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Montreal Gazette
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec won't appeal court ruling blocking 33% tuition hike for out-of-province students
By Quebec will not appeal a court ruling that ordered it to scrap controversial measures targeting Concordia and McGill universities: a 33-per-cent tuition hike for out-of-province students and French proficiency requirements for non-Quebec applicants. A spokesperson for Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry confirmed the decision in an email to The Gazette on Monday, the last day an appeal could be filed. Déry is expected to comment on the matter at a later time. In an April 24 ruling, Quebec Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour largely sided with Concordia and McGill, which had filed lawsuits arguing the Coalition Avenir Québec government's education reforms, announced in the fall of 2023, were illegal. The tuition hike, which made headlines across Canada and the world, led to a drop in applications from the rest of Canada, with the universities offering scholarships to lure out-of-province students. Concordia and McGill have partially blamed the measures for deep budget cuts. The Legault government said the changes would protect the French language and reduce the number of non-French-speaking students in Quebec. In his ruling, Dufour called some of the CAQ's measures 'unreasonable.' The tuition hike, introduced in fall 2024, raised fees for out-of-province undergraduates and non-thesis master's students from about $9,000 to $12,000. Quebec students continued to pay around $3,000. Dufour gave the government nine months to revise the fee structure. He criticized the government's rationale, finding the decision was not supported by solid data and was enacted before receiving advice from an advisory committee, which later urged Déry to scrap the hike. The judge also struck down, effective immediately, a planned French-language rule, which would have required 80 per cent of newly enrolled non-Quebec undergraduates at Concordia and McGill to attain intermediate oral French proficiency by graduation. Dufour found the target virtually impossible to achieve and the penalties for non-compliance — including the possible retroactive withdrawal of subsidies — were unclear. However, Dufour upheld the CAQ government's new rules for international students, including a $20,000 minimum tuition rate and changes to the funding formula. When his government announced the changes in 2023, Premier François Legault said it was part of a plan to 'reduce the number of anglophone students' in Quebec. He said English-speaking students from other provinces 'threaten the survival of French.' McGill laid off 60 workers in March as it grappled with a large deficit that it partly blamed on CAQ government policies. Last month, Concordia announced it may also have to lay off employees as it works to slash tens of millions of dollars from its budget. At the time, Concordia president Graham Carr said the legal victory 'is ultimately a moral, not a material win for Concordia. The damage from those policies has already been done. ' He added: 'Furthermore, the negative impact has been compounded by stringent immigration policies that have caused international applications to plummet, weakening the reputation and financial position of universities across Quebec for years to come.' Carr has previously said he hoped the CAQ government would 'look at this judgment and the larger context and (decide) we can hit reset and take a genuinely collaborative approach to supporting a higher education system that is world-class.' In their lawsuits, Concordia and McGill argued that the reform violated equality and language rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. McGill also claimed the measures contravened anti-discrimination provisions of Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, particularly regarding harm to its reputation and academic freedom. However, the judge did not rule on charter issues, saying the matter could be resolved on administrative law grounds. Jeffery Vacante, an assistant history professor at the University of Western Ontario, has argued the court ruling offers a short-term reprieve but is 'a less resounding victory for McGill and Concordia than one might assume.' 'The judge is not pushing back against the idea that McGill and Concordia are contributing to the decline of the French language, nor is he suggesting that tuition increases or language requirements for students cannot be imposed,' Vacante argued in an op-ed submitted to The Gazette in April. The judge is 'suggesting, rather, that the government can impose such policies only after it has offered compelling data to justify their necessity,' wrote Vacante, author of a National Manhood and the Creation of Modern Quebec.
