Latest news with #Provost
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
All Our Kids launches Foster Care Awareness Campaign during Foster Care Awareness Month
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – A foster child can need a family for days, months, or years, a process that can be difficult for someone becoming a foster parent. 'For one, you don't necessarily know the children in your care. So learning and understanding what their needs are and how to meet them is a huge challenge,' said Marianna Litovich, Founder & Executive Director, AOK in Holyoke. For some families, it can be unplanned or unexpected. 'We are called what's considered kinship foster care. So we came forward for a child specifically that was identified in our lives that needed placement,' said Wendy Provost, Foster Parent in Ludlow. In 2018, the Provost family fully immersed itself in adopting a child. Despite working alongside social workers for four years, they dealt with loneliness for several months. No one could share a similar experience with them. Things changed once 'All Our Kids invited families to a Christmas event in December. 'I'll never forget it, it made me cry at the event, because it was just like meeting the needs that I needed,' said Provost. Each year, the non-profit, All Our Kids, helps to serve more than 2000 individuals with the support of community donations. 'Unlike a very populated place like Boson or Worcester, our population is only like 7% of the state, but we have about a quarter of the kids in care and so its really important that we make sure we do everything we can to keep those families who are foster families involved and engaged and not lose them,' said Litovich. Which is why employees at PeoplesBank came together to donate $2,500 to the AOK's mission. 'We want to get the word out there, so people feel part of a community and not as isolated,' said Matthew Bannister, SVP of Marketing and Corporate Responsibility at PeoplesBank. Their donation is kicking off AOK's Foster Care Awareness Campaign to support the community center, referral services, and community closest. With no state funding, the organization hopes to raise about $100,000 by the end of the year. You can also support AOK by donating new and gently used items or by volunteering. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
Montreal Gazette
29-04-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Montreal suburbs: Laval votes Liberal while some races are tighter on the South Shore
Canadian Politics The Liberals swept Laval and took a few seats from the Bloc Québécois on the South Shore as federal election results came in from Montreal's suburbs Monday evening. Carlos Leitão, a former Quebec finance minister for Philippe Couillard's Liberals, successfully completed his leap to federal politics by winning his seat in Laval's Marc-Aurèle-Fortin riding, taking over from Liberal Yves Robillard. Leitão was a Quebec Liberal Party MNA from 2014 to 2022 in the West Island's Robert-Baldwin riding, and served as finance minister from 2014 to 2018. He decided not to run in the 2022 provincial election and joined the board of directors of the Bank of Canada the following year. 'I made this jump because I thought I can contribute,' Leitão told The Gazette. 'It's not going to be easy. Canada faces a very difficult situation with our friends in the U.S. We are going to have to redirect our economy. I think I can play a role in that.' Born in Portugal, Leitão was an economist for the Bank of Canada from 1983 to 2003 and then chief economist at Laurentian Bank Securities, where he first crossed paths with Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney, who was then the governor of the Bank of Canada. Meanwhile on the South Shore, Nathalie Provost easily overcame the Bloc Québécois's Patrick O'Hara in the riding of Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville. An engineer by training and a survivor of the École Polytechnique mass shooting in 1989, Provost is a leading advocate for gun control and preventing domestic violence. 'It's exhilarating,' Provost said about being elected. 'It's more than exciting — it's vertiginous. I'm honoured, but I know — because we have been campaigning and I have had the opportunity to meet people and talk with them — I know they have a lot of expectations, and we will have to work hard to answer the requests of Canadians and my constituents here in Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville.' Though she is best known for her advocacy, Provost was emphatic that her priority as an MP will be to represent her constituents. 'My first role will be to bring their preoccupations to Ottawa and make sure their voices are heard,' she said. 'I bear my liberal values in my heart. I won't lose them. But my role will be that of an MP.' In another recent interview with The Gazette, Provost expressed her faith in Carney's leadership. 'I strongly believe that if there is one man able to navigate the economic crisis, it's him,' she said. 