that LaSalle College now faces over English-language enrolment.
As concerned citizens, we remind our government representatives that their duty is to foster all possible means to encourage our youth and help them prepare their future through education.
Vivianne M. Silver, Côte-St-Luc
A prescription for health care
Re: ' What does excellence look like in health care? ' (Opinion, July 11)
A thank you to Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg for explaining with great clarity what our health care system should strive for and what it must avoid.
'In health care,' he notes, 'excellence begins with putting the patient at the centre.'
Are Health Minister Christian Dubé and his team listening and taking note?
Ruth Khazzam, Westmount
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