Québec Education/universities May 2024 –

10-11 October
Andy Riga: One year later, Quebec’s anglophone universities still seek ‘respect’ from CAQ
Bishop’s University principal Sébastien Lebel-Grenier says he was “surprised and dismayed” by CAQ Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge’s claim this week that English-language universities “exaggerated” the impact of last year’s decision to target them with a tuition and funding overhaul.
Reacting to Roberge’s dig, Lebel-Grenier told The Gazette: “It’s very disingenuous for the minister to try to minimize the impact or to imply that we had overstated what the consequences would be.”
Last year’s changes, which blindsided the universities, have had a “very significant impact on us,” even though Bishop’s was exempted from part of the reform, including the tuition hike for students from other provinces, he said.
McGill University says its enrolment is stable this year in part because of a $3,000-per-year scholarship that it created to offset the tuition hike imposed by Quebec on Canadian students from outside the province.
McGill will release full statistics next week with more details, including the impact on out-of-province and international enrolment.
Anglophone universities say interest among that clientele plummeted after Oct. 13, 2023.
That’s when Roberge and Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry announced the changes, part of an effort to boost funding to French universities and reduce the number of non-French-speaking students in Quebec.
Quebec government will slap ceiling on number of international students
New legislation to reduce the number from the current level of 120,000 sparks concerns in both the francophone and anglophone university networks.
Philip Authier
(Montreal Gazette) Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister Jean-François Roberge will table a bill Thursday setting new limits on international students in Quebec.
At the same time as giving the government sweeping new powers to tighten up the system, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge refused to be specific on Thursday about the level of international students Quebec considers ideal as it undertakes a reform.
But in tabling new legislation to reduce the number from the current level of 120,000, Roberge said it’s clear the total has to drop, a remark that has already sparked concerns in both the francophone and anglophone university networks, which rely on the presence of foreign students to make ends meet and argue they are a valuable asset.
While rectors welcomed Roberge’s promise to work with them on the road ahead, all highlighted the importance such students play in their survival. Alexandre Cloutier, president of the Université du Québec network, said he has “profound concerns” about the plan because it could have a big impact particularly in the regions.
Roberge, however, played it cautious when he met the media after presenting his legislation, Bill 74, a 12-page piece of legislation that will now be sent to a committee for study.

26 September
Federal language watchdog urges anglos to fight Legault on English education
Raymond Théberge says the Coalition Avenir Québec government has gone too far by targeting English school boards and English universities.
Canada’s Official Languages commissioner has sharply criticized Premier François Legault’s government for its plans to dismantle English school boards and weaken English universities.
Théberge, whose role involves protecting language rights across Canada, vowed to help in the court fight against the plan to scrap school boards.
“Yes, it will end up in front of the Supreme Court of Canada and we will be there to defend Section 23 every time,” he said, referring to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In 2023, Quebec’s Superior Court ruled scrapping English school boards was unconstitutional because it infringed on Section 23‘s guarantee of minority language education rights. The province has since appealed the decision.
The Legault government has also targeted English universities. It wants to increase funding for French institutions and has complained too many McGill and Concordia university students don’t speak French.

10 July
After Quebec complains, Supreme Court justice recuses himself from Bill 21 challenge
Two more groups have joined a bid to get the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on the constitutionality of Quebec’s secularism law. Their decision follows that of a major Quebec teachers’ union and the English Montreal school board’s move to contest the law. They insist Bill 21 is rooted in discrimination and question the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause.

19 June
English Montreal School Board scores highest graduation rate in Quebec
(CTV) The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has scored the highest graduation rate in the province for the 2022-23 school year.
Chairperson Joe Ortona made the announcement at a board meeting Tuesday evening.
“I am immensely proud to announce that the EMSB has once again reached the pinnacle of success, achieving an astounding 95.9 per cent success rate,” Ortona said at the meeting.
That puts the EMSB above the provincial rate of 84.2 per cent, and above private schools at 93.5 per cent.
This comes as the board is spending millions of dollars in legal challenges against three bills adopted by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government.
The EMSB is waiting for its challenge against Bill 40 to be heard at the Court of Appeal.
The bill attempted to turn English school boards into school service centres.
The board is also taking its case against Bill 21(opens in a new tab), the religious symbols ban, to the Supreme Court of Canada.

18 June
McGill withdraws amnesty offer, toughens tone with pro-Palestinian protesters
McGill president Deep Saini says the university is exploring “the full spectrum of legal recourses” and disciplinary processes.
As the encampment at McGill’s downtown campus by pro-Palestinian protesters entered its 50th day, McGill’s administration announced it is ceasing discussions with the protesters and is withdrawing an offer of amnesty to students involved in the protest.
Saini said that over the course of the last 50 days, “we have seen a series of completely unacceptable incidents take place and have sought assistance from the police to address these matters. … As it has become clear that no fruitful outcome will result from these talks, we are ceasing discussions.”
Saini repeated his description of the encampment as “an unauthorized and illegal occupation of McGill property” that has “led to alarming behaviours,” including “targeted harassment and intimidation of students, staff and faculty,” the “forceful entry and illegal occupation of the James Administration Building,” the “hanging of a political figure’s effigy at the Roddick Gates” and “incendiary and provocative rhetoric, signage and graffiti both at the encampment and throughout the campus that intimidate, inflict harm and are often experienced as antisemitic.”