'We need someone strong and we need someone who inspires respect from Donald Trump.' Her competitor O'Hara experienced an emotional roller-coaster in the 2021 federal election. The businessman and community fundraiser was initially declared the winner of the tightest race in the country in Châteauguay—Lacolle, as the riding was then called. The riding has since been renamed and redrawn to include more rural and francophone ridings. A recount revealed the Liberal incumbent had beaten O'Hara by 12 votes. The race was not nearly as close this time. With 53 per cent of polls reporting, Provost was leading by over 5,000 votes. Incumbent Liberal candidate Angelo Iacono cruised to victory in the Laval riding of Alfred-Pellan. He first ran there in 2011, coming in third, and was elected in 2015. A lawyer by training, the Italian-Canadian MP has been in office since. The Liberals had similar luck in other Laval ridings. Incumbent Fayçal El-Khoury was voted in for a fourth time in Laval—Les Îles for the Liberals, far ahead of Conservative candidate Konstantinos Merakos. He was first elected in 2015. Born in Lebanon, El-Khoury arrived in Canada in his early 20s, earning a degree in civil engineering at Concordia. Annie Koutrakis kept her seat in Vimy, where she has served since 2019. She is parliamentary secretary to the minister of tourism and minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Peter Schiefke won Vaudreuil for the Liberals; he was first elected there in 2015. On the South Shore, Alexandra Mendès won her seat in Brossard—Saint-Lambert, which she has held since 2015, prior to which she was the MP for Brossard—La Prairie. Sherry Romanado emerged victorious in Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, where the former school administrator and public relations officer has served since 2015. It was a tight race in La Prairie—Atateken, where Liberal candidate Jacques Ramsay, a coroner and former Tribunal administratif du Québec judge, defeated Bloc incumbent Alain Therrien, who had held his seat since 2019. And things were extremely close in Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, where Liberal newbie Natilien Joseph led Bloc incumbent Denis Trudel by under 500 votes with 90 per cent of polls reporting. The Bloc's Xavier Barsalou-Duval kept his seat in Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, defeating the Liberals' Laurent de Casanove. And Bloc candidate Claude DeBellefeuille held on to her seat in Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, ahead of Liberal candidate Miguel Perras. This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM.
Toronto Sun
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Liberals are banking on the Carney effect in Quebec
A turnaround under Mark Carney's leadership has Liberals leading in Quebec but even star candidates are still taking it voter by voter. Published Apr 26, 2025 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 6 minute read Liberal Leader Mark Carney has been well-received in Quebec, including at a campaign rally in Laval earlier this week. As political scientist Daniel Béland explains, "it's a mix of timing, the Trump effect and the Carney effect that has really helped the Liberals." John Mahoney/Montreal Gazette On a crisp but sunny afternoon recently, Nathalie Provost took to the residential streets of Châteauguay to do some door-to-door campaigning in what has come down to a race between Provost, a star candidate for the Liberals, and her Bloc Québécois rival Patrick O'Hara. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Accompanied by former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who'd come from Ottawa to offer support, Provost approached an elderly woman on her way to an afternoon line dancing class. Provost asked the woman what issues she cares about in this federal election. The woman told her she is 82 years old and a retired nurse, implying seniors' issues top her concerns. The conversation was light and friendly, but when the candidate asked the voter to pose for a photo or to pledge her support, she politely declined. The exchange underlines how hard candidates, even star candidates like Provost, must work to win support, voter by voter, in this tense and fraught federal election campaign. Châteauguay—Lacolle was the tightest race in the country in the 2021 election, with the Bloc's O'Hara declared the winner on election night. But a recount revealed the Liberal incumbent had actually beaten O'Hara by a scant 12 votes. The riding, which stretches from Montreal's South Shore to the U.S. border, has since been redrawn to include more rural and francophone ridings and has been renamed Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While polls currently favour a Liberal win here, both Provost and O'Hara say they won't be relaxing for a moment until 9:30 p.m. Monday when the polls close. In some ways, this race mirrors what is happening across the province. Most pollsters have the Liberals in the lead, but past surprises on (and sometimes after) election night are top of mind for candidates and voters alike. With only four days to go before the vote, the election projection website 338Canada was predicting Quebec's 78 seats would break down like this: Liberals: 41, Bloc: 24, Conservatives: 12 and NDP: 1. The same firm, which uses an aggregation of polls and other data to predict election results, was projecting that Canada-wide, the Liberals would win a majority with 186 seats, the Conservatives 124, the Bloc 24, the NDP eight and the Greens one. