Volume 112, 4 | Monday, September 26, 2022 | mcgilldaily.com insidious since 1911
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The upcoming Quebec provincial election taking place on October 3 will mark a decisive moment for the province’s future policy-making. While the CAQ has dominated advanced polls for months, the party’s governance since Premier François Legault was elected in 2018 has remained highly controversial. With polls opening next Monday, it is crucial to remember the ways in which the CAQ has repeatedly ignored and outright failed Quebec’s communities in these particularly difficult years.
Under the CAQ, Quebecers have endured countless new and disastrous policies that have further marginalized and divided people across the province. Throughout the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CAQ displayed complacency and negligence through its inability to remedy the rampant understaffing and shortage of hospital beds within Quebec’s health care system. Instead, the methods that the CAQ employed to lower the spread of the virus relied on coercion. This led to the enactment of policies like curfews that disproportionately affected marginalized peoples by directing further funding to overpolicing. In a misdirected response to increased gun violence in Montreal, furthermore, the CAQ pledged to increase police spending by $250 million over the next five years – which will, in effect, further criminalize racialized minorities.
Over the past four years, the CAQ has formalized its exclusionary policies into laws that have harmed marginalized communities. Bill 32, implemented this past June with the supposed objective of “protecting university academic freedom,” has been decried by students and professors alike since it allows the free use of slurs as long as they are used in an “academic environment.” The language-reforming Bill 96, meanwhile, has created barriers to accessing social and legal services for Quebec’s English-speaking minority and allophones, particularly Indigenous peoples and new immigrants. Bill 21, implemented to promote “secularism” in the province, instead discriminates against religious minorities – Muslim hijabi in particular – and Indigenous peoples. The hypocrisy of the Bill is clear given Legault’s announcement to invest an estimated $40 million into the preservation of Quebec’s religious heritage.
It is resoundingly clear that Legault is unwilling to listen to the concerns of Quebecers criticizing his government’s repeated inaction and complacency. Recently, Legault has come under fire again for continuing to deny the existence of systemic anti-Indigenous racism in the Quebec medical system. This month, two years following the murder of 37-year-old Joyce Echaquan in a Joliette hospital, Legault claimed that members of Atikamekw nation and Carol Dubé, Echaquan’s husband, “want to have a debate about words rather than ensuring that we fix the problems on the ground.” Additionally, he dismissed the problems in hospitals as “fixed.” In an open letter replying to Legault’s comments, Dubé stressed that “the systemic problems that led to Ms. Echaquan’s
death are not of a nature that can be ‘fixed’ by essentially cosmetic changes.”
Legault’s deplorable statements come mere weeks after another highly contested campaign in which he tied increased immigration to “violence” and “extremism” and stated that non-francophone immigrants are a threat to Quebec’s “national cohesion.” The continued stronghold that the CAQ has over the province only bolsters Legault more, as the pressing issues that desperately need addressing, such as an improved health system and Indigenous rights, are neglected in favour of protecting reactionary “Québécois values.”
Although the CAQ is projected to win this election, it remains as important as ever to cast your vote on October 3. Youth voter turnout rates in Canada have been notoriously low in past decades, with turnout rates for voters aged 18 to 24 being some 28 per cent lower than those for the 65 to 74 age range. In the 2018 Quebec election, the turnout for those aged 35 and younger was 16 per cent lower than the one for those aged over 35, CTV Montreal reported.
In the face of a government which has consistently resisted change in favour of reactionary social policies, we must take the initiative to offer mutual aid and bring support to organizations and movements fighting to enact positive change. Support initiatives that make health care more accessible to Indigenous peoples, such as the Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke. Pressure your local policymakers to adopt Joyce’s Principle, which “demands that all Indigenous people have an equal right to the highest standard of physical and mental health, with a right to traditional medicines and the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals.” Go vote on October 3, as regardless of which party wins this year’s provincial election, it is crucial that we continue to pressure our elected officials to fight against the repressive policies put forth by the CAQ.
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Despite being formed only 11 years ago, the CAQ currently has a stranglehold on the Quebec political scene. Holding 76 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly, the question surrounding the outcome of the upcoming election does not appear to be whether party leader François Legault can win re-election as Premier but rather the degree to which his party will dominate. With polls projecting a landslide victory for the CAQ, the question arises: what’s behind the party’s rise in popularity?
Who are the CAQ? How have they become so popular?
To understand the CAQ, it is important first to consider the Quebec political scene. “Québec politics has a number of specific
features when you compare it to politics in all or most other provinces,” explains Daniel Béland, Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and a Professor
at McGill, in an interview with the Daily. “First, for obvious reasons, language is a key issue in Quebec politics, which is seldom the case in other provinces — “with the
exception of New Brunswick, [Québec is] the only officially bilingual province in Canada.”
“Second, the issue of whether Quebec should remain part of Canada has been a major issue since the early 1970s,” Béland added.
The CAQ has been particularly conscious of both of these factors and actively plays into them via its “positioning,” says Bryan Breguet, the Vancouver-based poll analyst behind tooclosetocall.ca, over an email exchange with the Daily. It “started as this party that wanted to change things, similar to the [Action Démocratique du Québec], thus why they merged. Over time, it has transformed into a much more centrist force. It’s ‘popularist’ in the sense that the party often adopts the position that is popular.” “To win [in Quebec] you need to build the right coalition on two axes.”
The CAQ knows that and “they
dominate because they are at the centre both economically and on the independence question.”
As a result, the party has been able to take over the politics of a province that has seen its elections historically dominated by the Parti Québécois (PQ) and Québec Liberals (PLQ). Serving as a coalition “of federalists and (former) sovereignists who support strong provincial autonomy for the province within Canada,” the party actually “does not support the idea of a new referendum on sovereignty,” Béland explains. Instead, the CAQ looks to attract “older Francophones, especially those who don’t have a university degree” – a group which has become their “main” voting base in recent years.
