Latest news with #LeDevoir
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla registrations down 90 per cent in Quebec in 1st quarter of 2025
Quebec EV buyers' relationship with Tesla is showing signs of souring as sales in the province plummeted in the first quarter of 2025. Only 524 Teslas were registered in Quebec between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to Quebec's auto insurance board, the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec. That's a 90 per cent drop from the previous quarter when 5,097 of the electric automaker's cars were registered in the province, as first reported by Le Devoir. The data, also obtained by CBC News, shows that Tesla registrations in Quebec — Canada's largest EV market, including for Tesla — rose 30 per cent from 2023 to 2024 before nosediving in early 2025. And though CEO Elon Musk and his involvement in the Trump administration has "absolutely" had an impact on sales, says Daniel Breton, president of Electric Mobility Canada, the reasons go beyond a general dislike of the EV company's founder, with tariffs and rebate cutbacks likely contributing to the decline. The federal EV rebate program Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) ended March 31, and Quebec's program was paused between Feb. 1 and April 1. Quebec-based EV buyers used to be able to stack the rebates, benefitting from as much as $12,000 off the cost of a new vehicle. "Some dealers told me that … basically the message was, well, wait until April," said Breton, whose group is focused on advocacy for electric transportation. "Because the [provincial] rebate was about to come back." Breton believes more fulsome data for the same time period will show that Tesla isn't the only EV maker to take a hit in Quebec's market. According to preliminary S&P Global data, electric vehicle registrations in Quebec declined 65 per cent. Also hurting sales could be the 25 per cent tariff on U.S.-made EVs, including Tesla, Rivian and Lucid cars, imposed by the federal government in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's levies. "Now that the [Quebec] rebate is back, we'll see what happens with the sales of EVs in general and Tesla in particular," said Breton, who has owned a Model 3 Tesla for four years. "I'm really disappointed in what Elon Musk has been doing for the past year or two. So I hope that they find a way to resolve this," he said. "To me, Elon Musk is really hurting the brand." The combined effect of Musk's politics and tariffs have been felt outside of Quebec, with Tesla sales dropping 49 per cent year-over-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. WATCH | Tesla and Canadian politics: In addition to working for the Trump administration, which has repeatedly threatened Canadian sovereignty and imposed damaging tariffs that have upended financial markets, Musk has made dismissive comments about Canada, including saying on X — the social media platform he owns — that it is "not a real country." He has also faced significant criticism for amplifying and endorsing racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories on X and made a gesture at Trump's inauguration many interpreted as a Nazi salute. And Tesla is also under investigation in Canada after the company claimed to have sold 8,653 vehicles in the last three days of the federal rebate program, which would have amounted to $43 million in rebate claims. That questionable number raised suspicions, leading to the probe by the federal government. Despite some of the current concerns, Anne Picard, a Tesla Model Y owner from Dorval, Que., has owned two Teslas for eight years — and says she wouldn't buy anything else. "I don't have enough trust in [other companies] to give the same level of reliability," she said. She said anyone who can should buy an electric vehicle and believes EV consumers should separate their political convictions from their consumer decisions. "The electric vehicle wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for Elon Musk," said Picard, who works in IT project management, after parking her Tesla at Montreal's Jean Talon Market. Philippe Bergeron Bélanger, who was charging his electric Audi Q4 in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood Thursday, said he, too, tries to "leave politics out of my choices," but he won't be replacing his car with a Tesla when its lease is up in a year and a half. Chinese EVs once provided an affordable alternative, Bergeron Bélanger noted, but not since Canada slapped more than 100 per cent tariffs on those cars. "I don't feel like having an awkward debate at family dinners or with friends. Otherwise, [Tesla] probably would have been in my top three," said Bergeron Bélanger, who is a managing partner at an investment firm and says he doesn't agree with Musk's actions but is making the choice more based on how polarizing owning the car itself has become. Picard, on the other hand, believes that will blow over soon — if it hasn't already. "C'est un feu de paille," she said, using a French expression that translates to "straw fire" and is the equivalent of "a flash in the pan." Breton says there's no way to know right now whether the Musk backlash will have lasting effects, saying the next quarter will start to paint a fuller picture.
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).
National Observer
25-04-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Marco Bélair-Cirino — Le Devoir
RSS feed About Marco Bélair-Cirino — Le Devoir Marco Bélair-Cirino coordinates the work of Le Devoir parliamentary correspondents in Quebec City and Ottawa. He himself was a parliamentary correspondent in Quebec City (2014-2022), in addition to assuming the responsibilities of president of the Press Gallery of the Quebec Parliament during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Marco Bélair-Cirino also co-authored with his colleague Dave Noël the book Les lieux de pouvoir au Québec (Boréal, 2019). He joined the newspaper's team in 2008.