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Liberals in Quebec and across Canada. Just four months ago, an Angus Reid poll put Liberal voter support at 16 per cent, while the Conservatives seemed poised to assume power, at 45 per cent. Daniel Béland, political scientist and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said a series of factors have helped the Liberals turn things around, some of which were beyond their control. 'Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, they had the leadership race, Mark Carney emerged as the front-runner early on and won very easily. But then of course as all of this was happening, Donald Trump returned to the White House and the Trump effect has benefited the Liberals and hurt the Conservatives partly because of the proximity, in terms of rhetoric at least, between Trump and Pierre Poilievre.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said the Trump effect also hurt the NDP and the Bloc because the focus of political discourse shifted from cost-of-living issues to how to respond to Trump's tariffs and his threats to Canada's sovereignty. 'That was hard for third parties, like the Bloc and the NDP, because trade and international relations and Canada-U.S. relations are not really their forte frankly. They focus on domestic issues, especially in the case of the Bloc (which focuses on) federalism, the status of Quebec within Canada, language. And social policies and environmental policies are very important for both the Bloc and the NDP.' Rapidly, he said, the debate came down to who can stand up to Trump. 'And basically, there are two real options, because of course (Bloc Leader Yves-François) Blanchet cannot become prime minister and (NDP Leader) Jagmeet Singh will not.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney is perceived by many as 'the right person with right CV at the right time,' Béland said. 'When the debate is on trade and the economy and you have someone with a PhD in economics who is a former central banker, that became appealing and the Liberals have used it quite well. So it's a mix of timing, the Trump effect and the Carney effect that has really helped the Liberals.' Carney has been well-received in Quebec, despite his imperfect French. At campaign stops, he uses two discrete teleprompters to help him through the French portions of his stump speech. At a recent stop at a bus manufacturing plant in St-Eustache, workers listened politely as Carney told them about a Liberal plan to offer a mid-career retraining program to workers affected by Trump's tariffs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After the speech, one of those workers told The Gazette he found Carney's French had improved considerably since the start of the campaign, and that Quebecers appreciate the respect Carney has shown for their language. That doesn't mean he will vote Liberal, however. 'It won't change anything for me,' said Marc Rousseau, group leader for the Nova Bus training department. 'I am glad to be here anyway to listen to him, even if I won't vote for him. I will vote Bloc for Quebec. But if the Bloc didn't exist, I would vote for him.' He said he trusts Carney and is glad he appears poised to be Canada's next prime minister. But he wants Quebecers to have a strong voice in parliament and he favours the Bloc to be that voice. This is the kind of thinking the Bloc's O'Hara is hoping will finally win him the seat he thought he'd won in the last election. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Born in British Columbia, raised on a farm in Mascouche, O'Hara is a businessman and community fundraiser based in Châteauguay for most of the past 30 years. He says he's hearing good support for the Bloc as he goes door-to-door, not to mention getting a lot of compassion for his bitter loss in 2021. He had hired staff and moved into an office on Parliament Hill before he learned he'd lost in that recount 10 days after the election. He actually had to pay back his first paycheque. 'I can confirm it is going to be a very close race. I am sensing a race as close as it was in 2021. We've knocked on over 1,500 doors and it's very positive for us. We are going into this last week stronger and more motivated than ever with 60 to 80 volunteers. So it's very positive.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He acknowledged though, that Trump's trade war and threats are playing a major part in local campaigns. 'I hear more about Donald Trump on the door-to-door than I hear about my adversary,' he said. For Provost, gaining a voice in the Liberal caucus would mean she can continue her 35-year fight for gun control and against conjugal violence. An engineer who survived the mass shooting at Montreal's Polytechnique in 1989, Provost has devoted much of her life to pushing the federal government to adopt a permanent ban on assault-style weapons. She says she entered the race in March because she couldn't bear to see the Conservatives destroy the advances that Liberals have made on gun control in the past 10 years. Provost admits that some of the voters she encounters say they don't know Mark Carney. And even though Carney blundered earlier in the campaign by mispronouncing Provost's name and misnaming the Polytechnique, she has faith in him. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Like O'Hara, Provost finds herself discussing the Trump threat, as much as local issues, when she goes door-to-door. 'I strongly believe that if there is one man able to navigate the economic crisis, it's him. … We need someone strong and we need someone who inspires respect from Donald Trump. (Carney) is quiet. He's calm. He's not a show-off. He doesn't want to be in the tabloids, as was natural for Justin Trudeau. (Trudeau) is a handsome man, very charming and close to people. But Donald Trump felt threatened by that kind of golden boy. Mark Carney inspires respect but doesn't threaten him with his public image.' Federal Elections Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons
