Latest news with #Bill84
Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec adopts immigrant integration bill with model ‘distinct from Canadian multiculturalism'
Quebec Politics QUEBEC — Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge conceded Wednesday that Quebec's new immigration integration law may discourage some people from wanting to move to the province. Immigrants scouting countries should be aware that if they choose to come to Quebec, they cannot expect to find the same multiculturalism model that exists in other provinces, Roberge said. That system, he said, has been relegated to the 'limbo of history where it belongs' with the adoption Wednesday of Bill 84, an act respecting national integration. The legislation was voted into law by a vote of 86 to 27, with the Liberals and Québec solidaire opposition parties voting against it. Presented in January, the law obliges the state, its ministries, cities, schools and even community organizations staging festivals that receive public financial assistance to participate fully in the integration of new arrivals. For their part, immigrants are expected to respect a social contract between them and Quebec — to adhere to and respect Quebec's democratic values, to have a knowledge of Quebec and learn the French language if they have not mastered it on arrival. The law states French is the official and common language of integration, Quebec culture is the common culture, women and men are equal, and Quebec is a secular state. 'I can't say how (immigrants) will react,' Roberge said at a news conference after the vote. 'We are changing the contract; we are changing the way we explain our way of life here. 'Maybe some people who never thought about living in Quebec will say, 'Wow, I want to go there, I want to go to Quebec because it reflects my values.' 'Some people may say the exact opposite, that this doesn't fit with me. 'Do I really want to come to Quebec? I have no intention of learning French, I have no interest in learning about a distinct culture.' We'll see.' Roberge refuted accusations levelled by some groups that appeared during hearings into the bill that the exercise is designed to assimilate the cultural identity of new arrivals. Quebec welcomes about 50,000 immigrants every year. 'This is not an assimilationist bill because we say Quebec's culture is our common culture, we are proud of that and we want people to adhere,' Roberge said. 'But we want them to contribute. This word is very important. We want newcomers, everyone in Quebec, to contribute. 'We don't want to just assimilate them and forget who they are. We want them to bring something new. This is a huge part of what it is to be a Quebecer. Quebecers are open-minded.' Immediately after the adoption of the law, Roberge presented a separate motion in the legislature stating Quebec possesses its own model of national integration that favours cohesion and 'opposes isolationism and communitarianism.' It adds that Quebec 'affirms its national model of integration is distinct from Canadian multiculturalism.' The motion was adopted unanimously. The bill was amended along the way during the clause-by-clause examination process by legislators. It still says Quebec culture is the common culture, but that culture is no longer the 'crucible' that enables all Quebecers to form a united nation. It now says Quebec culture is the 'base on which all Quebecers build a united nation.' Another amendment expands the list of organizations the policy applies to. Initially it was government ministries, municipalities, state agencies and professional orders. Added now are colleges, private schools receiving public funds, universities and public daycares. Under the terms of the law, all now become 'engines' in the welcoming and integration process, Roberge said. 'We're changing the narrative. We're changing the social contract,' he said. 'We are returning Canadian multiculturalism where it should have stayed — that is to say, in the limbo of history. It is a model that has always been harmful to Quebec.' Roberge said the details of how the rules will be applied in those institutions will be spelled out in a new integration policy book the government will present within 18 months after consultations. Another clause that would allow the government to withdraw funding to groups organizing festivals that don't respect the integration rules remains, but it's worded differently. It now says an organization that wants to obtain financing for a festival must ensure its request is 'compatible with national integration and its foundation.' 'No organization will see its current funding cut in the middle of the year, but once we will have clarified things, then the articles will be enacted,' Roberge said. There remains only one reference to respecting the institutions of the English-speaking community, and it is in the preamble of the bill. In February, Roberge tangled with Quebec English School Boards Association president Joe Ortona over that decision. Ortona called on the CAQ to give formal recognition to the distinct culture of Quebec's English-speaking community, but Roberge made no changes to the final legislation in that regard. Roberge said he was puzzled by the Liberal and QS opposition to the bill, noting the two parties co-operated in the legislative process. Quebec's Liberals adopted their own policy last October favouring interculturalism, which is the basis of Bill 84. 'I don't understand,' Roberge said. 'They are against the law but were in favour of the motion. It's worse than the mystery of the Caramilk bar.' This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM.
Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Drimonis: CAQ's vision of integration looks disconnected from reality
As part of the Coalition Avenir Québec's ever-growing list of policies aimed at dictating how new Quebecers should act, live and look, a new bill has been added to the mix. Bill 84 — ' an act respecting national integration ' — aims to define a Quebec integration model the government says will be 'distinct from Canadian multiculturalism.' While announcing the bill, Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister Jean-François Roberge gleefully stated multiculturalism has been relegated to the 'limbo of history.' All I can say is: Good luck with that. While it's true that multiculturalism — a policy enshrined in federal legislation in 1988 — is seen by some Quebecers as malicious and aiming to undermine the majority culture and the French language, it's ultimately also a sociological reality. Multiculturalism is the organic byproduct of a pluralistic society that contains multiple languages, ethnicities, faiths and cultures. You cannot have a country or province actively benefiting from immigration for centuries without naturally evolving into a place where a multitude of differences coexist. Neither can you have language policy actively forcing newcomers to send their kids to French school and then be blindsided when these now-French-speaking 'neo-Quebecers' also start influencing the province's majority culture with elements of theirs. One quick look at Montreal and so much of what makes it shine is precisely its diversity and plurality. We didn't become one of the most exciting cities in North America by dimming our light, by making ourselves identical, by intentionally stifling our creative, culinary and cultural differences and artificially removing what makes us different to appease an enforced vision of homogeneity. While the CAQ says Bill 84 was 'inspired by interculturalism,' that concept — like multiculturalism — allows room for a society where different cultures feel welcome to coexist and thrive. Does Roberge expect us to believe that is the intent of this bill or any other it has advanced relating to language, education and secularism? Or do the actions of this government point to a majority culture to which all others must conform? To be fair, the goal of a 'common society' isn't unique to Quebec. Setting aside questions of language, what the CAQ touts as 'Quebec values' are pretty much the same across Canada: respect for human rights, gender equality and adherence to the law. So while immigrants might be expected to retain markers of their culture, there's an equal expectation that they try to integrate and participate fully in Canadian society. In the end, immigrants' behaviour won't be dictated by some federal model of multiculturalism — and neither will it be defined by the CAQ's attempts to assimilate or remove elements of other cultures and languages. Maybe this government lacks a basic understanding of human psychology and behaviour. The overwhelming majority of immigrants — regardless of where they come from — work hard to integrate. But it's only natural that they also might continue to value and safeguard their mother tongue, culture and traditions. Just like a francophone Quebecer would if they were to emigrate elsewhere. You wouldn't amputate fundamental parts of who you are the minute you cross a border; to expect others to do so is not only absurd, it's also unworkable. Sure, the CAQ can make good on vaguely worded threats to withhold funding from cultural events that fall short of what the Quebec government deems such events should look like. But that won't stop newcomers with a plurality of identities from including other languages, cultures and traditions in their evolving version of what it means to be a Quebecer. A recent headline on the satire site The Beaverton says it all: 'Quebec passes bill requiring immigrants to not be different.' You know it's bad when satire starts to look like reality.
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.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama bills aim to allow ALFA to offer health plans to farmers
ALABAMA (WHNT) — Two Alabama bills aim to allow farmers the ability to get their health insurance directly through nonprofit agricultural organizations like ALFA. Alabama lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 84 and House Bill 477. If passed, they would expand health insurance options for farmers across the state. Sink or save? Group starts petition to fight against SS United States from becoming artificial reef State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) said he introduced SB84 in February. Many farmers like Marshall County's Hunter Tolleson have voiced their support for the bill on social media. Tolleson runs Grown by Grace Farms and said since he and his wife both work on the farm, her having to get another job for insurance puts a strain on labor. 'My wife does a lot more on the farm than you would imagine, being that it's just me and her, I do a lot of the manual labor but hey she can keep right up with me but like I said she works off the farm, saves our tail though,' Tolleson said. If the couple were able to get insurance through the farm, Tolleson said it would change their dynamics. 'At first she would still need to work a little bit, just for you know saving up money for farm improvements,' Tolleson said. 'But, in the future, she could possibly come home but without that kind of health insurance you know it wouldn't be an option at all.' Both bills have a ways to go on their respective sides of the Alabama legislature before they could head to Governor Ivey's desk to be signed into law. Tolleson said if this bill were to pass, it could change the future of farms in Alabama. 'You're going to have a lot more farms, a lot more local farms especially expanding, have the ability to expand honestly,' Tolleson said. 'Right now, it's just not possible and if you want to eat you know farmers are your ticket to eat.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers want to require state ID to watch porn