Montreal Gazette
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec urges students to help in racism investigation
Warning: This story contains offensive language and imagery. Quebec's Higher Education Minister, Pascale Déry, is denouncing a virulent stream of racist and other hateful messages on a popular social media platform for medical school applicants after The Gazette broke the story over the weekend. 'The calls for violence and expressions of hatred in these exchanges are totally unacceptable in Quebec,' Simon Savignac, Déry's press attaché, said in a statement on Monday. 'It is all the more worrying to note that the authors of these comments are aspiring doctors, who could be entrusted with the health of Quebecers. We applaud the fact that Dawson College's management is taking the situation seriously; launching an investigation was the right thing to do to ensure a healthy and safe climate for all students. However, since it is difficult to identify the vast majority of perpetrators at this stage, we invite anyone with information to report them to their school's management.' The Gazette reported that Dawson College has launched an investigation into the origin of antisemitic, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous slurs on a channel of the Discord online chat forum for students to discuss the applications process involving Quebec's four medical schools. At least one of the perpetrators of the hateful content on Discord is alleged to be a Dawson student enrolled in the enriched health science program, and until recently, a medical school applicant. The offending posts on the Discord Med serveur channel also included threats of violence against Jews and members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, with one anonymous troll displaying an image of a firearms locker stocked with shotguns under a gay pride flag. Meanwhile, the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) would neither confirm nor deny whether it has launched a criminal investigation despite the fact that it has received at least two complaints — one from a medical student and the other from an ad-hoc group representing Jewish physicians. 'For reasons of confidentiality, the ... SPVM never confirms, with rare exceptions, that an individual or legal entity has filed a complaint or is the subject of a complaint,' spokesperson Mélanie Bergeron said in an email. 'The same applies to any investigation, so as not to hinder its progress.' In contrast, the internal investigation at Dawson is making headway, the CEGEP's director of communications and corporate affairs confirmed on Monday. 'The investigation is advancing,' Donna Varrica said. 'We are awaiting clarity on a couple of important points before considering any action or calling it closed. As for any changes to webpages on our website that reference specific students in order to identify them in another context, ... I can't comment on that.' Varrica was alluding to Gazette queries concerning the disappearance of references to a student on its website. Déry's appeal for assistance from students and members of the public in identifying the perpetrators of the hateful online epithets comes as an atmosphere of fear and secrecy has descended on the the Med serveur Discord channel and within the halls of Quebec CEGEPs. In December, Déry opened an investigation into complaints of racist bullying from students at Dawson and Vanier colleges arising from tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, some academic union leaders have accused Déry of political interference after she demanded that Dawson justify the content of a French course with most of the material focusing on the Palestinian cause. Although most of the offensive posts have since been taken down from the Discord channel, B'nai Brith Canada captured some of them, including the degrading comment: 'Imagine a woman under antidepressant(s) and f---ing Ritalin who (performs) surgery on you. She'll vomit mid-surgery because it's too stressful and she needs a mental health break.' A screenshot of another remark alluded to the Jewish skullcap: 'Don't worry, you can trust me as long as you don't have a kippah under your wig.' B'nai Brith Canada has exposed a public Discord server used by Quebec medical school applicants and attendees that became a cesspool of antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and hate. For months, a number ofaspiring doctors openly posted Holocaust denial, praise for the 'Final… — B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) May 8, 2025 Discord, the San Francisco-based app popular among teens and university students, has also launched its own investigation into the Med serveur channel. The racist posts have rekindled feelings of anxiety in Montreal's Jewish community that have persisted since Oct. 7, 2023 — the date when Hamas invaded Israel and committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, entrances to Montreal synagogues have been firebombed, among other acts of antisemitic violence. This story was originally published May 12, 2025 at 5:49 PM.
Montreal Gazette
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec professors demand minister's resignation over ‘attack on academic freedom'
Quebec Politics By More than 750 professors at CEGEPs and universities across Quebec have signed an open letter demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, accusing her of restricting academic freedom and 'contributing to the worrying wave of political repression and ideological censorship sweeping through our societies today.' In a letter published in Thursday's Le Devoir newspaper, the professors say Déry's questioning of administrators at four Montreal CEGEPs that offer courses discussing Palestine, and her ongoing investigation into the tense climate at Dawson and Vanier colleges, are a 'direct attack on the autonomy of CEGEPs and their teaching staff.' They demand the minister immediately call off the investigation and resign from her cabinet post. They also call on the entire college and university community 'to mobilize to firmly defend pedagogical autonomy, academic freedom and government transparency, which must be pillars of higher education and democracy.' Déry's press attaché, Simon Savignac, told The Gazette on Friday afternoon that the minister has no intention of resigning, but will not comment further on the issue until the investigation she called into the climate at Dawson and Vanier, is complete, probably sometime in June. Savignac confirmed that the minister met in late August with the directors of four CEGEPs — Saint-Laurent, Dawson, Vanier and Gérald Godin — as well as two officials from the Fédération des cégeps. He insisted however that Déry gave no directives about the content of any courses, and only asked questions about the climate on those campuses. Savignac said the authors of the letter erred in one paragraph of the open letter, by suggesting that at that Aug. 29 meeting, Déry tried to interfere with the content of courses taught at the CEGEPs. The letter says: 'By summoning the administrators of four Montreal CEGEPs to question the content of courses discussing Palestinian authors and by launching an opaque ministerial investigation into the 'tense climate' at Dawson and Vanier colleges, citing complaints that were never brought to the attention of the relevant administrations, Ms. Déry is taking an exceptionally