According to Béland, the CAQ has been able to rise to the top of Quebec politics largely by “attract[ing] votes
“First, for obvious reasons, language is a key issue in Quebec politics, which is seldom the case in other privledges - with the exception of New Brunswick [Quebec is] the only officially bilingual province in Canada” - Professor Daniel Béland
Hyeyoon Cho | Design Editor
from Francophones who used to vote for the PLQ and the PQ.” It is primarily at the expense of the PQ, “which needs strong support among Francophones to win seats,” and has grown to even surpass the Liberals, who “traditionally receive disproportionate support from Anglophones and Allophones.”
The CAQ’s embrace of Quebec nationalism has been key to this migration of francophone voters. When asked how that is currently defined in the province, Mr. Béland explained, “Québec nationalism is typically grounded in the claim that Quebecers form a distinct nation characterized by a shared culture, language and history.” “Before the Quiet Revolution, French Canadian nationalism was centred on both language (French) and religion (Catholicism) but the emphasis on religion declined very rapidly starting in the 1960s. Much more recently, over the last two decades, secularism became a major issue for Québec nationalism,” Béland stated.
(the first being Bill 21), Bill 96 was actually inspired by the concerns of the CAQ’s voting base, “older francophones,” many of whom feel that Quebec is losing its French heritage.
Indeed, alarms were raised among “older francophones” when reports showed that, in 2021, “14,000 people immigrated to Quebec under Canada’s family reunification program, with [just] 51 per cent of these people being able to speak French.” Attempting to alleviate these concerns by doubling down on protecting Quebec heritage, Bill 96 attempts to serve as a solution: Béland explains that, through the law, the CAQ is aiming to give Quebec “stronger autonomy within Canada via the protection of the French language.”
To accomplish this, the new law pushes for language reform through several mediums, such as education and immigration. Beginning with education, the law is headlined by a cap on the number of students that can attend English speaking CEGEPs, with
CAQ’s rise is primarily at the expense of the PQ, “which needs strong support among Francophones to win seats.” The Party has grown to even surpass the Liberals, who “traditionally receive disproportionate
This is perhaps the area on which the CAQ has focused the most. “Quebec nationalism is still very strong,” explains Breguet.
“Quebecois feel Quebecois first and not Canadians and it hasn’t changed.” Under the leadership of Mr. Legault, the party has united around a concept which has been coined “Quebec first” nationalism. Although the idea has adapted over the years, its central traits remain fixed around a commitment to building a proud French Quebec society. More specifically, the party seeks to reaffirm the historical experience of francophones and their culture in light of an increasingly globalized Canada. To do this, the CAQ attempts to energize francophones by enacting legislation that emboldens Quebec heritage on key issues, such as those regarding secularism and linguistic protection – highlighted by the adoption of controversial Bills 96 and 21.
Nationalism in action: Bill 96
Passed in May 2022, Bill 96 is Legault’s “Quebec first” policy in action. Serving as the second major piece of legislation passed during his near four-year tenure as premier
limits preventing yearly enrollment increases of 8.7 per cent or higher. For those currently enrolled in English CEGEPs, the province has also now mandated thatstudents take at least three 45-hour courses in French, as students “who d[o] not have the speaking and writing knowledge of French required” by the government can no longer obtain a CEGEP diploma.
Immigrants to Quebec will now have just six months of English access to provincial government services. After that, they will be mandated to seek services in French – unless an exception may be made because their case deals with “health, public safety or the principles of natural justice.”
The law has also faced legal setbacks. Amendments to the justice system – which would’ve stipulated that judges will no longer need to have “a specific level of knowledge of a language other than the official language” (French) – have been promptly tossed by the Quebec Superior Court in recent months. Similarly, an amendment that requires all public contracts (that is, contracts entered into by the Civil Administration) to be drafted
exclusively in French is also being challenged on the arguments that the costs of translation might leave underprivileged English-speaking Quebecers without the ability to read legal contracts.
Bill 96 remains incredibly divisive within the province, as just 56 per cent of citizens support it. Crucially, a poll found that 88 per cent of CAQ voters support or strongly support the Bill.
Bill 96
Interestingly, Bill 96 does not hold the sole title for most controversial bill passed by the CAQ during Legault’s tenure as premier. That instead is shared with Bill 21. Officially known as “The Act respecting the laicity of the State,” Bill 21 prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by certain public servants and contractors, like public school teachers and prosecutors, and was perhaps the inspiration behind Bill 96.
Just like Bill 96, Bill 21’s origins are rooted in recent Quebec history. Between “2014 and 2016, the CAQ [was] going nowhere, stuck at 20 per cent and losing in by-elections like Saint-Jerome,” details Breguet.
“The PQ was this close to coalescing all the anti PLQ vote.” It was in that context that the PQ launched a similar campaign to limit the wearing of religious symbols in the form of Bill 60, known commonly as the Quebec Charter of Values.
Indeed, Bill 60 reads eerily similar to Bill 96, stipulating that “while relatively discrete items such as a finger ring, earring, or small pendants bearing a religious symbol will be allowed,” “more obvious items such as a kippah, turban, hijab, niqab, and larger crosses
and religious pendants would be prohibited” in the public sector. And eerily similar to Bill 96, Bill 60 was highly criticized by public officials. So, what happened? Ultimately, it never became law – the PQ lost their re-election campaign just months later to the PLQ, killing Bill 60 in the process. Breguet maintains that there “is easily an alternate universe where the PQ passes the Charter of Quebec values in 2014 and becomes the CAQ”.
Passed in 2019, Bill 96 ultimately does not share the same fate as Bill 60. It represents Quebec’s toughest crackdown on religion in recent memory; Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said that all public workers in positions of authority are no longer allowed to wear religious symbols, regardless of the size of the object. But it does share the same core vision that Bill 60 had for Quebec, once again seen through the lens of Quebec nationalism.