Republican state Rep. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp. (Photo from Ohio House website.) Ohio lawmakers are getting closer to requiring all porn watchers to submit their state ID and other personal information before accessing explicit content. Expressing sexual urges by watching pornography is a good thing, said Clevelander Mallory McMaster. 'I think sexuality is something that is important for human well-being,' she said. But a new bill introduced by Ohio Republicans would prevent her from going on explicit websites because it would require a state ID. In an effort to crack down on kids and teens accessing porn, state Reps. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp., and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, have proposed Ohio House Bill 84, which would require every porn watcher to provide age verification. 'I just want to help protect kids here in Ohio from this harmful content online,' Demetriou said. Verification would be done by submitting a photo of your state ID or by entering your personal information into a third-party system that will then run your details through other online databases — it could also use facial recognition technology, capturing photos of users. Companies would be penalized if they don't comply. 'Clicking a box that says 'Yes I am 18′ is not gonna prevent a 15-year-old boy from going on that website,' the lawmaker said. 'Any reasonable person understands that.' This is simply like walking into an old video rental store, the Republican added, noting that consumers would have been ID'd at the door or cash register. 'We're simply taking those same sort of measures from the Ohio Revised Code into the 21st century,' he said. This bill has mainly GOP cosponsors but does have support from at least three Democrats. McMaster believes H.B. 84 might as well be H.B. 1984, referencing the classic dystopian novel about government control by George Orwell, where society members were monitored at all times. 'I would not be watching pornography on a website that required me to upload a photo of my driver's license,' she added. 'I'm not sure where it would end up.' Numerous porn watchers have reached out, sharing concerns that data could be leaked, hacked, or sold for profit. 'We're creating a log of porn that every individual watches, and it's tracked with our driver's license and a photo of our faces,' McMaster argued. 'Whether it's hacked by someone who wants to blackmail and extort us or, ICE agents who question our citizenship, or local police investigating an alleged crime of some sort, they will all have access to this information.' She referenced cases where companies secretly provide facial recognition data to police — or law enforcement buys it from data aggregators, according to The Brookings Institution. Demetriou argued that companies would be required to have a system that protects sensitive information. 'It's not like that's stored for a long period of time, it's immediately deleted,' he said. PornHub, the most visited explicit content provider in the country, and their parent company Aylo gave us a statement about states that have implemented these requirements, saying in part: 'People did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content.' Aylo explained that they have always been a supporter of age verification of users but that parents can add parental controls to their kids' devices. The bill also makes it a crime to use artificial intelligence to create porn of children or nonconsenting adults. Aylo said that they have protocols in place to moderate and remove child sexual abuse material and nonconsensual videos, such as revenge porn. The company also raised a red flag about data safety. 'Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy,' Aylo said. We asked Demetriou if his bill could push people to utilize under-moderated, obscure websites. 'We're not trying to push adults into the black market of porn, we're just simply trying to create common sense age verification procedures similar to what online gambling operations already have to do in Ohio,' he responded. McMaster said all the lawmakers are going to do is increase the use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, which mask your IP address and let you bypass firewalls. The lawmakers said they did think about that and are working with organizations to geofence, which would be making a virtual perimeter around a location. 'I wouldn't want my local law enforcement agencies watching what pornography I'm watching, even though that would probably really entertain them,' McMaster said. The bill will continue to be debated in the coming weeks. McMaster said the lawmakers are amateurs and clearly should be working on bigger issues. Other online users agree, arguing that they should be dealing with sky-high property taxes, inflation, or child care costs. First, to be clear, Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults. Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy. Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws. This is not speculation. We have seen how this scenario plays out in the United States. In Louisiana, Pornhub was one of the few sites to comply with the new law. Since then, our traffic in Louisiana dropped approximately 80 percent. These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content. In practice, the laws have just made the internet more dangerous for adults and children. The best solution to make the internet safer, preserve user privacy, and prevent children from accessing adult content is performing age verification at the source: on the device. The technology to accomplish this exists today. What is required is the political and social will to make it happen. We are eager to be part of this solution and are happy to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution. In addition, many devices already offer free and easy-to-use parental control features that can prevent children from accessing adult content without risking the disclosure of sensitive user WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
