Latest news with #FêteNationale
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Fête Nationale power outages: Few Hydro-Quebec employees wanted to work
Dangerous weather and an intense thunderstorm left more than 100,000 households in and around Quebec City without power on Monday night. After receiving notice of the high volume of blackouts, Hydro-Quebec says it quickly got to work to resolve the issue, but hit a wall when it started making phone calls to employees. 'It's been difficult in terms of mobilizing our teams, partly because of the holiday,' explained Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty in an interview with Noovo Info. READ MORE: Thousands without power during extreme heat after storm rolls through Quebec City area He points out that on public holidays, Hydro-Quebec expects a response rate of between 40 and 50 per cent from employees. On Tuesday, the Fête Nationale, the public utility company says barely 10 per cent of workers answered the urgent call. 'We had to quickly call on outside resources to lend a hand,' said Batty. In the end, Hydro-Quebec says it turned to the Administrative Labour Tribunal to force its employees to perform. In its ruling, the tribunal declared that the workers' lack of response constituted a concerted effort that deprived or could have deprived the public of an entitled service. It ordered them to take action. In response, the workers' union says it has taken note of the court's decision and intends to cooperate fully. However, it adds that the situation highlights shortcomings in Hydro-Quebec's planning when it comes to management and predictability of work. On Wednesday, more than 800,000 Hydro-Quebec workers were back in the field, with 10,000 customers still without electricity. 'When we have events like Monday, with a lot of outages and a lot of damage, we quickly carry out work on outages that restore a lot of customers at once,' said Batty. 'On Wednesday, we were dealing with a lot of small outages where we were restoring between five and 20 customers at a time.'
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Fête Nationale: thousands brave sweltering heat in Montreal to show their Quebec pride
Thousands of people gathered in Montreal on Tuesday to celebrate Fête Nationale and to show their Quebec pride. The extreme heat did not prevent the fleurs-de-lis from invading Rachel Street in Montreal on Tuesday afternoon for the traditional Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade. Thousands gathered at the corner of Molson and Rachel Streets in the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough to march before heading to Maisonneuve Park to watch the show, hosted this year by actress Guylaine Tremblay. Expand Autoplay 1 of 12 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A member of the crowd waves a Quebec flag during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A man waves a Quebec flag during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Dancers dressed in traditional costume entertain the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A boy yawns as he watches the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Drummers entertain the crow during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Pablo Rodriguez, Quebec Liberal party leader Pablo Rodriguez, centre, looks on during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A woman hands out Quebec flags to members of the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Participants entertain the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A performer on stilts entertains the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Members of the crowd look on during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, A participant pushes a giant can of maple syrup along a street during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Participants entertain the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Mathieu Fortier arrived 45 minutes early to make sure he got a good spot. For him, this year's Fête Nationale has a special meaning, as the U.S. president continues to attack Canada's sovereignty. 'This year's Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is about pride, celebration, and purpose,' Fortier said. For me personally, Trump's attacks have boosted my pride in being Quebecois and my Quebecois identity." He said he was looking forward to going to Maisonneuve Park to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day until the end of the evening. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Participants entertain the crowd during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) For some, this is their first Fête Nationale parade. This was the case for Claude Turgeon, who traveled from Boisbriand with his wife to celebrate Quebec with their Montreal friends. 'I've always been proud to be Quebecois, but this year I wanted to participate,' he said. Politicians take in the celebrations As every year, the various political parties took part in the parade. Non-partisanship was also on the agenda, and the importance of celebrating Quebec identity without politics was on the lips of all elected officials. Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe said it is important to ensure the sustainability of Quebec culture in an increasingly fragmented world. 'We must always stand up to defend our culture, our language, and our identity,' Lacombe told reporters. 'We have been fighting for who we are in Quebec for 250 years, so I think this fight is far from over, especially with the upheavals we are currently experiencing on the international scene with our southern neighbor, but also within Canada as a whole.' Québec solidaire (QS) co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal emphasized the need to 'be proud of our uniqueness as a people and not try to be like the United States.' 'There is so much bad news in the world, so being here and celebrating our Quebec values and our pacifist values feels good,' Ghazal said. Wearing a blue t-shirt with the words 'Vive le Québec libre' (Long live free Quebec) printed on it, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon said he felt that the population needed 'a unifying Quebec identity.' 'In a more fragmented and divided period of our society, it's time to come together and talk and socialize as we are doing today,' he told reporters. The PQ leader also said he was 'struck' by the sovereignty sentiment among young people, even though he 'can't take credit for it,' he added with a laugh. For his part, the new leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP), Pablo Rodriguez, took the opportunity to emphasize the non-partisan nature of this celebration and the importance of being united for Fête Nationale. 