Montreal Gazette
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Liberals are banking on the Carney effect in Quebec
Canadian Politics By On a crisp but sunny afternoon recently, Nathalie Provost took to the residential streets of Châteauguay to do some door-to-door campaigning in what has come down to a race between Provost, a star candidate for the Liberals, and her Bloc Québécois rival Patrick O'Hara. Accompanied by former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who'd come from Ottawa to offer support, Provost approached an elderly woman on her way to an afternoon line dancing class. Provost asked the woman what issues she cares about in this federal election. The woman told her she is 82 years old and a retired nurse, implying seniors' issues top her concerns. The conversation was light and friendly, but when the candidate asked the voter to pose for a photo or to pledge her support, she politely declined. The exchange underlines how hard candidates, even star candidates like Provost, must work to win support, voter by voter, in this tense and fraught federal election campaign. Châteauguay—Lacolle was the tightest race in the country in the 2021 election, with the Bloc's O'Hara declared the winner on election night. But a recount revealed the Liberal incumbent had actually beaten O'Hara by a scant 12 votes. The riding, which stretches from Montreal's South Shore to the U.S. border, has since been redrawn to include more rural and francophone ridings and has been renamed Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville. While polls currently favour a Liberal win here, both Provost and O'Hara say they won't be relaxing for a moment until 9:30 p.m. Monday when the polls close. In some ways, this race mirrors what is happening across the province. Most pollsters have the Liberals in the lead, but past surprises on (and sometimes after) election night are top of mind for candidates and voters alike. With only four days to go before the vote, the election projection website 338Canada was predicting Quebec's 78 seats would break down like this: Liberals: 41, Bloc: 24, Conservatives: 12 and NDP: 1. The same firm, which uses an aggregation of polls and other data to predict election results, was projecting that Canada-wide, the Liberals would win a majority with 186 seats, the Conservatives 124, the Bloc 24, the NDP eight and the Greens one. It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Liberals in Quebec and across Canada. Just four months ago, an Angus Reid poll put Liberal voter support at 16 per cent, while the Conservatives seemed poised to assume power, at 45 per cent. Daniel Béland, political scientist and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said a series of factors have helped the Liberals turn things around, some of which were beyond their control. 'Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, they had the leadership race, Mark Carney emerged as the front-runner early on and won very easily. But then of course as all of this was happening, Donald Trump returned to the White House and the Trump effect has benefited the Liberals and hurt the Conservatives partly because of the proximity, in terms of rhetoric at least, between Trump and Pierre Poilievre.' He said the Trump effect also hurt the NDP and the Bloc because the focus of political discourse shifted from cost-of-living issues to how to respond to Trump's tariffs and his threats to Canada's sovereignty. 'That was hard for third parties, like the Bloc and the NDP, because trade and international relations and Canada-U.S. relations are not really their forte frankly. They focus on domestic issues, especially in the case of the Bloc (which focuses on) federalism, the status of Quebec within Canada, language. And social policies and environmental policies are very important for both the Bloc and the NDP.' Rapidly, he said, the debate came down to who can stand up to Trump. 'And basically, there are two real options, because of course (Bloc Leader Yves-François) Blanchet cannot become prime minister and (NDP Leader) Jagmeet Singh will not.' Carney is perceived by many as 'the right person with right CV at the right time,' Béland said. 'When the debate is on trade and the economy and you have someone with a PhD in economics who is a former central banker, that became appealing and the Liberals have used it quite well. So it's a mix of timing, the Trump effect and the Carney effect that has really helped the Liberals.' Carney has been well-received in Quebec, despite his imperfect French. At campaign stops, he uses two discrete teleprompters to help him through the French portions of his stump speech. At a recent stop at a bus manufacturing plant in St-Eustache, workers listened politely as Carney told them about a Liberal plan to offer a mid-career retraining program to workers affected by Trump's tariffs. After the speech, one of those workers told The Gazette he found Carney's French had improved considerably since the start of the campaign, and that Quebecers appreciate the respect Carney has shown for their language. That doesn't mean he will vote Liberal, however. 