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Montreal Gazette
11-08-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
EMSB joins legal challenge to stop Quebec's school budget cuts
The English Montreal School Board will ask a judge to put a pause on the province's latest round of budget cuts. In a special meeting of the council of commissioners on Monday, the board voted unanimously to join the legal challenge mounted by the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA). That challenge will probably be filed in court next week, and would ask a judge for a stay of implementing the 2025-2026 budgetary rules imposed on school boards and school service centres. Announced in June, the province's education ministry imposed $570 million in cuts on schools throughout the province. EMSB chairperson Joe Ortona said that even though the government appeared to correct its course by announcing a new budgetary envelope of $540 million, that is merely a distraction. The new money comes with far too many strings attached, Ortona says, arguing it is impossible for his board to get access to most of that funding. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ortona explained the cuts amount to roughly $20 million in the board's $450 million annual budget. Part of the reason the cuts are so dramatic is that they bar schools from using any surplus accumulated from previous years to affect this year's budget. 'It is impossible to balance the budget with these cuts that the government is imposing,' Ortona said. He added that if the board were to enact all the imposed cuts, some extracurricular programs would be cancelled, breakfast programs would be scaled back, and children with special needs would get fewer services. 'Parents are worried,' Ortona said. 'Because they don't know where the cuts will be coming from or what will be affected.' Ortona said the board is reaching out to other English-language boards. Since French-language boards have been abolished, he is urging lobby groups like Uni-es pour l'École and others to support the cause. Nearly 160,000 Quebecers have already signed a National Assembly petition opposing the cuts. 'There is strength in numbers,' Ortona said. 'We're actually fighting for all of the students in both the English and French public system, because they're both suffering from these harmful cuts.' He's called on the province to rescind the June cuts altogether, and said the school board intends to argue that the cuts amount to meddling with the English-speaking community's right to control its educational institutions, a constitutional right that was upheld by a court earlier this year. 'The legal argument is that we have a Court of Appeal decision that says that the government can't micromanage how we spend the money,' Ortona said. 'So they have to stop telling us that they're giving us money to be spent only on certain specific projects. ... They're acting illegally, they're acting unconstitutionally, and it's why we're hopeful that the courts will grant the stay, and ultimately the broader legal challenge.' He added that the board has reached out numerous times over the last few weeks to Education Minister Bernard Drainville, but has yet to receive a response. On Monday, The Gazette's calls to Drainville's office were not returned as of the time of publication. This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM.
Montreal Gazette
18-06-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec defends $570M in cuts, tells schools to avoid reducing student services if possible
Facing a backlash, Education Minister Bernard Drainville on Wednesday defended Quebec's decision to slash education funding by $570 million, saying he has asked that the cuts be made without touching student services. English school boards and French school service centres warn the provincial cuts will directly affect elementary and high school students. But Drainville pushed back, saying the education system has seen 'record investment' in recent years and those running the province's schools must help bring budgets back into line. 'It's not that it won't be an effort — it will,' he told reporters in Quebec City. 'But after a 58 per cent increase in the education budget since 2018, we believe it's time to make that money work better.' He added: 'The directive I gave to school (officials) is to use money more efficiently, to respect the budget without touching student services — or at least as little as possible.' School officials estimated the cuts amounted to at least $510 million, with some suggesting it could reach $1 billion. Drainville said they're in the order of $570 million. The education budget is growing by five per cent this year, or by about $1.1 billion, the minister said. School officials expected budgets to rise by seven per cent, as they have in previous years. But Drainville said seven per cent annual growth is not sustainable. Since 2018, student enrolment grew by eight per cent, he said. Over that period, the number of teachers rose by 19 per cent, while the number of professionals such as speech therapists jumped by 15 per cent. Support staff, such as classroom aides, increased by 24 per cent. 'We're entering a phase where we have to be more efficient,' Drainville said. 'Yes, difficult choices will have to be made, but the goal is to protect student services as much as possible.' School officials say they were blindsided by Drainville's directive. 'All services will be affected by the cuts, and it will be impossible to fully maintain all services for students,' Dominique Robert, head of the Fédération des centres de services scolaires du Québec, said Monday. The organization represents French school service centres. English school boards issued a similar warning. Joe Ortona, chair of the English Montreal School Board, said more than 90 per cent of his board's budget goes to direct services and salaries. Ortona, who is also president of the Quebec English School Boards Association, added: 'They're essentially telling us to close schools, cut teachers, cut staff, have overcrowded classrooms, and just put the entire education system in disarray. It's indecent.' This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM.
CBC
18-02-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Quebec struggles to dig out from back-to-back snowstorms
Quebec is still digging out from record-breaking back-to-back storms, with schools in some parts of the province closed. Most schools in Montreal, however, are open despite the abundance of snow and many sidewalks not being cleared. The city of Montreal says the snow-clearing operation will take about eight days — longer than usual. City spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said more than 3,000 city workers have been deployed to clear the snow as loading operations have started. The first storm, the biggest of the season, hit the province on Thursday morning and forced school closures and flight cancellations. Another one struck Montreal on Sunday, leaving more than 40 centimetres of snow. Mike Cohen, spokesperson for the English Montreal School Board, said the school board met with French service centres on the island and decided to reopen classrooms today. "Even though there's a lot of snow on the ground, a lot of difficult conditions, it made sense to reopen because these conditions are not going to change over the next several days and we can't keep kids home from school that long," he said. The Royal Vale School is currently closed due to heating issues with the school's heating system. Closed school boards and service centres include: New Frontiers School Board. Riverside School Board. Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries. Centre de services scolaire Marie-Victorin.