To the CAQ, globalization is not something to be embraced. The party is concerned that non-francophone immigration will make Quebec culture vulnerable and increasingly dependent on a world where English is the common language. This is why Legault has embraced what he calls “interculturalism” –an approach that opposes the idea of multiculturalism and instead seeks to assimilate immigrants into “Quebec” culture. The premier said in June that it was important for Quebec to avoid putting all cultures on equal pegging. Bill 21 and Bill 96 are being used to facilitate the preservation of cultural legacies that the CAQ feels are necessary for keeping together social bonds
threatened by globalization. With the CAQ looking likely to win reelection, they likely are not going away anytime soon.
The future of nationalism and the future of the party
So, what is next for the CAQ? More of the same. The party is wrapping up the election cycle with intentions to double down on its “Quebec First” brand of nationalism, doing so by seeking increased powers for Quebec within Canada; it wants Ottawa to transfer control of immigration to the province entirely to Quebec. The CAQ also intends on ensuring that Bill 96 is passed in its entirety as it plans to fight with Canada’s legal system over disputed amendments, such as the one that ensures judges will no longer need to have “a specific level of knowledge of a language other than the official language.”
Ultimately, whatever they do, polls project that the CAQ and François Legault will likely exit the election with an overwhelming majority of Quebec’s National Assembly supporting him. The premier is so popular that when Pope Francis visited Quebec in July, La Presse’s cartoonist Serge Chapleau drew him beside Pope Francis with someone asking in a crowd: “Who is the man in white beside Legault?” Quebec politics has always been described as a unique game, yet it’s been one the polls show that the CAQ has been able to uniquely master. Despite their short history, polls show that the CAQ are steering the ship of Quebec politics, with Mr. Legault sitting firmly at the helm. He has Quebec nationalism to thank for that.
Eve Cable | Staff Illustrator
On September 15, PlateauMont Royal and MiltonParc residents gathered at a public assembly to discuss the fate of the Hôtel Dieu de Montréal site, located between Duluth, Pins, Parc and Saint-Urbain. The hospital was decommissioned for in-patient care in 2017 following the downtown opening of the University of Montreal Health Center (CHUM). The SaintUrbain Community (SCU), a coalition composed of 60 community groups and citizens of the area surrounding the former hospital, has proposed a housing project be constructed on the site. The project offers a solution to the “critical need for social housing” in the Plateau, per their website, and aims to create an inclusive environment for families, unhoused people, elders, and students. The plan also includes outdoor community spaces, local shops, studio spaces for artists, and one pavilion will continue to offer health services.
At the public assembly, community members had the opportunity to hear from candidates on how their platform will support the proposed redevelopment. Candidates in attendance were Ruba Ghazal of Quebec Solidaire, Jennifer Maccarone of the Quebec Liberal Party, and Chantal Rouleau of CAQ.
The Daily spoke with SCU president Dimitrios Roussopoulos to gain more insight about the project’s conception and future.
Closing of Hôtel-Dieu and History of the Hôtel-Dieu site Roussopoulos explained that the Quebec government, “in its misguided sense of priorities,” decided to merge, and subsequently close, a number of major hospitals in Montreal in order to build two “super- hospitals” – the Frenchlanguage hospital CHUM in south east Montreal, and the McGill University Health Centre in lower Westmount/ Notre-Dame-de-Grace. The construction for CHUM began in 2010, and in 2013 the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) announced the “surplus” status of H ô tel-Dieu. The merger would consolidate resources and medical equipment with the goal of ultimately better serving the health system. But the decision sparked backlash from Montreal residents, according to Roussopolous, on the basis of long wait times in emergency rooms across Quebec, and 41 fewer spaces at the new CHUM. H ô tel-Dieu and the Royal Victoria Hospital, along with five other hospitals, were subsequently closed.
In 2017, the Sisters of Saint Joseph – the religious order which served the Hôtel-Dieu before health services were managed under the MSSS – sold 400,000 square meters of this land, apart from one pavilion, to the City of Montreal. The SCU was then able to present their initial proposal to CHUM management. The closed pavilions of the hospital were temporarily reopened in March 2020 to provide specialized clinics for COVID-19 patients, to offer COVID-19 testing, and to temporarily function as a shelter for unhoused people.
Roussopolous says, “there were three major pavilions that were abandoned and this huge parking lot. And so people in the Milton-Parc neighborhood […] were concerned not only about the future of all this space, but also the urgent need for more social housing.”
According to Roussopolous, the initial coalition was formed in 2013 by Lucia Kowaluk, an important activist in the MiltonParc community. It “[consisted] of various housing groups which eventually took on the task of putting forward both a vision and an architectural plan [sic] to turn the abandoned pavilions and the parking lot into a major social housing project.”
The Daily asked Roussopolous what’s necessary in terms of government policy and financial support to move forward: “what
is needed is for […] the provincial Ministry of Health to do what it announced that it wanted to do, namely to give all of this space and these pavilions to the City of Montreal.” Although the City of Montreal is interested in assuming control over the site, there remains a political deadlock between the provincial and municipal government, per Roussopolous. Until a development plan is put into effect, the City requires money “from the provincial government to maintain the empty buildings over two or three winters,” which includes heating and electricity. Although the CAQ had issued a statement before the last election that they would collaborate with the SCU to realize the project, Roussopolous describes the CAQ as “dragging its heels.”
Considering the number of students who live in the Plateau, Roussopolous spoke on what McGill students can do to aid the project, stressing the importance of public exposure.