'It won't change anything for me,' said Marc Rousseau, group leader for the Nova Bus training department. 'I am glad to be here anyway to listen to him, even if I won't vote for him. I will vote Bloc for Quebec. But if the Bloc didn't exist, I would vote for him.' He said he trusts Carney and is glad he appears poised to be Canada's next prime minister. But he wants Quebecers to have a strong voice in parliament and he favours the Bloc to be that voice. This is the kind of thinking the Bloc's O'Hara is hoping will finally win him the seat he thought he'd won in the last election. Born in British Columbia, raised on a farm in Mascouche, O'Hara is a businessman and community fundraiser based in Châteauguay for most of the past 30 years. He says he's hearing good support for the Bloc as he goes door-to-door, not to mention getting a lot of compassion for his bitter loss in 2021. He had hired staff and moved into an office on Parliament Hill before he learned he'd lost in that recount 10 days after the election. He actually had to pay back his first paycheque. 'I can confirm it is going to be a very close race. I am sensing a race as close as it was in 2021. We've knocked on over 1,500 doors and it's very positive for us. We are going into this last week stronger and more motivated than ever with 60 to 80 volunteers. So it's very positive.' He acknowledged though, that Trump's trade war and threats are playing a major part in local campaigns. 'I hear more about Donald Trump on the door-to-door than I hear about my adversary,' he said. For Provost, gaining a voice in the Liberal caucus would mean she can continue her 35-year fight for gun control and against conjugal violence. An engineer who survived the mass shooting at Montreal's Polytechnique in 1989, Provost has devoted much of her life to pushing the federal government to adopt a permanent ban on assault-style weapons. She says she entered the race in March because she couldn't bear to see the Conservatives destroy the advances that Liberals have made on gun control in the past 10 years. Provost admits that some of the voters she encounters say they don't know Mark Carney. And even though Carney blundered earlier in the campaign by mispronouncing Provost's name and misnaming the Polytechnique, she has faith in him. Like O'Hara, Provost finds herself discussing the Trump threat, as much as local issues, when she goes door-to-door. 'I strongly believe that if there is one man able to navigate the economic crisis, it's him. ... We need someone strong and we need someone who inspires respect from Donald Trump. (Carney) is quiet. He's calm. He's not a show-off. He doesn't want to be in the tabloids, as was natural for Justin Trudeau. (Trudeau) is a handsome man, very charming and close to people. But Donald Trump felt threatened by that kind of golden boy. Mark Carney inspires respect but doesn't threaten him with his public image.'
American Military News
26-04-2025
- Business
- American Military News
Yahoo is ready to buy Chrome browser if Google is forced to sell
Internet company Yahoo Inc. — backed by owner Apollo Global Management Inc. — would bid for the Chrome web browser if a federal court orders Google to divest it as a remedy for maintaining an illegal monopoly, a senior executive said. Brian Provost, the general manager for Yahoo Search, testified Thursday during Google's trial in Washington that his company estimates the browser would have a sale price in the tens of billions of dollars. Chrome is 'arguably the most important strategic player on the web,' Provost said. 'We would be able to pursue it with Apollo.' Provost testified as part of a three-week hearing in the Justice Department's case against Alphabet Inc.'s Google to determine how to remedy the company's monopoly in internet search. Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year Google illegally monopolized the market and is contemplating a package of changes proposed by antitrust enforcers. The Justice Department and a group of U.S. states have argued that Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser. Yahoo was the leading search engine in the early 2000s before losing that position to Google. The company has changed hands several times; Apollo purchased it in 2021 from Verizon Communications Inc. Since the Apollo takeover, Yahoo has been seeking to 'revitalize' its search engine, and started building its own browser that remains in development, Provost said. The company has also considered buying a browser and became interested in purchasing Chrome as soon as the Justice Department's proposal became public, he said. Yahoo would likely have competition. OpenAI also would be interested in buying Chrome browser, the head of ChatGPT said during the trial Tuesday. 'Yes, we would, as would many other parties,' Nick Turley, OpenAI's ChatGPT chief, said in response to a question about whether the company would seek to buy Google's browser. ___ © 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