CBC
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
She's an advocate of diversity in literature, encouraging aspiring Black authors to use their voice
As a teenager, Latoya Belfon fell in love with storytelling and wrote consistently over nearly two decades. But she never published anything. "It was write, write, write, then put it on the shelf for 20 years," Belfon said. But when she finally got over that hump, Belfon never looked back. She turned into a publishing machine, pumping out at least 15 books in four years, becoming a best-selling author and an advocate for diversity in literature. As a writer who oversees every aspect of her work, from illustrations to publishing, she's built businesses that enable her to share everything she knows with other aspiring authors. During this journey, Belfon has learned a lot, including these two lessons: Never underestimate the power of a story. And no matter how long a passion project is put on hold, it's never too late. 'You should write this story' Many of Belfon's books are children's books. Shortly after moving to Montreal from Grenada at the age of 16, she regularly babysat twin brothers who, as she put it, were "obsessed" with books. One night, she was laying down with them and felt too tired to get up and pick up another one to read them a story. So she made one up — one about two adventurous cousins living in the Caribbean. "And every night from then, they just kept asking me what happened to the different characters," she said. "Their mom overhears this and says: 'You should write this story.'" As much as Belfon wrote, she couldn't quite put it all together and get published. But things finally clicked when she started a family of her own. A true sense of urgency kicked in. "I really thought I was going to become an author and it's not happening. What am I going to tell my son?" she remembers thinking at the time. "When you have someone looking like you and looking back at you, it reflects so much. The reflection is so strong. It's not just in the physical features but in the life that you want them to have and the life that you had hoped that you could have." She locked in and gave herself a challenge: learn as much about publishing as she could within three days. When those three days were up, she had published her first book. Belfon, who had caught the storytelling bug at 16, was now 36 years old. "As a writer, the most rewarding thing is when you have an idea and you can see it in hard print," she said. "It's such an incredible feeling…even without anyone reading it." Diversity in literature One of her best-selling books, Grandma's Hands, focuses on themes of heritage, ancestry and belonging through stories a woman shares with her daughter about her own grandmother's journey from the Caribbean to Canada to build a better life for her family. Belfon is also a teacher with the English Montreal School Board (EMSB). Seeing students being made fun of because of their accents inspired her to write Izzy's New Life: The Way I Talk. The book's main character, Izzy, is a Caribbean child who struggles with her friend's derisive remarks before finally embracing her heritage, culture and voice. "Getting into teaching, I saw how important it was for stories like the ones that I was telling to be seen and be seen very early: kindergarten, pre-K," she said. "The earlier the better to get access to this content and to have these discussions with their parents." Belfon's experience as an immigrant from the Caribbean has shaped much of her work, but she beams with pride at how her books have resonated with children within the Black community and also beyond. During a workshop she gave at a school, she remembers seeing young children from Brazil, China and Japan, for example, express how much they related to Izzy. "There were tons of other kids that were saying that they connected with this character, a Black character," Belfon said. "It was incredibly beautiful to me that they could be told, at that age, that it was OK to sound different." Belfon is even venturing into music. Her book, Cadence Learns Self-Love, is based on a chocolate chip cookie character who learns about self-esteem after comparing herself unfavourably to cookies who looked different. There is a song in the book, which seems to be a hit with children who read it. "So there we go. Let's make this an anthem," said Belfon, who collaborated with her brother-in-law, a producer and beatmaker who goes by CJ DWIZ, to create a full-length version of the song just in time for Black History Month. "My kids, my friends' kids, they're obsessed with the song already." An unmatched work ethic, says friend and collaborator Belfon has a lot on her plate. She organizes workshops and webinars, teaching people about publishing and advocating for more diversity in the world of literature. She founded her publishing company, Labworks Publishing. She also runs Empowered Women in Lit, an online platform that holds a virtual summit every year. According to Gemma Raeburn-Baynes, the author's friend and collaborator as well as a fellow CBC Black Changemaker, Belfon's work ethic and determination are what make her stand out. Nothing slows her down — not even a pregnancy. CBC interviewed Belfon for this story just days before she was scheduled to give birth. The same day she welcomed her third child into the world, she contacted Raeburn-Baynes to follow up about a project they were working on. "A baby just came out of you, I said, 'what are you doing?'" Raeburn-Baynes recalled, laughing incredulously. "Latoya, go on your maternity leave please and leave me alone!" she said. "But no, that has not stopped her. The work continues." Belfon credits her time management skills for her ability to juggle multiple roles and tasks. "I have goals for each thing and once I complete that goal, I rest that to the side and I move on to the next," said the author, who has also published goal-setting journals. "I really had to put my goals down, prioritize and execute." Trusting your voice For Belfon, the more diversity there is among authors, the more readers — especially children — can be exposed to different ideas. Diversity doesn't have to mean Black authors writing about the Black experience, Belfon points out. It can be Black authors using their experiences to inject a unique texture into a story, without race or racism being its focal point. One of her upcoming projects, which is part of a collaboration with another author expected to be released in May, will be a Caribbean-based sci-fi story. "A Black kid will be in class and be like 'I know that country…I know what she's talking about!" she said laughing. "They'd feel seen through that literature." Her message to aspiring authors is to value what their ideas and stories can bring to the world of literature. Their voices, she says, are sorely needed. "It's really about understanding the impact that you can have … and putting time to it," she said. "A lot of times, my content is to push people to understand the importance of their voice in literature and how much it's needed." The Black Changemakers is a special series recognizing individuals who, regardless of background or industry, are driven to create a positive impact in their community. From tackling problems to showing small gestures of kindness on a daily basis, these Changemakers are making a difference and inspiring others. Meet all the Changemakers here.