'We'll fight tomorrow or next week, but today we're all proud to be Quebecers,' said Rodriguez. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and MP for Laurier--Sainte-Marie, emphasized the Quebec pride that has emerged in response to the U.S. president's threats. 'We see it in Quebec and across the country, there is a movement of Quebec pride, people want to stick together in the face of what is perceived as economic aggression and also an attack on our identity and our sovereignty, so it warms my heart to see people come together like this and say 'this is not what we want.'' According to the Fête Nationale organizing committee, 650 events were scheduled across the province to mark the holiday. This year's edition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first public performance of the iconic song 'Gens du pays,' written by Gilles Vigneault and composed in collaboration with Gaston Rochon. Vigneault's song was played several times during the parade, interrupting the festive music and inviting the crowd to sing along to its familiar chorus. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 24, 2025. By Quentin Dufranne, The Canadian Press
CBC
24-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Fête nationale marked by parades, concerts and extreme weather in Quebec
Thunderstorms and heavy rain dampened Fête nationale festivities in Quebec's provincial capital region on Monday. About 15 minutes before a concert was set to begin on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, organizers cancelled the event and evacuated the area due to extreme weather that brought thunder, lightning and heavy downpours. The violent thunderstorm that swept through the Capitale-Nationale and the Chaudière-Appalaches region just south has left more than 44,000 customers without power in the Quebec City area as of Tuesday afternoon. The province is also facing other extreme weather as it celebrates its national holiday. Quebec City announced this week it is opening air-conditioned community centres and libraries and extending hours at splash pads due to an Environment and Climate Change Canada heat warning covering much of the province. Temperatures are expected to reach 30 C and above, with humidex values between 40 and 45 on Tuesday. Montreal will be hosting a parade beginning at 2 p.m., followed by an evening concert at Parc Maisonneuve featuring artists such as Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour. This year's celebrations will commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the first performance of Gilles Vigneault's song Gens du pays, which is often considered the province's unofficial anthem. Quebec says nearly 650 events are happening across the province to mark the holiday also known as St-Jean-Baptiste Day. During heat waves, the City of Montreal often extends the opening hours of many public places where people can get a reprieve from the heat, including pools, splash pads and misting fountains.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Nearly 80,000 without power during extreme heat after storm rolls through Quebec City area
Broken trees litter a street near Braves Park in Quebec on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, after a storm rolled through the region the night before. (Source: Noovo Info) Several thousand customers in the Quebec City area are without power in the middle of extremely hot weather after a powerful storm swept through the region on Monday. The storm also forced the evacuation of Fête Nationale celebrations on the Plains of Abraham, sending revelers running for cover amid torrential rain and lightning strikes. At the height of the outage Monday evening, more than 120,000 people lost power. According to Hydro-Quebec, there were more than 77,000 households in the Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches regions with no electricity as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Hydro-Quebec outages A map of current Hydro-Quebec outages on Tuesday morning. (Source: HYdro-Quebec) The power utility reported that some households might not get the power back on until Wednesday evening. ECCC had warned that violent wind gusts of up to 100 km/h were possible in the area ahead of Monday's storm. Quebec City police had to issue a plea to the public after being overwhelmed with 911 calls, telling residents that 911 is meant for emergencies only. More than 800 were received during Monday's storm, 60 of which required a response from the fire department. The region is under a heat warning for a second day on Tuesday. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued the warning for most of southern Quebec and southern Ontario. In Quebec City, the forecast is calling for a high of 32 C, with humidex making it feel more like 40. The UV index is 9 or very high. Quebec's Minister of Energy, Christine Fréchette, said in a post on X that Hydro-Quebec crews were deployed to resolve more than 464 outages across the province on Tuesday. 'The outages were caused by strong winds and vegetation coming into contact with the distribution network,' the minister added.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Parades, concerts and heat warnings to mark Fête nationale in Quebec
A person wears miniature Quebec flags on a hat during a Fête nationale event in Trois-Rivières, Que., Monday, June 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes MONTREAL — Quebecers will be decked out in blue and white today as the Fête nationale holiday is marked by parades, celebrations, and heat warnings. The festivities are coinciding with some extreme weather conditions this year. Quebec City announced this week it is opening air-conditioned community centres and libraries and extending hours at splash pads due to an Environment Canada heat warning covering much of the province. Montreal will be hosting a parade beginning at 2 p.m., followed by an evening concert at Parc Maisonneuve featuring artists such as Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour. This year's celebrations will commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the first performance of Gilles Vigneault's song 'Gens du pays,' which is often considered the province's unofficial anthem. Quebec says nearly 650 events are happening across the province to mark the holiday also known as St-Jean-Baptiste Day. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2025. Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
