NEWS

Dominique Anglade Quits Politics

MATHEW ANANIA News Editor & Managing Editor

In May of 2020 Dominique Anglade was appointed as the leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec, occupying the position for a mere two and a half years. Remarkably, Anglade made history by becoming the first woman of color to lead a political party in Quebec. However, just over a month ago Anglade announced her resignation as the leader of the PLQ and of the Official Opposition. Anglade fulfilled her duties as the member of the National Assembly for Saint-HenriSainte-Anne until December 1st. Marc Tanguay, the member of the National Assembly of the LaFontaine riding was instantly appointed as the interim leader of the party and of the Official Opposition. Although seemingly inconsequential, Anglade’s departure is another example of the glass cliff phenomenon.

In Getting on Top of the Glass Cliff: Reviewing a Decade of Evidence, Explanations, and Impact (2016), Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam argue that glass cliff phenomenon refers to “the tendency for women to be more likely than men to be appointed to leadership positions that are risky and precarious” (Ryan et al.). Although similar in shared aspects, the glass ceiling refers to an entirely different phenomenon. In Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Structural, Cultural, and Organizational Barriers Preventing Women from Achieving Senior and Executive Positions, Johns argues that the glass ceiling “is a metaphor for the invisible and artificial barriers that block women and minorities from advancing up the corporate ladder to management and executive positions.” (Johns). Nonetheless, both address discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender within the work force. Leading up to the 2018 Quebec provincial election, the PLQ was the majority government, and had garnered a vote share of approximately 42% in the previous election. At the head of the party was Philippe Couillard, who had led Quebec for the past four years. In a shocking turnout, the PLQ saw their vote share reduced by nearly half. Moreover, their seat share at dissolution was 70, nearly incomparable to the 31 seats they garnered in the following election. Couillard immediately stepped down from his role as the leader, and explained that he was leaving the spot to “a new generation of Liberals”. However, this can be interpreted as the glass cliff phenomenon at play. In fact, Couillard knew the CAQ was experiencing a surge in popularity, and consequently, the PLQ were experiencing a massive decline. Thus, although it seemed as though Couillard chose to step down and hand off the party to someone else, it was under the guise of shifting the blame onto someone else.

The blame is shifted onto Anglade, when in reality, Couillard chose to step down when he knew that the PLQ was losing its power in Québec.

Dominique Anglade was appointed as the leader of the PLQ in 2020. As seen in the results of the 2022 provincial election, the party experienced a greater, more catastrophic loss than in the previous election. However, this underlines the glass cliff phenomenon. The blame is shifted onto Anglade, when in reality, Couillard chose to step down when he knew that the PLQ was losing its power in Québec. Anglade, a woman of color, was appointed as the leader of the party, imparting her with a negative connotation after the expected disaster.

However, the glass cliff phenomenon was posited long before Anglade was subjected to it. In fact, the glass cliff phenomenon is also interchangeably referred to as the Kim Campbell phenomenon. In 1993, Brian Mulroney, the reigning prime minister and leader of the Tories, was experiencing a rapid decline in the polls. The party was suffering, and it was clear that their chances of re-election were slim to none. After Mulroney officially stepped down from politics and his position, Kim Campbell was appointed as the first woman prime minister of Canada. However, the party experienced a massive loss, and were crushed by the Liberals. Kim Campbell, the only woman prime minister in Canada to date, was given a poor reputation and image. Mulroney put the future candidate and leader on a glass cliff, only to make them fail, and assign the failure to them. More importantly, the glass cliff phenomenon is not only applicable to those who have led the country. For instance, shortly after the 2019 federal election, leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, resigned from the position. Shortly after, Annamie Paul, a woman of color, was appointed as the leader of the party. However, the Green Party experienced a massive decrease in vote share in the 2021 election. In fact, they saw their vote share decreased by two-thirds. Ultimately, the blame gets shifted onto Annamie Paul, yet the Green Party saw a rapid decrease in popularity after Elizabeth May departed. This imparts Paul with the negative connotation of being a terrible politician. Just recently, Elizabeth May stepped back up as the leader of the Green Party. Ultimately, women are negatively connoted in Canadian politics, largely due to the glass cliff phenomenon. This is not a case of the captain going down with their ship, it is setting someone up to fail and take the blame. And in Canadian politics, the men usually set up the glass cliff for women and minorities to fail. p p

Photo VIA PAUL CHIASSON /

THE CANADIAN PRESS.

