Working Together to Strengthen the Voice of English-Speaking Quebec

A message from QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers and Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge

A quarter of a century ago, the QCGN was founded with a mandate to build the understanding and cooperation needed to develop strong, reasoned policy to ensure sustainable growth for English-speaking Quebec. During a strategic planning exercise in 2013, the membership approved an updated mission: The QCGN is a centre of evidence-based expertise and collective action on the strategic issues affecting the development and vitality of English-speaking Quebec.

Our raison d’ètre is to promote English-speaking Quebec as a diverse, confident, recognized, and respected national linguistic minority that makes a significant contribution to the social, economic, cultural, and political life of Quebec and Canada.

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English-speaking Quebecers Need an Effective Advocacy Voice 

A message from QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers and Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge

While the Quebec government is concentrated on the COVID 19 public health care crisis, it has no intention of backing off on key policy initiatives that our community opposes such as the abolition of English school boards. This has a significant impact the vitality and future of Quebec’s English-speaking minority.

Now more than ever it is clear that English-speaking Quebecers need an effective advocacy group!

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

A message from QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers and Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge

Dear QCGN Members, Stakeholders and Friends,

We hope all of you are staying safe and healthy as each of us does our part to flatten the curve and stop the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Our lives have been upended and we are doing our best to adjust.

Already this public health emergency has forced a virtual lockdown of our member organizations. Our QCGN office is closed, but our staff is working remotely to continue to provide necessary support to our members, stakeholders and community.

We at the QCGN maintain that our community organizations and institutions, which employ thousands of English-speaking Quebecers, are the cornerstones of our community. The critical need for community and government support for individuals, institutions and organizations – and their employees – cannot be underestimated. They are vital to the fabric of our community and the wider society in which we live and to which we actively contribute. This fundamental belief is guiding us in our discussions with government officials at all levels.

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English-speaking community needs to speak with one voice

By Geoffrey Chambers, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network

These are tumultuous times for Quebec’s English speaking-community. The signal from the Quebec government is that it intends to persist in attacking our values and our rights. If we are going to continue to promote a tolerant and inclusive Quebec, we will need to speak with one voice. That means bringing together all of the groups and individuals that make up English-speaking Quebec, including major institutions that serve our community such as our  universities, CEGEPs, school boards, municipalities, health and social service institutions – as well as the foundations and groups that support these organizations. The QCGN plays a critical role in defending the interests of our community and protecting our constitutional rights, often bringing different groups together and helping forge a common strategy and game plan.

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