“The attention of McGill students and their participation in creating a campaign of public pressure, either through your student council or through your media tools that you have on campus, is extremely important. The students have to show that they’re interested in helping, not just interested in benefiting from the eventual success of the project,” stated Roussopolous. Making more people aware about such an opportunity for public housing, and putting public
pressure on the government and the MSSS to come toward an agreement is crucial for the project to move forward. He pointed to the Milton-Parc project, which started in 1968 and finally succeeded by 1980 – “with the support of a lot of people, including McGill students, we succeeded to create the largest non profit cooperative housing project on a land trust in North America and thousands of people benefit from it. So again, it takes that kind of collaboration and support.”
Anna Zavelsky| Coordinating Editor“People in the Milton-Parc neighborhood […] were concerned not only about the future of all this space, but also the urgent need for more social housing.”
-Dimitrios Roussopolous, president of the Saint-Urbain Community
The attention of McGill students and their participation in creating a campaign of public pressure, either through your student council or through your media tools that you have on campus, is extremely important.
The past several years have been marked by meteorological abnormalities, ranging from extreme heat waves to weeks-long floods, hurricanes, droughts, and fires. In 2021 alone, 432 disastrous events related to natural hazards worldwide were reported by the Emergency Event Database (EMDAT). These accounted for 10,492 deaths, affected 101.8 million people, and caused approximately $252.1 billion USD-worth of economic losses.
On September 22, the World Weather Attribution (WWA) released a report demonstrating to what extent climate change exacerbated extreme floods in Pakistan, finding that vulnerable and unprepared populations were hit particularly hard.
Between July and August, Pakistan received an abnormal quantity of rainfall, causing one third of the country to be underwater. The WWA report details how this disaster has been intensified by global warming and attests that we are likely to see more of them in the future. Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the UN, said while in Pakistan last week that “there is nothing natural about the scale of these disasters.”
estimate $30 billion in economic damages. The Sindh province in the south was the most affected region, reporting to have received 466 per cent more than the 30-year rainfall average. In late August, the government of Pakistan declared a “national emergency”: 43 per cent of the population was in a situation of food insecurity even before the flooding, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that the “number of acutely hungry people is expected to rise substantially.” With many of the routes and communication lines being interrupted, the floods will also affect food delivery into Afghanistan, the organizations report.
One in seven Pakistanis was affected by the extreme monsoon, including 16 million children, according to UNICEF. In addition, 1,500 Pakistanis are estimated to have lost their lives, and millions are still without shelter. One third of Pakistan is underwater, damaging 80 to 90 per cent of crops and thus affecting the agricultural sector upon which approximately 40 per cent of the population depends, according to the most recent estimates. Officials additionally
The Daily spoke to Lauren Mueenuddin, specialist in Women and Children’s Health at Reproductive Health Network, who is currently in Pakistan in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where “many of the health units have been washed away,” she says. In response to the Pakistani government’s announcement that it may take two to six months for the water to recede completely, Mueenuddin comments that the “water insanitation is very grave; it also increases the risk of diseases such as malaria or dengue fever spreading.” She adds that “the medical situation was precarious before the floods and has been greatly deteriorated by the breakdown of the transport system.” Moreover, “many doctors in Pakistan are finding themselves in difficult situations and are trying to save their own lives,” Mueenuddin explains. But she insisted on the fact that “many Pakistanis are responding using their own means.” She has been working on trying to “expand primary health care and disease coverage, in particular for children and mothers and more specifically pregnant women, as thousands are expected to give birth alone and with no medical assistance, putting their lives and the life of their child in considerable danger,” she adds.
The South Asian Monsoon is part of a regional weather pattern in Pakistan, and in normal times this period of rain is generally viewed as favorable. However, this season’s extreme flooding seems to show that this is no longer the case. There are different factors at play to explain the scale of devastation, including what the New York Times lists as political instability,
government failures to make adaptive changes since the last major flooding in 2010, and a lack of adequate infrastructures and poor housing situations. Nonetheless, as declared by Friederike Otto, one of the scientists who contributed to the WWA study, human-caused “climate change also plays a really important role here.” Not only did the heatwaves that crippled the region in April accelerate the melting of glaciers in the north of the region, but the high temperatures also caused water to evaporate much faster from the Arabian Sea, causing more rain than the soil can absorb.
The WWA report observed that the five-day maximum rainfall over the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan is now about 75 per cent more intense than it would have been had the climate not warmed by 1.2 °C.
Pakistan is not alone in being exposed to both high climate vulnerabilities and low readiness. The Global South in general has been disproportionately the target of such disasters, yet it contributes less to greenhouse gas emissions.
Pakistan’s climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, pointed out in The Guardian , “It is not unreasonable to ask why countries with a negligible carbon footprint, like Pakistan, must pay for global warming catastrophes we had no part in creating.” Indeed, Pakistan emits less than one per cent of greenhouse gases in global emissions while the G20 countries (twenty of the world’s largest economies) alone
account for 75 per cent of global emissions. In addition, the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change explained that “vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change differs substantially among and within regions, driven by patterns of intersecting socio-economic development.” This is why Antonio Gueterres called for “massive” global support while blaming wealthier countries for contributing to the devastation, calling it “a matter of justice.”
In conversation with the Daily, Professor Pasha M. Khan, Chair in Urdu Language and Culture at McGill, insisted on the fact that there is an urgency for rich countries to “take responsibility, which means paying reparations to the countries concerned.” Indeed, the contrast between aid and reparation is fundamental – and not just in the case of Pakistan. The financial assistance should not be described as a gesture of “generosity” but rather as the “expected behavior of responsible countries” paying back what they owe, explains Khan.
Furthermore, Mueenuddin raised concern as to the issue of climate refugees not being endorsed by the UNHCR. Instead they are referred to as “persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change” by the UNHCR. The fact that some displaced by Pakistan’s flooding have not “crossed a border” means
that they are not legally considered “refugees” under the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees. Yet, today, 33 million people are displaced within Pakistan. This definition is an “obstacle to aid in situations like this,” Mueeneddin says, adding that the response in Pakistan is “minimum.” Nonetheless, she mentions that many “schools, universities and youth are also responding without waiting for international aid.”