Rent Increase:

The Effect on Dawson College Students

AYA HAFEDA News Editor

During this upcoming season of crisp winds and white layers, the streets of Montreal are crammed with ‘À Vendre’ signs.

In 2022, the province of Quebec faces between a 6.5% and 7% of basic rent increase. For heated residencies, the percentage is higher depending on the employed method. The average rent in Montreal is now above $1,500. Dawson College has an estimate of 11 000 students. Most do not live near the campus region. This is the case for second year literature student Maya Jadah. This student comes from the village of Hemmingford located in the south of Quebec. Getting to Dawson College would take approximately an hour by car and public transports are not available in the region. In August 2021, she moved to Montréal with a roommate near campus claiming it was an unavoidable change most students from Hemmingford go through. To this student, the rate inflation had a great impact on her: “It was hard to budget everything”. All the money Maya had worked for during the summer and set aside went mostly into the coverage of the increasing rent. According to the student, this process furthermore complicated acquiring groceries. “I had a hard time budgeting, I still do.” Jadah believes that the upheaval of moving into a large and urban city like Montreal incites a new lifestyle that didn’t coincide with the growing rent of the city: “Near December, I couldn’t afford rent”.

The average rent in Montreal is now above $1,500.

The stress of having to keep up a certain amount of hours per week at work to afford her apartment affected the young student on a mental level as well: “Looking back on it now, it was so stressful […] adapting to having to pay rent and budget. It was stressful having to adapt to that”. The student additionally states the following: “Working with having school, that was like stressful and even now; I’m working 4 days a week while going to school, so it gets really stressful sometimes”. Despite having a load of work and attempting to pay attention to school, Maya still has to work 19 hours a week to cover her rent: “There’s a lot of pressure”.

They need to recognize the struggles that students can go through when they have no choice but to move out to go to school.

When asked if her working hours interfered with her academic goals, she admits to having struggled when first moving out; she had not fully adapted to the balance between work and school and procrastinated often. This caused dissatisfaction with her grades and made the student feel overwhelmed as a result. Maya Jadah believes that “they need to recognize the struggles that students can go through when they have no choice but to move out to go to school” During the 3rd October elections, Quebec residents decided to grant Premier Minister François Legault a second term. Along with his reelection, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party, promised to hand out checks to all qualified 6.5 million taxpaying Quebeckers before the holidays. This will aid them with the rent inflation Quebec is facing. The checks will vary from $400 to $600 depending on the resident’s revenue. Eric Gerard, finance minister, states on a news conference that as of December, $400 will be handed out to citizens whose salary in 2021 was between $50,000 and $100,000. Moreover, Gerard stated: “It’s our responsibility to help Quebecers cope with the increase in inflation -- the essential needs are immediate”. As for the $600, it will be handed out to those whose salary was less than $50,000 in 2021. For residents whose salary exceeded $100,000, no checks will be collected. This money will even be accorded to people who already owe the government money. Arian Cerone is a second year Dawson student who plans on moving near Dawson soon. He states: “I live very far in the East end and it’s completely impossible to commute in a small amount of time if I don’t drive […] there are no parking lots around metro stations […] it’s completely impossible for me to commute in a reasonable time and be on time for my class”. The student wishes to move somewhere near campus to avoid the complications that come with depending on a car.

Hard to keep that kind of schedule with a consistent school schedule.

He believes that a better paying job will be needed for him to cover rent when he moves out. Despite a greater wage, Cerone says that he would also have to work many hours. He believes it would be “hard to keep that kind of schedule with a consistent school schedule”. The process of covering an inflating rent will then have a negative impact on Adrian’s academic work. Adrian furthermore says that “Even if I continue going to classes, I’m probably going to be behind on certain projects or assignments or going to have to rush more”. p p