Montreal Gazette
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Montreal Gazette
Explainer: Public inquiry begins in SAAQclic scandal
Quebec Politics By A public inquiry into a digital modernization attempt by Quebec's auto insurance corporation that went half a billion dollars over budget and led to fewer people using its online services began Thursday in Montreal. Overseen by Denis Gallant, a municipal court judge, the commission will attempt to find out what actually happened as the budget ballooned for the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec's new software system, which includes an online portal for motorists, known as SAAQclic, whose launch has been widely described as a 'fiasco.' The scandal has already led to the resignation of a provincial cabinet minister and, as the inquiry begins, commissioner Gallant is defending himself from conflict of interest allegations made by opposition parties due to his past professional relationship with a senior provincial minister. What was the SAAQclic fiasco? In 2015, the SAAQ, which administers driver's licences, car registration and the public portion of auto insurance, began a program to modernize its digital systems, that included a platform known as SAAQclic, which allows people to renew driver's licences, make payments and book driving tests online. In the weeks before SAAQclic was rolled out in February 2023, the SAAQ reduced services for customers as data was transferred to the new software. But when it launched, motorists were unable to do even basic transactions online. At one point the system crashed completely, some users found documents they tried to download were blank, while others struggled to sign up at all — or had to wait for a code to come in the mail to create an account. That forced drivers to go to SAAQ offices, where many waited in line for hours. Is that it? It gets worse. Two years later, a report by Quebec's auditor general revealed that the digital transformation, known as the CASA program, had gone around $500 million over budget, with the final cost estimated to reach at least $1.1 billion by 2027. Despite the increased costs, the auditor general found that services at SAAQ counters are taking longer than before the new system was rolled out and that fewer drivers are using the SAAQclic platform than used the SAAQ's old online services. The auditor general also found that the SAAQ split a $222 million contract into smaller pieces to cover cost overruns into smaller pieces, so that not all of them would be included in a online database of government contracts. Following the damning auditor general's report, Éric Caire resigned as Quebec's minister of cybersecurity and digital affairs. While Caire denied he did anything wrong, reports have revealed that he issued a ministerial order allowing the SAAQ to circumvent normal rules in order to mask the $222 million contract. François Bonnardel, who was the minister of transportation when the platform was being created, has said he was lied to about the project, but Le Devoir has reported that Bonnardel attended a secret meeting with SAAQ executives in September 2021 where he was told the project was already more than $200 million over budget. Earlier this month, the Autorité des marchés publics, Quebec's public procurement authority, ordered the SAAQ to suspend all contracts related to the SAAQclic project for 30 days, though that suspension was lifted on Thursday. What is the commission of inquiry? The commission, which will begin hearing from witnesses on Monday, is intended to find out what caused the problems as the project was planned, contracts were awarded, the project went over budget and the SAAQclic platform was launched, Gallant said, and what SAAQ decision makers and Quebec cabinet ministers knew. 'We will find the truth, no matter the people or parties involved,' he said during his opening remarks. The commission, which will hold sessions in Montreal and Quebec City, is expected to begin with testimony related to the auditor general's report. A Sept. 30 deadline has been set for it final report, which will also include recommendations. While the commission has the power to compel witnesses to appear before it and to order documents to be produced, Gallant said several times that it is not a civil or criminal trial and is intended not to interfere with other investigations, or legal proceedings, that may take place. Gallant, who was a Charbonneau Commission prosecutor, said he deliberately looked for people who had worked at that inquiry — which ran from 2011 to 2015 and investigated corruption in the awarding of public construction contracts in Quebec — as he worked to quickly build an experienced team. What's the problem with that? Earlier this month, Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji said Gallant should recuse himself and the commission should start from scratch because Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel was the chief prosecutor at the Charbonneau Commission and may be called to testify about the SAAQclic fiasco. Opposition parties have also raised concerns about the relationship between commission chief investigator Robert Pigeon and LeBel's spouse, a former Sûreté du Québec agent, and the fact that the commission's secretary-general, Véronyck Fontaine, used to work closely with former SAAQ CEO Denis Marsolais. Gallant said Thursday that everyone at the commission, including himself, who worked with LeBel will fill out a conflict of interest declaration and that any meetings or testimony involving her will be handled by other investigators, prosecutors and lawyers. He said the same process will be applied if there are any other potential conflicts of interest.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Quebecers sound alarm over backlash against EDI policies
A growing number of Quebecers are speaking out against what they see as a troubling decline in support for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives. In an open letter published in Le Devoir, dozens of signatories pointed to misinformation as a key driver of the backlash. Among them is Ingrid Enriquez-Donissaint, who says EDI often gets a 'bad rap' despite its important benefits for both society and industries.