Canada has decreased its GHG emissions from 1.8 per cent in 2005 to 1.5 per cent in 2019, yet it remains among the top ten countries with the most CO2 emissions globally, reports the Union of Concerned Scientists. At McGill, the association Divest McGill has denounced the almost $66 million (5.4 per cent of its endowment) the university has invested in oil and gas industries.
Allie, an environment student at McGill, in conversation with the Daily, pointed out the importance of “shifting national behaviors from guilt to responsibility.” The next Climate Change Conference (COP 27) is announced to take place in November in Cairo, and one of its main focuses is the “causes and effects of climate change.”
The recent events in Pakistan are “very concerning for our future,” comments Mueenuddin, emphasizing the importance of rectifying “polluting countries’ responsibility for climate disasters in other countries like Pakistan.”
Devastation caused by such natural disasters is “a matter of justice,” says UN in seven Pakistanis were affected by the extreme monsoon, including 16 million children, according to UNICEF.Nelly Wat | Contributing Illustrator
Self-described as “built for service,” former Montreal Gazette columnist and founder of the Montreal-based YouTube chef series Beyond the Plate, Heidi Small is looking to represent the Westmount-Saint-Louis riding as a member of Bloc Montreal in the National Assembly.
The Daily sat down with Small to discuss her career in food, her involvement with the local community, the language debate, and anglophone rights.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The McGill Daily (MD): What was the genesis of your political career?
Heidi Small (HS): I have been thinking about this a lot. The best answer I can come up with is that I’m an accidental politician. I would never have imagined that there was a title for my passion. But my
passion is so strong and I’m such an advocate – whether for my children, for myself.
I first met Balarama Holness by complete coincidence at an event; we became friends and I heard his story. I [was] starting to fear for my life with all the crazy politics that are happening with Bill 96 –everything that comes with the language laws, our democracy, everything at risk. So I said to him: “I’m going to help you, Balarama. You are going to make a difference.” He also met with me a few times for coffee and I was introduced to some key figures in the community. All of a sudden he looks at me and says: “You’re the one that needs to be running here. You are a representation of Montreal in all its finest moments. Run with me.” And I was like: “Run where?” I didn’t even know what the language was with a campaign and a race. He said to me: “Just run in my campaign; I’ll explain it to you. Your
riding is Westmount, you are a born leader. You’ve lived in Westmount for over 23 years, everybody knows you, you are so community-minded – do it.”
MD: Balarama said that you were “community-minded.” Was that in reference to your show Beyond the Plate, where you provide a platform to local chefs in Montreal?
HS : Absolutely. Your DNA – who you are, the cloth that you’ve been cut from –identifies and tells you the direction that you need to be going in. So I learned who I was and the cloth that I was cut from when I was starting to raise money on behalf of my late father for brain cancer. So I’m like: “I’ve got something here, people listen to me, and I can create change.” Even though the problem of cancer is so enormous, I brought it back to a place of “what can I do today?” I can’t think about tomorrow and the next day. It’s just: “Heidi, what can you raise for today?” That’s my
kind of mentality: day by day, making a small mark on the community.
I completely changed my life and my career after my father passed away because I saw the beauty and the sadness of how fragile your life is. I was ready for a change. After losing my father, I thought, “You’ve got to make it count this next round.” So I called up the Montreal Gazette and I found out the right emails and I put a pitch together because I wanted to highlight Montreal chefs and tell their stories. It was not about critiquing and breaking them down; it was about uplifting them in a shining light.
I’m almost built for service, which is what you need to be when you’re a politician. When you’re a politician, you have to have a burning desire to do better for others at all times. The chef platform was beautiful to do that. I can go and just shine a light on the beautiful chef community. So
Zach Cheung | Features Editorit was all there. All I had to do was slap on a new label, calling myself an active politician. But really, I look at myself like a very passionate person who cares.
MD: Would you say that engaging with the chef community allowed you to transition to engaging with
A discussion on the importance of Montreal’s diversity and anglophone rights
I’m almost built for service, which is what you need to be when you’re a politician.
the local business aspect of Montreal – the everyday people who are outside of the culinary world?
HS : Absolutely. I think food unites. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, it doesn’t matter what country you come from – if you put food in the middle of a table, people gather.
But the most important part of our city is that we have many languages and we have people coming from all over to start here. We have immigrants coming here. We would have no culture, no food, nowhere to eat if it wasn’t for that beautiful diversity that makes this metropolis and culinary epicentre. I want to continuously break barriers and bring people together, whether it is to hear different languages, to hear about different cultures, or to, of course, eat different food.
MD: Westmount-SaintLouis, your riding, is home to a very diverse population. In the municipal district of Peter-McGill, which overlaps with Westmount-Saint-Louis, 60 per cent of people are immigrants. Additionally, students come from everywhere to study at McGill. What would it mean to you to represent a population as diverse as this one?
HS: Well, I come from a very traditional Jewish home and I went to a Jewish school where I learned four languages: French, English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. So I’m all about the sacrifices from parents who want to keep educating their kids about where they come from and who they are as a
person. I want everyone who comes here to feel safe, and I want them to feel welcome because they will be, ultimately, the tapestry that makes this city so diverse and beautiful.
MD: In what ways does your desire to prevent newcomers from feeling alienated relate to laws like Bill 96 and Bill 21?
HS: When somebody is cut from the wrong cloth and they feel a sense of insecurity, they’re always shaky, they’re broken inside, and they’re always looking for a way to bring people down. I can’t help but wonder, who is Legault speaking to? Is he speaking to a fragmented, broken, insecure group? To me, when you are proud, when you’re a proud Montrealer or you’re a proud Quebecois(e), it will never matter what language you speak. So it pains me that he’s breeding this sense of insecurity when Montrealers play beautifully together. We know how to speak and communicate.
