Latest news with #Bill21
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Questerre reports on Quebec Court of Appeal ruling on Bill 21
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR UNITED STATES PERSONS CALGARY, Alberta, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questerre Energy Corporation ('Questerre' or the 'Company') (TSX,OSE:QEC) reported on the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal of Quebec related to Bill 21, An Act ending exploration for petroleum and underground reservoirs and production of petroleum and brine ('Bill 21'). A copy of the ruling in French is available online: Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questerre, commented, 'In its ruling, the Court of Appeal recognized the existence of a serious issue with respect to the constitutionality of Bill 21 and reinstated certain provisions of Bill 21. We will request leave to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. In the interim, we will ask the Court of Appeal to suspend this ruling until such time. This means that subject to our appeal, the Government of Quebec could move to enforce the specific provisions related to the abandonment and reclamation of existing wells." He added, "This ruling by the Court of Appeal has no impact on the main trial on the merits of the case. We are following the legal process for this case and have a hearing this week on the Government representatives to be questioned prior to setting a trial date.' The ruling by the Court of Appeal relates to the appeal by the Attorney General of Quebec of a judgement rendered in January 2024 by the Quebec Superior Court suspending key provisions of Bill 21. A copy of the original ruling is available online: The appeal concerns the analysis of the criteria applicable to the suspension of a law. The Court of Appeal dismissed the joint motion by the Company and other license holders for the review and annulment of the judgement granting the appeal and allowed the appeal. The Court of Appeal noted in its decision that the Justice did not err in law or exercise his discretion in an unjudicial or unreasonable manner in concluding there was a serious question to be decided. The Court of Appeal noted that the Justice erred in law on the balance of convenience test and did not presume that the suspension of Bill 21 would cause irreparable harm to the public interest. The ruling noted that in view of the importance of the public interest and the failure to demonstrate the benefits to the public of suspending key provisions of Bill 21 it allowed the appeal and overturned the Justice's original decision. Questerre is an energy technology and innovation company. It is leveraging its expertise gained through early exposure to low permeability reservoirs to acquire significant high-quality resources. We believe we can successfully transition our energy portfolio. With new clean technologies and innovation to responsibly produce and use energy, we can sustain both human progress and our natural environment. Questerre is a believer that the future success of the oil and gas industry depends on the balance of economics, environment, and society. We are committed to being transparent and are respectful that the public must be part of making the important choices for our energy future. Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information ('forward-looking statements') including the Company's plans to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, its plans to ask the Court of Appeal to suspend the ruling and the impact of this ruling on the main case. Forward-looking statements are based on several material factors, expectations, or assumptions of Questerre which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Questerre believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Questerre can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further, events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, without limitation: the implementation of Bill 21 by the Government of Quebec and certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Questerre's public disclosure documents. Additional information regarding some of these risks, expectations or assumptions and other factors may be found in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other documents available on the Company's profile at The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Questerre undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Questerre Energy Corporation Jason D'Silva, Chief Financial Officer (403) 777-1185 | (403) 777-1578 (FAX) |Email: info@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Questerre reports on Quebec Court of Appeal ruling on Bill 21
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR UNITED STATES PERSONS CALGARY, Alberta, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questerre Energy Corporation ('Questerre' or the 'Company') (TSX,OSE:QEC) reported on the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal of Quebec related to Bill 21, An Act ending exploration for petroleum and underground reservoirs and production of petroleum and brine ('Bill 21'). A copy of the ruling in French is available online: Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questerre, commented, 'In its ruling, the Court of Appeal recognized the existence of a serious issue with respect to the constitutionality of Bill 21 and reinstated certain provisions of Bill 21. We will request leave to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. In the interim, we will ask the Court of Appeal to suspend this ruling until such time. This means that subject to our appeal, the Government of Quebec could move to enforce the specific provisions related to the abandonment and reclamation of existing wells." He added, "This ruling by the Court of Appeal has no impact on the main trial on the merits of the case. We are following the legal process for this case and have a hearing this week on the Government representatives to be questioned prior to setting a trial date.' The ruling by the Court of Appeal relates to the appeal by the Attorney General of Quebec of a judgement rendered in January 2024 by the Quebec Superior Court suspending key provisions of Bill 21. A copy of the original ruling is available online: The appeal concerns the analysis of the criteria applicable to the suspension of a law. The Court of Appeal dismissed the joint motion by the Company and other license holders for the review and annulment of the judgement granting the appeal and allowed the appeal. The Court of Appeal noted in its decision that the Justice did not err in law or exercise his discretion in an unjudicial or unreasonable manner in concluding there was a serious question to be decided. The Court of Appeal noted that the Justice erred in law on the balance of convenience test and did not presume that the suspension of Bill 21 would cause irreparable harm to the public interest. The ruling noted that in view of the importance of the public interest and the failure to demonstrate the benefits to the public of suspending key provisions of Bill 21 it allowed the appeal and overturned the Justice's original decision. Questerre is an energy technology and innovation company. It is leveraging its expertise gained through early exposure to low permeability reservoirs to acquire significant high-quality resources. We believe we can successfully transition our energy portfolio. With new clean technologies and innovation to responsibly produce and use energy, we can sustain both human progress and our natural environment. Questerre is a believer that the future success of the oil and gas industry depends on the balance of economics, environment, and society. We are committed to being transparent and are respectful that the public must be part of making the important choices for our energy future. Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information ('forward-looking statements') including the Company's plans to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, its plans to ask the Court of Appeal to suspend the ruling and the impact of this ruling on the main case. Forward-looking statements are based on several material factors, expectations, or assumptions of Questerre which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Questerre believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Questerre can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further, events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, without limitation: the implementation of Bill 21 by the Government of Quebec and certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Questerre's public disclosure documents. Additional information regarding some of these risks, expectations or assumptions and other factors may be found in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other documents available on the Company's profile at The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Questerre undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Questerre Energy Corporation Jason D'Silva, Chief Financial Officer (403) 777-1185 | (403) 777-1578 (FAX) |Email: info@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Toronto Star
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Saskatchewan firefighter groups concerned over building burn legislation
REGINA - Saskatchewan's legislature has passed a bill that opens the door for local governments to order firefighters to burn down derelict buildings, a move firefighters say they oppose. Bill 21, the Construction Codes (Derelict Buildings) Amendment Act, received royal assent Tuesday. The legislation lays out the framework for a pilot project where volunteer firefighters conduct burns on municipal-owned buildings as part of training exercises.
