Latest news with #Quebec
CTV News
an hour ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Quebec lifts ban on open fires in forests
The Ministry of Public Safety lifted the ban on open fires in or near forests. The measure had been in effect since Wednesday in regions north of Quebec City. Open fires were prohibited in certain areas of Nord-du-Québec, Côte-Nord, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Mauricie, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie. The ban was lifted at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) reported on Saturday that there were no active forest fires in Quebec's intensive protection zone. Since the start of the protection season, 104 fires have affected 105.8 hectares in the intensive zone, according to SOPFEU. 'The average for the last 10 years on the same date is 195 fires affecting 253.8 hectares of forest,' SOPFEU said in a news release. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French May 31, 2025.
CTV News
an hour ago
- General
- CTV News
Quebec to ask Supreme Court for permission to appeal school board reform ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada says it is moving away from the social media platform X. The Supreme Court of Canada is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick MONTREAL — Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal a ruling that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed Friday the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April. That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the provincial government. While the French boards went along with the government, the English boards chose the legal route. The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed in 2020 pending the outcome of the court challenge. The English boards have maintained that Section 23 gives them the constitutional right to manage and control its school boards. Quebec Superior Court Justice Sylvian Lussier ruled in August 2023 that the province's law abolishing school boards was unconstitutional and violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He wrote that several sections of the law cannot be applied to English school boards, including those that set limits on who can run for election and sit on the boards. 'The minority is having the vision of the majority imposed on it as to who can represent it, whereas for more than 200 years, all members of the community have been eligible to take care of school management,' Lussier wrote. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law 'radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards.' In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, the appeal court wrote the law infringed on rights guaranteed in the Charter and upheld most of the constitutional conclusions of the Superior Court decision. The Quebec English Language School Boards Association said in a statement Friday it was disappointed by the province's decision to appeal to the Supreme Court and that it will continue to defend the constitutional rights of English school boards before the high court. 'We had hoped the government would accept the Court of Appeal's unanimous decision and finally respect the rights of the English-speaking community,' said Joe Ortona, president of QESBA, said in a statement. 'At a time when Quebec is facing significant financial cuts, it is disappointing to see public funds being used to pursue a legal battle that so clearly infringes on the rights of minority communities.' As Quebec is now seeking to appeal again, Julien Garon, a spokesman for Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, said the government has no further comment. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025. Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
CBC
an hour ago
- Health
- CBC
Still no charges in Robert Pickton prison death a year after fatal assault
New B.C. serial killer died after an attack by another inmate in the Port-Cartier maximum security prison Image | Caption: Police found the remains or DNA of 33 women on Robert Pickton's Port Coquitlam, B.C., farm. A year after his death following a prison assault, prison justice advocates are asking for an inquiry into his death. (CBC) A year to the day after serial killer Robert Pickton died following an assault by another inmate in a Quebec prison, there have been no charges against the alleged assailant and few answers about what happened. Pickton died in hospital on May 31, 2024, after being assaulted at the Port-Cartier maximum security prison 12 days prior. The 74-year-old was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder but was suspected of killing dozens more women at his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C. The Correctional Service of Canada first issued a release on May 20 last year about a "major assault" on an inmate, adding "the assailant has been identified and the appropriate actions have been taken." The agency later confirmed the injured inmate was Pickton, and that he had died. Quebec provincial police identified the suspect as a 51-year-old inmate, but did not release a name. WATCH | Pickton dies after fatal prison assault: Media | Serial killer Robert Pickton is dead Caption: Robert Pickton had been in hospital since May 19 after being the target of what Correctional Service Canada called a "major assault" at the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec. The 74-year-old B.C. man had been found guilty of murdering six women in the Vancouver area, but had bragged about killing 49. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Earlier this week, the force said its investigation remained open. "Some expert reports are still ongoing. As this is an active file, we will not comment further," the Sûreté du Québec wrote in an email. By phone, a spokesperson said the police file had not yet been handed over to the Quebec Crown prosecutor's office, who will decide whether charges will be laid. Image | Robert Pickton court sketch Caption: This is a artist's drawing of Robert Pickton appearing on a video link to B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on May 25, 2005. Pickton was suspected of killing dozens of Indigenous women at his pig farm. (Jane Wolsack/The Canadian Press) Open Image in New Tab Spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau added police sometimes take more time to investigate when a suspect is already behind bars because there is no risk to the public. Correctional Service Canada said it expects to publish the results of investigations into the death "in the near future," spokesperson Kevin Antonucci wrote in an email. "Time was required to ensure that they were fully translated and vetted in accordance with the Privacy Act." Calls for public inquiry Advocates for prisoners' rights expressed concern about the lack of answers about what happened and said the death raises questions about inmate security. "We're concerned about a number of deaths have occurred at the hands of other prisoners without any clear answers," Catherine Latimer of the John Howard Society said in a phone interview. Latimer cited a fatality report published earlier this year by Alberta Justice Donna Groves into the death of a 21-year-old inmate who was knifed to death inside his cell by another inmate at the Edmonton Institution in 2011. The report raised a number of questions, including why the two inmates were allowed out of their cells at the same time despite belonging to rival gangs and being under orders not to be around other inmates. Groves called for a public inquiry into the death, saying it's the only way to get to the bottom of three guards' actions that day, including concerns they were running a prison "fight club." Latimer said the report shows there is a serious problem with "incompatible or vulnerable prisoners" being exposed to others who want to kill them. "Pickton really raises that," she said. Pickton, she added, would likely have been considered "vulnerable" because the nature of his offences would have made him a potential target. Prison deaths tough to investigate Howard Sapers, who spent 12 years as Correctional Investigator of Canada, said sudden prison deaths – particularly criminal ones – are often long and tough to investigate. "There are difficulties in terms of accessing crime scenes, preserving crime scenes, obtaining witness statements, so all of those things tend to frustrate investigations," he said. He added such investigations are often not a priority – at least in terms of speed – due to a lack of generalized public safety risk. He said federal investigators probing Pickton's death will be looking at whether protocol and policy was followed in areas such as contraband and weapons, underground trade in weapons and drugs, gang conflicts and known threats against an individual. Tom Engel, the former president of the Canadian Prison Law Association, agreed that Pickton's reputation would have meant he was at high risk of being assaulted by other inmates. "The question has to be asked, 'Well, how could this happen when he's at high risk?'" he said in a phone interview. LISTEN | Questions over prison safety: Media | Breakaway : Is Canada's federal prison system safe for all inmates? Caption: The assault on serial killer Robert Pickton at the Port Cartier prison is raising questions about the safety of inmates within federal prisons. Alison speaks with Senator Kim Pate, who says she is very concerned about the lack of respect for human rights towards those who are sentences in our country. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Engel said he wasn't surprised by the lack of charges so far. He said investigations can be lengthy, in part because correctional staff and inmates can be reluctant to fully co-operate with police. The announcement of Pickton's death last year was met with public expressions of satisfaction and joy rather than concern. Families of victims used words such as "healing," "overjoyed" and "justice" to describe the death of a man who preyed upon vulnerable women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, many of them Indigenous. But Engel believes the fate of prison inmates should be a concern. "Members of the public who believe in human rights, who believe in the rule of law, who believe that the Criminal Code of Canada applies to everybody should care about this, because you can't have this kind of lawlessness going on in a prison," he said. Sapers noted prisons can be dangerous for both inmates and correctional staff. And he said many of the solutions, which include more investment in staffing, training, prison infrastructure and programming to meaningfully occupy prisoners, benefit both groups. "Often people don't make the link to safe environments for people who are in custody are also safe environments for people who have to work there, and I think it's a really important point to make," he said.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Sherbrooke man arrested after girlfriend found dead
The Sherbrooke Police Service (SPS) launched a homicide investigation after the body of a 33-year-old woman was found in a residence in the eastern part of the city. The victim's relatives who worried for her and alerted the police, who arrived at the residence on Morkill Street around 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening. 'Upon arrival, our officers found the 33-year-old resident dead. Her new partner, aged 28, was arrested at the scene,' said SPS spokesperson Martin Carrier. He did disclose the nature of the injuries so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. 'Initial findings lead us to believe that this is a homicide. A crime scene has been established. SPS investigators and forensic experts are on site and are expected to remain there for part of the day (Saturday),' said Carrier. Witnesses were interviewed on Saturday. The suspect was also questioned by investigators in the morning. The 28-year-old man is expected to appear in court by videoconference in the coming hours. The SPS investigation is ongoing. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French May 31, 2025.
CBC
3 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Quebec seeks leave to appeal school board reform ruling to Supreme Court of Canada
Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal lower court rulings that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed this week the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April.T That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the province. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law "radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards." The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed pending the outcome of the court challenge.