In the end, it isn’t about being perfectly bilingual; it’s about being a good human and being secure within yourself.
So it really hurts that he’s fueling this fire of insecurity about the “mother language” when it doesn’t exist amongst the people who are walking the streets every day. We all get along; we all play nice.
MD: On your Instagram, you said that Bloc Montreal is “the Liberal Party done right.” Could you expand on what you meant by that, knowing that the Liberal Party has historically been a popular representative of anglo communities?
HS: The new English leadership that has sprouted is actually because the English population does not feel protected by the Liberal Party. In many ways they feel that their leadership fell asleep on the job and let these bills pass in the night.
So Balarama said, I am a Liberal, but I’m not doing it the way they are doing it. I’m going to have to go out there and build my own platform, my own party, that speaks to a generation and a community that no longer identifies with its leadership.
MD: Bloc Montreal seeks to have representatives mainly
in the Montreal region, but what would you say to Anglo-Quebecers outside of Montreal who may align with your views but who don’t have a representative from Bloc Montreal to represent them?
HS: When you’re a David and Goliath-type movement, you have to start somewhere. Would Balarama wish to have representation off the island of Montreal? Absolutely. But he chose strategically. And it’s like, do you spread yourself thin and get very little results? Or do you put yourself in a very dense English population and play those odds? And I feel as though he did a great job at centering himself and not spreading himself too thin and choosing very specific people to run in the race and win.
MD: Bloc Montreal has advocated for policies that would make Montreal more autonomous. What is the importance of the policy on your platform stating that 20 per cent of the Quebec Sales Tax generated in Montreal should be redirected to the municipal government?
HS: Small businesses are unique. The coffee shops, the bagel shops – all of these gorgeous businesses took such a hit during the pandemic. We are coming out of extraordinary times. It’s hard enough just to have survived the pandemic. On top of that, now, just as people are finding their last breath, they have to face new regulations, new fears. Holding on to those percentages of those taxes to give back to the community – back to small business – is what will, I think,
resuscitate everybody coming out of the pandemic.
MD: A lot of young people can be very cynical not only about politicians but about voting in general. What would you say to people who would be hesitant to vote for a small party like yours versus any other party that might be older or bigger?
HS: It’s an ocean. But to a young population that feels disgruntled or misrepresented, I would say to them, like I would say to anybody, you need to exercise your right to vote, whether it is for me or for somebody else. Don’t let it slip, don’t be lazy. Get up and go and exercise your right to vote.
Then I would say, because there’s so much noise out there with everybody fighting for what seemingly feels like the same thing – English [language] rights. I would say, do your homework and go out and try and investigate further who these people are in your riding. Don’t get overwhelmed by chasing a party. Go and chase candidates and hear them and see what they have to say because it will just come down to who resonates with you. It comes down to a feeling. And I truly believe that in this election and in my riding, it will just come down to who you feel comforted by. Who speaks and resonates with your voice? That’s all. It’s going to come down to who speaks on your behalf with the loudest voice, with the most coherent plan, and – like a bulldog in the ring – who is going to get hold of that bone and not let go.
The new English leadership that has sprouted is actually because the English population does not feel protected by the Liberal Party.
Don’t get overwhelmed by chasing a party. Go and chase candidates and hear them and see what they have to say because it will just come down to who resonates with you.
David Touchette has immersed himself within the politics of social change throughout his 10 year career as a member of Quebec Solidaire (QS). An outspoken environmentalist and vocal dissident of Bill 96, Touchette is a running candidate for QS in the riding of Westmount-SaintLouis.
The McGill Daily spoke with
Touchette in a conversation concerning topics spanning from QS’s support of Bill 96, to the importance of far-reaching climate change policies, and the young voter turnout.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The McGill Daily (MD) : How would you introduce yourself to people who may not be familiar with you?
David Touchette (DT): I was born in Haiti and was adopted by
a French Canadian couple at the age of eight months. Growing up, I lived in Drummondville, which makes it so that I have a good impression about what it is to be a stranger in a white city, but it was a very good expense. I have lived in Montreal since 2000.
When I came to Montreal, I decided to work in the fashion industry mostly as a reporter and video producer. During my time in fashion and all my life I was always interested
in social politics. When I was younger I was involved with the Institut du Nouveau Monde I was also involved with the Chambre de Commerce LGBT du Québec where I was on the administration board for three years and a member for ten years.
In 2018, I was a candidate with QS for the riding of Lafontaine (consisting of the neighbourhood of Rivière-des-Prairies). After that, and for the last four years, I was the spokesperson for
the Montreal area within QS’s coordination committee.
MD: You have lived in Westmount-Saint-Louis since 2012. What made you want to represent this riding?
DT: Sometimes I think I’m too transparent, that’s just my personality. WestmountSaint-Louis, it was not my first choice. I was thinking of running for another riding outside of Lafontaine because I had finished a contract with the
David Touchette | Québec SolidaireCorporation de développement Communautaire de Rivière-desPrairies (CDC RDP). If I were to be a candidate again in the Lafontaine riding, it would have been a conflict of interest because
We have the world in one place; from students, to permanent residents, to immigrants. For me, the reason why I thought, okay, why not go and run to represent this population is because I think that we have to be an example not only for Quebec, but also for the world. The fact that we have such a rich diversity in Westmount-Saint-Louis for me is the big reason to avoid saying: “Are you for sovereignty or not? Are you French or English?” No. Rather, it’s: “What can we do together with all the people from other places around the world?”
my main job was to work with all the community organization and stuff from the government. So I took a little step back and just said, you know what? Let’s see what place sounds comfortable in Montreal. Westmount-SaintLouis was the place where I lived, so I said, okay, why not? I live here and I think I have the potential.