Montreal Gazette
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec Liberal leadership rivals decry Bill 21 during debate
By Candidates vying for the helm of the Quebec Liberal Party criticized Premier François Legault's secularism policies at a Saturday debate focused on identity, language and immigration. The meeting was the third of six planned debates in the party's five-way leadership race, with perceived front-runner Pablo Rodriguez facing off against Marc Bélanger, Karl Blackburn, Charles Milliard and Mario Roy. Columnist Marie-Ève Doyon moderated the debate. All five contenders spoke out against Bill 21, the Coalition Avenir Québec's controversial secularism law that saw certain public servants barred from wearing religious symbols. The bill's reliance on the notwithstanding clause attracted the strongest ire. 'The notwithstanding clause is used too often. It's like a candy shop and (Justice Minister Simon) Jolin-Barette is a big eater,' Milliard quipped. The line prompted laughter from the audience and candidates, with Rodriguez having to collect himself before taking his turn to speak. Rodriguez didn't offer any direct criticism of the law's policies, instead framing it as a distraction from more pressing issues, such as the deterioration of the health system. 'Bills 21 and 94 are laws that go too far,' said Roy, referring also to a bill that would expand the ban on religious symbols further across the education sector, including to janitors, cafeteria workers and volunteers in school libraries. 'We couldn't have a more intolerant government' than Legault's, Bélanger said. 'It's religious discourse that has to be banned' among civil servants, he said, 'not religious symbols.' Doyon asked the candidates whether they would renew the notwithstanding clause on Bill 21, which must be done every five years for it to stay in place. Milliard, Roy and Blackburn all said they wouldn't, while Bélanger and Rodriguez didn't specify their positions. Candidates were also asked about Legault's proposal to bar prayer in public spaces, a proposal the premier has admitted might require the notwithstanding clause to enforce. 'It's another distraction,' Milliard said. 'We need a society where we respect people's freedom of conscience.' 'I'm at the end of my rope,' he added. 'It's not often that I'm driving, having to steer around people who are praying in the streets,' Rodriguez said. 'It's not something you see on every corner.' 'Legault is battling a fake problem to divert attention.' Roy said Legault's secularism policies point to a need for a Quebec constitution, which he said would be an 'opportunity to protect the rights and liberties of everyone.' While the other candidates don't oppose the idea, Roy is the only one who has said he would make it a priority. International students 'anglicizing the job market': Bélanger The candidates were adamant the CAQ and the Parti Québécois don't hold a monopoly over protecting the French language. Bélanger came out of the gate with a proposal to refuse work permits to international students in Montreal who don't speak French, accusing them of 'anglicizing the job market.' Other candidates said they would bolster francization funding. 'When someone knocks on the door of a French course, I want the door to open and for there to be a teacher on the other side,' Milliard said. 'French is in decline in some areas,' and has to be protected, he said. Rodriguez criticized the CAQ for its handling of francization, which has included cuts to courses and layoffs of teachers. He, too, said the French language was under threat in Quebec and called it 'the most beautiful language in the world.' Roy agreed French should be protected, but said protection measures shouldn't be taken 'against others, but with others,' promising to work with universities to improve French-language education. Blackburn said French should be seen as an asset for economic growth, pointing to demographic trends that predict a growing francophone population worldwide. 'Change the tone' on immigration: Rodriguez 'We have to change the tone' on immigration, Rodriguez said, accusing Legault of framing immigrants as a threat. 'I'm not a threat,' said Rodriguez, who immigrated to Quebec as a child. Still, he said 'a step back' was needed on immigration so necessary levels could be determined. Milliard also took a shot at the CAQ, accusing the party of 'dividing people' with immigration politics, adding he would look at the capacity of each region to take in immigrants. 'We're not responding to the promise' immigrants should expect, he said, pointing to shortfalls in housing and other services. Quebec is experiencing a labour shortage, Blackburn said, meaning companies 'need workers coming through immigration.' But he called for a fairer distribution of asylum seekers and refugees across the country, saying Quebec should take in a proportion equivalent to its overall share of the population. 'We absolutely should take in foreign workers,' Roy said, calling for an immigration system that is 'controlled and planned for the long term.' Bélanger called for Quebec to reduce the number of immigrants it takes in based on 'cold and objective' calculations. Rodriguez remains target of attacks Though the debate, like the last two, remained civil, Rodriguez still got the front-runner treatment. The former federal cabinet minister was reminded more than once of his past gig. Roy at one point interrupted his call for better cooperation with Ottawa on francization, saying 'you were in the federal government.' The next debate is planned for May 22 in Laval and will focus on public services.
