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Quebec awards $350,000 grant to Concordia, $600,000 to anglo groups

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Concordia University has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Quebec government’s secretariat for anglophone relations aimed at supporting “the vitality of Quebec’s English-speaking communities through research projects … conferences and outreach activities that connect educators, artists, community organizations and the provincial government.”

The funding will go to the university’s Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), which “provides opportunities to promote the understanding and vitality of Quebec’s English-language minority communities through research, training, knowledge mobilization, networking and outreach.”

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Liberals promise $950,000 to Anglo groups

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The provincial government is promising to give five English groups $950,000 over the next two years.

Kathleen Weil, the minister responsible for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers, made the announcement Monday at Concordia University.

She said the funding comes out of the Anglophone Secretariat’s budget, and will go toward expanding school programs, improving tourism, and more.

The English Language Arts Network, the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders, and the other groups said they were happy with the funding increase, but acknowledged a certain level of cynicism after years of being taken for granted by political parties in Quebec.

Anglo Groups Getting Some Quebec Government Cash

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Community organizations are starting to see some of the money budgeted for Quebec’s new Anglophone Affairs Secretariat with the minister responsible Kathleen Weil promising more to come.

Weil announced $950,000 over two years will go towards five groups that help support English-speaking communities in the province, specifically for projects to deal with issues raised during recent public consultations:

• $350,000 for Concordia University’s Quebec English-speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN);
• $230,000 for umbrella group Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN);
• $230,000 for English-Language Arts Network (ELAN)
• $80,000 for the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders (CAMI);
• $60,000 for the Eastern Townships Resource Centre (ETRC).

 

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Quebec to create committee overseeing anglos’ access to health services

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It’s good to have screaming rights, but it’s better to have suing rights, lawyer Eric Maldoff joked following an announcement Monday that the government will create an official English-language committee responsible for maintaining access to health and social services.

Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette and Kathleen Weil, the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, announced new regulations creating a provincial access committee.

Barrette said problems for English speakers in health care existed long before he enacted Bill 10, which abolished local boards at various institutions.

“I’m announcing a solution to a problem that already existed,” he said. “I understood that the community wanted to have a voice in one, clearly established way, through a provincial committee on access.”

How much money will be set aside for the committee will be made public at a later date, Barrette said.

Maldoff, who heads the Quebec Community Groups Network health and social services committee, praised Barrette for following through on a commitment.

Maldoff said the rights of English speakers cannot depend on the good will of the government.

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Quebec adopts new regulation to improve access to healthcare in English

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Quebec’s health minister was at the Lakeshore General Hospital on Monday to unveil a new regulation that aims to improve access to healthcare for the province’s English-speaking minority.

The regulation creating a provincial access committee is the product of a three-year collaboration between English-language rights advocates and the health minister.

“At the end of the day, the only rights you ultimately have is if it’s written in an access plan you can sue on it because it’s a real right,” lawyer Eric Madoff said.

Maldoff heads the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) Health and Social Services Committee, one of the two groups who helped draft the new regulation.

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Anglos promised more of a voice for access to health and social services

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English-speaking Quebecers will now have more of a voice when it comes to health and social services for the Anglophone community.

Quebec’s health minister announced a new regulation on Monday aimed at addressing concerns that were raised three years ago with the introduction of Bill 10.

The 2015 bill massively reorganized Quebec’s healthcare and social services system, sparking an outcry from the English-speaking community that they would lose a voice due to the elimination of health boards and patients’ committees.

On Monday, several prominent English-rights advocates said they’ve been working closely with Health Minister Gaetan Barrette to address those concerns.

The newly announced regulation will create both a provincial access committee and several regional committees.

“What’s changed here is the provincial advisory committee is now a committee of our community,” said Eric Maldoff, head of the health and social services committee of the Quebec Community Groups Network.

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Quebec budget: $24.5 million for anglo secretariat

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QUEBEC — Following years of complaints that the needs and concerns of the province’s English-speaking minority have gone largely unheeded, Quebec announced it will invest $24.5 million over the next six years to support community institutions and work to keep young anglo Quebecers in the province.

The money will go toward the secretariat of anglophone affairs created last November, with Minister Kathleen Weil at its helm. To date, the bureau within Quebec’s civil service designed to ensure the needs of the community are reflected in government policy, had received $1 million in funding and counted five employees. Tuesday’s budget marked the first time a firm dollar figure had been connected to the secretariat.

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We need to find ways to break the isolation of anglo seniors, Weil says

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Younger Quebecers need to respect, value and spend more time with isolated seniors, perhaps particularly in Quebec’s anglophone communities, the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers said Friday.

“There needs to be a major public campaign to sensitize people to the value that these seniors represent for the community,” Kathleen Weil told reporters after a meeting with leaders of about a dozen organizations that serve elderly anglophones on the island of Montreal. “They deserve full respect.”

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Minister responsible for anglos meets with English seniors’ groups

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The minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers met with leaders from more than a dozen Montreal seniors’ groups Friday to hear their concerns.

Kathleen Weil acknowledged that English-speaking seniors require some adapted public services. Weil and the head of the English-language secretariat have toured the province to gather data on minorities, including information about anglophone seniors. This data will be used to create a new government action plan.

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Leitão, Weil meet with Anglo groups for budget feedback

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With Quebec’s next budget just around the corner, Finance Minister Carlos Leitão asked Anglophone communities how the government should be spending its money on Wednesday. 

Leitão and Minister for English-Speaking Quebecers Kathleen Weil held a private meeting with several groups at McGill University. It’s part of a series of consultations to prepare for the budget, which will be released in several weeks.

 

The Quebec Community Groups Network, which was at the meeting, welcomed the news, but noted that there isn’t much time for any feedback to find its way into the budget.

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