My hesitation is just because a lot of people ask me the question: “why are you running in Westmount-Saint-Louis?” because for QS, it’s not a winning place. I think the reason why I accepted to run here is because I live here and I think we have a possibility to change our voice and benefit the community and
What can we do to Montreal to make this place an example for what we have always wanted for all other places around the world? Some people who live in Westmount-Saint-Louis have lived in countries where they don’t have a chance to have the perfect democracy that we have. There are also people who have lived in countries where climate change has affected their country more here in Canada and Quebec.
Montreal for me is the perfect place to have this diversity because we are a young society and we have a chance to learn from people who come from around the world. I’m so tired of the political discourse that says that the French language is in danger because we have more immigrants. I’m done with all that. It’s just wonderful to have a lot of people from around the world who come here to study, to know about us, to recognize that we have a very special way in which we communicate together — French. So I think we have to do as much as we can to welcome
to promote French. When we supported Bill 96, we didn’t take the time to improve upon it by adding methods to support French without limiting the anglophone community. The thing for me is that it’s very important that we are able to speak French. But when Legault put this bill on the table, it was automatically intended for confrontation and in that way this bill is not acceptable. The fact newcomers have six months to learn French and, on top of that, the policies that overshadow Indigenous languages, I was just pissed off about that. However, I’ve talked to Christine Labrie and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and gave them my opinion and they respect it. The amendment made to Bill 96 has also made me more comfortable with the law.
With the anglophone community, I know we have a lot of support from the left. I was just sad. Sometimes I fear that they will feel like we didn’t think about them, or that if we do think about them, it’s in opposition. For me, there are a lot of anglophones and immigrants who vote for QS and we have to try to represent them too. But, I understand that the members of QS who did vote in favour of Bill 96 did what they felt would be better for French. I know that they didn’t do this as an action against anglophones, as Legault wanted to do.
Bill 96 is a chance for us to show Quebecois(e) what we can do better. We didn’t have to support Bill 96, but what’s done is done. What I want to do is to advocate for what we should do, which is to promote French without being against English.
MD: What is the difference between voting for Bill 96 with the intent to be against Anglophones, which you have stated the CAQ has done, and voting for Bill 96 solely for the intent to promote French, as you have stated QS has done? Are the actions done by the members of these two parties the same?
we do with French. But I’m comfortable with the decision of QS because I know inside the members did what they thought was the best for French in Montreal while also wanting the anglophone community to feel good within Quebec.
MD: The leading representatives of QS, Manon Masse and Gabriel NadeauDubois, voted in favour of Bill 96. Do you believe that this may ultimately affect how nonfrancophones may view the party, despite people like you disagreeing with their position?
DT: Well, yes of course. When I started in this election, it was very difficult for me on the street. I received very bad comments because people thought that I was a traitor. And that’s what I told my team: the vision that QS had was going to have an impact. But I think we should not focus on this too much because QS has proven many times that they are very inclusive. They fight for the inclusion of everyone including anglophone people and immigrants. Of course, perception is very important. But in the end, I didn’t feel like I was part of a party that wanted to go against English; if that was the case I would have left.
But for people to have a bad perception about QS now because we supported Bill 96, I think, is not a good reason because we didn’t change. We are the same. We are environmentalists and feminists and our actions are intended to serve everyone.
MD: What do you believe within the QS platform is the most important policy for combating climate change?
DT: For me, the reduction of greenhouse gases by 55 per cent is most important. And I have to say it’s about time. I love QS because they are going far with the climate change policies. For example, another important thing about the platform for climate change is the electrification of public transport. A very high percentage of greenhouse gases are derived from public transportation and I think we have to fight for this now.
make a difference. I have seen a lot of stuff within this riding, because I have lived here for a long time, that I would like to change if the population is ready to vote for our party. But me, I’m here just to propose what we can do for Westmount-Saint-Louis.
MD: A lot of students live in Westmount-Saint-Louis and many of them, whether they come internationally or from the rest of Canada, may not be from Quebec. Do you think there are certain types of needs that a diverse riding like this requires?
DT: I’m very excited about that.
them and to help them to learn French and to make Montreal more open to integration.
MD: Some non-francophone Montrealers have said that Bill 96 presents obstacles for them to integrate into Quebec society. Some members of QS have supported this bill. You have stated that Bill 96 “will harm the party’s efforts to break into ridings where many anglophones and allophones live.” Could you expand upon that?
DT : I was not happy when I received this news because for me, QS possesses a better way
DT: When I worked with QS, I didn’t feel like they intended to place pressure against anglophones. However, I also really feel like QS had a case of tunnel vision; they were very focused on French and they didn’t see the impact that Bill 96 could have had on the anglophone community.
But another important thing I wanted to say involves Legault. I think how he talks — for example how he said how French in Quebec will become like French in Louisiana — shows how he doesn’t know what English in Quebec is. Even if you want to say that English is not good, English is everywhere. What we need to focus on is what
But like I said, I had a long conversation with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois about Bill 96 and I really feel like these guys are sensitive about what will happen to this community. He told me that he didn’t expect the reaction of people and sometimes I think in the heat of Parliament you can vote for some stuff of which you would not expect the result.
The nationalization of the transport is also very important for Montreal, but also for Quebec. My parents live in Drummondville. Especially during the pandemic, when many transportation companies reduced their hours of operation, it was not easy for me to take the bus there. So I had to rent a car, which is more expensive for me and it’s more harmful for the climate. If the government promised to create intercity public bus lines, I would have been able to go anywhere.
MD: A lot of young people can be very cynical of voting, especially with policies that aim to combat climate change that have taken a long time to actualize. What would you say to people who think like this?