Epoch Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
You Don't Belong: Quebec's Exclusionary ‘Citizenship' Agenda
Commentary The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) first won a majority government based partly on its promise not to hold another referendum on Quebec independence. But it has been engaging in nation-building all the same, using law-craft to steadily implement a monolithic concept of what it means to be a Quebecer—one that insists on the absolute primacy of the French language and is both anti-religious and exclusionary at its core. It promises to do enormous damage to anyone who doesn't meet the CAQ's strict definition. Avenir means 'future' and the future of Quebec, as envisioned by Premier François Legault and his government, rests upon three pillars: language, laïcité—that is, secularism—and a common national identity that rests upon those first two. Quebec's latest effort to defend its distinct identity is Bill 84, An Act Respecting National Integration, tabled by the province's Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge in January. The proposed law Bill 84 has come after two controversial CAQ-sponsored laws that address the pillars of language and laïcité: Bill 21, An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State, the so-called 'secularism' law, was passed in 2019 and, three years later, a massive amendment to the Charter of the French Language, Bill 96, was adopted. Both laws invoke the 'notwithstanding' clause in section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the legislation—and the Quebec nation as conceived by the current provincial government—from judicial review. Related Stories 4/24/2025 4/23/2025 Bill 21 bars public-sector workers, including teachers, from wearing any religious symbols at work. It has been challenged on multiple grounds in the provincial courts and in January, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear an appeal despite the invocation of the notwithstanding clause. Arguments are likely to be scheduled sometime within the year. The watchword of all secularism projects is 'neutrality,' but Quebec secularism in its current form is not neutral. Rather, it is biased against religious institutions and people of faith. This essentially atheistic, socially progressive (i.e., left-wing) laïcité is not only the province's new modus operandi but is being placed at the centre of the proposed 'common culture' that all Quebecers must adopt to merit social inclusion. As Bill 84 puts it: 'The common culture to which all are called upon to adhere and to contribute, is characterized in particular by the French language, the civil law tradition, specific institutions, distinct social values, a specific history, and the importance given to equality between women and men, to the laicity of the State and to the protection of Québec's only official and common language.' The 'distinct social values' to which the bill refers are not elaborated but were perhaps best articulated by former Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée. In a 2021 article in Le Devoir, Lisée went further, connecting secularism to a broader progressive agenda, one that would allow Quebecers to achieve 'independence from religion' and implement left-wing policies on 'abortion, gay marriage, end-of-life issues' and others. The CAQ government has taken the tack that Lisée suggests, implementing a form of secularism that is not a simple separation of church and state but entails the removal of people of faith from civic participation and the conflation of a purported secularism with the leftist social values favoured by the Quebec state. In 2023, to take just one example, an evangelical Christian organization planning a 'Faith Fire Freedom Rally' learned its contract with the intended venue, Centre des Congrés du Québec, a facility owned by the Quebec government, had been The government's stated rationale was the church group's opposition to abortion (even though rally organizers such as Pastor Art Lucier had said the event would not be about abortion at all, but 'about reconciliation, worship and fellowship'). No matter. As Legault stated bluntly: 'We're not going to allow anti-abortion groups to put on big shows in public places.' And Legault meant it, as subsequent government actions demonstrated. Then in October 2024, Legault told reporters he had instructed his team to look for ways to ban praying in public—and had not ruled out use of the notwithstanding clause to achieve that goal, too. In March, Roberge announced a new government committee to investigate how to further strengthen secularism in the province, repeating the idea of banning public prayer and adding that the new committee would also 'document the phenomenon of infiltration of religious influences.' The federal election has provided a glimpse into yet another possible expansion of Quebec's brand of secularism. Whereas in the 2019 election, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said that Bill 21 was a provincial matter that should not be part of the national conversation, now Blanchet says its ban on religious symbols should be extended to federal workers in the province. 'We've reached the point where we must defend, promote and put forward the value of the separation of church and state as two things that are not only different but fundamentally incompatible,' said Blanchet. The new Quebec values of an atheistic, hardline secularism and a national project and definition of Quebec citizenship founded on a difficult-to-access, narrowly-defined common culture will have the inevitable effect of placing further distance between the 'two solitudes' of Canada. Anna Farrow is a Montreal-based journalist for The Catholic Register. The original, Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