serious action. This so-called 'administrative' investigation, political in its motivations, constitutes a direct attack on the autonomy of CEGEPs and their teaching staff.' In December, Déry announced that her ministry would investigate complaints from students at Dawson and Vanier to determine whether the colleges were ensuring the 'physical and psychological well-being of students.' She cited alleged bullying and concerns about some teachers' actions amid heightened tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. At the time, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an organization on whose board Déry once sat, welcomed the inquiry, denouncing a 'disturbing pattern of hate' and 'vitriolic attacks on our shared values taking place in our educational institutions.' At the National Assembly on April 29, Déry defended her actions saying: 'What is important is to manage a climate on certain campuses that is problematic, even toxic. This is the reason that we launched this investigation, and I took some time before launching it. It is an investigation where we received many complaints.' She added that the investigators have 150 days to submit a report to her. But the authors of the letter write that Déry's actions undermine the very foundations of higher education. 'The mission of higher education cannot be subordinated to partisan interests nor to a logic of political control. The professional freedom of teachers, like freedom of expression and critical analysis in the classroom, is essential to the intellectual and civic education of students. By undermining these foundations, the Minister is undermining the credibility and integrity of the entire college network, her legitimacy as minister, the psychological safety of professors, and the trust that the teaching staff should be able to place in her.' The original authors of the letter are Hamza Tabaichount and Dominique Sauvé, both of Collège Montmorency, Natalie Kouri-Towe of Concordia University, Crina Bondre Ardelean of Champlain College, Tanya Rowell-Katzemba of John Abbott College, and Vincent Romani of Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
Montreal Gazette
29-04-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec won't rule out appeal after court overturns out-of-province tuition hike
Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry has not ruled out appealing the Quebec Superior Court's decision invalidating a tuition fee increase for students from other Canadian provinces. 'We are currently evaluating all options. There is still a 30-day appeal period for both parties,' Déry said at a press briefing Tuesday at the National Assembly. Last week's decision is a partial victory for Montreal's two English-language universities, McGill and Concordia. They have previously said that recent changes made by the Quebec government have led to a decline in enrolment. Justice Éric Dufour stated that the government's 2023 decision to increase tuition fees for out-of-province students by $3,000 (a hike of 33 per cent) was 'unreasonable' and 'not justified by existing and convincing data.' 'We must ask ourselves the question: should Quebec taxpayers be paying a high price for the education of Canadian students outside Quebec?' Déry said Tuesday. The ruling gives the provincial government nine months to comply. The decision also overturns a new requirement that 80 per cent of undergraduate students from outside Quebec enrolled in English-language universities must achieve an intermediate level of proficiency in French by the time they graduate. This rule was scheduled to come into effect this fall. 'The judge still agrees with us, especially on French. We're told that it's the minister's responsibility to protect the French language. So, that objective will be maintained. For me, it's very important that the students we integrate into Quebec be able to master French,' Déry said. Dufour, however, upheld the Quebec government's decision to set minimum tuition fees for international students at approximately $20,000 and to recover a large portion of the funds from English-speaking institutions to redistribute to French-speaking universities.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Quebec higher education minister intervenes in Dawson College course on Palestinian culture
Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry says she intervened at Dawson College, asking the institution to avoid speaking about sensitive topics during a French-language course about Palestinian culture. "I indeed intervened on the content of a course," she said at a Tuesday news scrum at the National Assembly. "For a good and simple reason, that the context was truly explosive. We really had tensions on campus, as we've known in the past few months." The teachers' union disputes Déry's view on Dawson's ability to tackle sensitive subjects in the classroom. "I think that it's a mischaracterization that the climate at Dawson is explosive," said Antonia Fikkert, the secretary treasurer of the Dawson Teachers' Union. Avoiding topics because they are sensitive or can lead to disagreement is "really dangerous for an institution of higher learning," she said. Déry's intervention comes as her ministry is investigating Dawson and Vanier colleges. The investigation is looking into allegations of a toxic climate over the Israel-Hamas war. The Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec, a provincial teachers' union, says Déry is in a conflict of interest. WATCH | Teachers denounce investigation: Before she was elected, she served as a member of the board at the Quebec branch of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). Reporters asked Déry about the federation's claims on Tuesday. "The question we'd like to ask them, that I'd like to know, is what they are referring to when they say Minister Déry is in conflict of interest," she replied. Noah Brender, a humanities professor at Dawson, said the minister is avoiding tough questions through deflection. "And my answer is that the appearance of conflict is between the minister's political position on Israel and her duties as minister of higher education," he said. Québec Solidaire introduced a motion at Quebec's National Assembly, condemning all forms of political interference in CEGEP classrooms. The motion was supported by the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois, but the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) majority voted against it. In a statement, Sol Zanetti, Québec Solidaire's spokesperson for higher education, accused the CAQ of breaking the consensus on academic freedom. "Politics should not interfere with course content, and the independence of education must be preserved. This should be obvious," he said in the statement. CBC News sent an interview request to CIJA and got a statement instead. It says it has been calling on Montreal police, all levels of government and academic institutions to take concrete action against the hate, toxicity and antisemitism on campuses. "Students have been clear about the unacceptable situation they are experiencing," the statement says. The higher education minister's investigation is one step, but "much more action is necessary to address what we see happening in our schools and on our streets," it says. As for Déry, she said she won't be making any further comments until she has the investigation's report.