DT: I think that the fact that things are going bad now does not mean that things could not go well in the future. It’s not a reason to stop fighting or to stop expressing oneself. It’s not going to be easy to make people understand the change we need to make, but it’s not a reason to stop. We are the next generation. Look at it this way: we struggle now to make people understand our opinion about climate change so that the next two years will be easier. The next five years will be even more easier. But we have to look to the future, and not always at the moment, because in the moment now it’s always going to be difficult. All of us, we have to continue to talk and to fight climate change. This is why I really resonate with QS’s policies because while we have a common goal, all voices are important to be included.
I also really feel like QS had a case of tunnel vision; they were very focused on French and they didn’t see the impact that Bill 96 could have had on the anglophone community.
I’m so tired of the political discourse that says that the French language is in danger because we have more immigrants. I’m done with all that.
[Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois] told me that he didn’t expect the reaction of people and sometimes I think in the heat of Parliament you can vote for some stuff of which you would not expect the result.
Una Chambard Commentary Contributor
As the school year commences and people share stories of their summers, you may notice a certain trend in summer jobs. Perhaps you’ll even be left with some questions like “what is WWOOFing?” In recent years, an increasing number of people have become interested in sustainable agriculture and have found jobs like working on a farm or planting trees. Studies show that over the past decade, the general population has expressed an increased interest in agricultural careers. By the way, WWOOFing refers to the organization WWOOF, also known as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The organization connects small organic farms with those looking to gain experience in agriculture. Participants receive free room and board (and occasionally a stipend) from the farms in exchange for labour and usually stay on the farms for a short period of time. This model is ideal for students since living expenses are covered, and many use WWOOF as an affordable way to travel since the network includes farms from all over the world. As the detrimental effects of industrial agriculture on climate demonstrate that we need to develop alternative agricultural methods, urban farming is also on the rise. A new wave of thought emphasizing regenerative agriculture that deviates from Western and capitalist norms is upon us. Many are inspired by this movement, and their first step is to get involved by learning how to farm. I, myself, spent three months of my summer working on a rooftop farm in Brooklyn, New York.
One of the major events contributing to the increase in general agricultural interest, ranging
from gardening to farming, was the beginning of the pandemic. Due to the shutdown of many businesses and gathering spaces, communities were forced to find new ways to engage in public spaces and with each other while still respecting social distancing guidelines. As a result, people started valuing their public parks and greenspaces more, especially in urban areas. Not only are public parks ideal gathering spaces because they are outdoors, but they are also some of the most accessible spaces since they are free. As a native New Yorker, I never spent more time in parks than when the city was the global epicenter for COVID in the spring of 2020. New York even temporarily changed its open container policies in 2020 to allow people to drink alcohol in public parks to encourage people to gather
outside. This increased use of public greenspaces led to an interest in activities that created or maintained these spaces. In my neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, community members started organizing park clean-ups to gather with others while carrying out a service that betters the quality of the park for everyone. The city service that collected compost was also suspended, and as an alternative a community compost bin was used in our local park. These alternative methods were more selfsufficient and more beneficial as they provided to the local community and connected community members with one another.
One of the main factors that drives this need for self-sufficiency is the ongoing climate crisis. Those who are aware of the effects that global food industries and their unsustainable practices have on climate change are tired of the lack of action exhibited by governments and other institutions and are searching for alternatives. In fact, climate change puts food supplies at risk. Increased natural disasters and rising temperatures threaten many agricultural sites lacking the necessary climate-resilient infrastructure to protect productive land from being lost to droughts or floods. To feed the growing population, we must develop agricultural practices that account for these pressures levied by climate change. It’s important to note that there is no single prevailing solution to these problems as they are developing in real time and vary
across geographical regions. However, one potential solution is to invest in urban agriculture infrastructure. Urban agriculture creates and/or uses greenspaces and food sources in areas where there were previously none, and it diminishes the need for cities to outsource food. The urban farm I worked on this past summer is a rooftop farm that puts space that would otherwise be empty to use. Imagine the amount of food that could be produced if every rooftop in Montreal was turned into a greenspace where crops could grow. Additionally, urban farms have the ability to provide for lower-income communities by offering job opportunities and greater food security.
Ultimately, the trend of young adults getting involved in agriculture demonstrates a desire to restructure the way in which societies interact with agriculture. As many grow tired of the reliance on massive corporations for food, they are turning to their own abilities to provide for their communities. The development of agriculture is considered by many historians to have triggered a revolution in the way humans live in structured society. Reimagining agriculture, then, would be one of the steps to a reimagined society. Take a second to reflect on what it would mean to be able to live in a city where you can walk to where your food is grown. Envision what it would be like to go to a greenspace in your community where you and your neighbours all work together to
cultivate food which you then take home to eat. Obviously, this seems very removed from our current reality, and it does have its limitations – such as the crops allowed for by local climates. It would also require massive amounts of funding. However, if even a small percentage of urban food supply was sourced through urban farming, this would make a big difference. After my three months of urban farming this summer, I began to appreciate the effort and resources that go into producing food like never before. I also enjoyed connecting with other people in my area over our shared interest, and the experience exposed me to a lot of urban agriculture initiatives about which I would never have known otherwise. I think everyone would greatly benefit from access to a greenspace intended to foster and nourish communities.
If you would like to get involved in in agriculture in Montreal, the city has various community gardens. Near my apartment in the Plateau, there is Santropol Roulant, which utilizes urban and peri-urban agriculture to provide food to those in need. Even at McGill there is Midnight Kitchen, which is a collective dedicated to providing free meals on campus. They have an on-campus garden open to volunteers where food is grown and then used in these meals. Even if you don’t have the time to volunteer, you can always stop by a farmer’s market to support local agriculture and enjoy some delicious produce.
Ultimately, the trend of young adults getting involved in agriculture demonstrates a desire to restructure the way in which societies interact with agriculture. As many grow tired of the reliance on massive corporations for food, they are turning to their own abilities to provide for their communities.Una Chambard| Commentary Contributor