17 June
‘In very bad taste’: Montreal police consulting RCMP in probe of McGill encampment’s ad
But they say they have no legal foundation to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment.
The post that appeared last week on the Instagram account of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill features a group of young people wearing black and white head scarves sitting on the grass reading books, some holding rifles. The post asks the “youth of Montreal” to register for a four-week semester of classes on “The Palestine Question.” Activities would include political discussions, and historical and “revolutionary lessons.”

13 June
How the English Montreal School Board is challenging the CAQ, from the media to the Supreme Court
by Toula Drimonis
“We’re feeling constantly under attack, and that’s because we are. This government has attempted to abolish school boards, imposed arbitrary measures on who we can hire as teachers with Bill 21 and imposed further language restrictions with Bill 96.”
Joe Ortona, the chair of the English Montreal School Board, recently made headlines when he pointed out that the EMSB is better at teaching French than the Quebec government. Education Ministry statistics seem to confirm his point.
Ortona, the 43-year-old trilingual Quebecer of Italian origin who’s heading up the Bill 21 Supreme Court challenge, says a big part of his role as EMSB chair is fighting against the falsehood that English-speaking Quebecers aren’t interested in French.

6 June
Police use tear gas on crowd as pro-Palestinian activists occupy McGill University building
McGill president recently called for police response to rising tensions on campus
(CBC) Montreal police fired tear gas at a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside McGill University’s James Administration Building, where activists had blockaded themselves on the third floor Thursday evening.
Around 6 p.m. inside the building on the university’s downtown campus, masked demonstrators could be seen opening windows, chanting and waving a Palestinian flag on what appeared to be the third floor.

30 May
‘Unsustainable trajectory’: McGill expects $91M in losses due to Quebec funding overhaul
Andy Riga
The university may sell real estate, suspend major infrastructure projects and consider “strategic enrolment growth” at international locations.
In 2023-24, McGill posted a $422,000 surplus. But it expects a deficit of $12 million in 2024-25, according to a budget approved by its board of governors.
If it doesn’t cut costs or raise revenue, McGill University could face at least $91 million in cumulative losses and an annual deficit of $89 million by 2028 due to Quebec’s tuition and funding overhaul.
And the situation will deteriorate further if new French proficiency rules cause a drop in enrolment when they take effect next year, as both McGill and Concordia have warned may happen.
Quebec’s university policy changes are part of Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry’s drive to increase funding for French universities and reduce the number of non-French speakers in Montreal’s post-secondary institutions.
The government has complained too much English is being spoken on Montreal streets, with non-French-speaking students partly to blame.
McGill and Concordia are asking the courts to cancel Quebec’s tuition changes, arguing they contravene the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights.

27 May
Students horrified after seeing Netanyahu hanged in effigy on McGill’s Roddick Gates
“It’s really frustrating that hate has become acceptable at my school.”
The students noticed the effigy Sunday evening and say it was taken down, but not before one took a photo of what they described as a disturbing and offensive image. They also said they believe it was placed there by people involved with the pro-Palestinian encampment that went up on a field next to the gates a month ago.

22 May
The Value of Universities to Quebec and Canada
Céline Cooper: CPAC did a magnificent job capturing our recent event, The Value of Universities to Quebec and Canada, jointly organized by the Consortium of English-Language CEGEPs, Colleges and Universities of Quebec and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, and making it available on the Public Record.
The Consortium of English Language CEGEPs, Colleges and Universities of Quebec and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada host a roundtable on the value of universities to Quebec and Canada at the McGill Faculty Club in Montreal.
Graham Carr (president and vice-chancellor, Concordia University), Sébastien Lebel-Grenier (principal and vice-chancellor, Bishop’s University), Deep Saini (president and vice-chancellor, McGill University), Martine St-Victor (general manager, Edelman Montreal), and Val Walker (CEO, Business + Higher Education Roundtable) participate in the panel discussion moderated by Francine Pelletier (journalist-in-residence at Concordia University). (March 13, 2024)

17 May
Toula Drimonis: When English universities are downgraded, so is Quebec
CAQ policies targeting anglophone institutions will have a lasting effect on the province’s economy and reputation. No one wins.
Government-imposed tuition hikes on out-of-province university students drew protests in February. Last week, Moody’s credit-rating agency downgraded Concordia and put McGill on a watch list. No one should be surprised, writes Toula Drimonis.
Moody’s ranks the creditworthiness of borrowers using a standardized ratings scale. Good ratings mean favourable borrowing conditions, while a downgrade means the opposite — higher rates. This affects everything from day-to-day operations and academic hires to long-term infrastructure plans.
The agency concluded that the tuition hikes and policy changes, including new French-proficiency requirements, will deter out-of-province students and international students from attending these two Montreal universities, thus straining their finances. We therefore have, in the CAQ, a government whose deliberate policy decisions undermine and financially weaken Quebec higher-learning institutions simply because they’re English institutions.
McGill is objectively the province’s highest-ranking university and one of the most prestigious in the world. It adds millions of dollars to Quebec’s economy. Instead of ensuring this academic institution continues to excel and attract research talent, the premier and higher education minister have succeeded in kneecapping it.

16 May
A thorn in Legault’s side, Joe Ortona will seek re-election as EMSB chair
The premier once labelled the EMSB a “radical group” over Ortona’s stance on Quebec language laws.
Andy Riga
Under Ortona, the EMSB is fighting the Coalition Avenir Québec government on several fronts, launching lawsuits against Legault’s secularism law (Bill 21) and his reinforcement of French language rules (Bill 96).
The EMSB and other boards are also in court to overturn the CAQ government’s plan to scrap English school boards.
Ortona said he will run with 10 other candidates, including two announced Thursday.
Julien Feldman, a commissioner since 2007, is seeking re-election in an area that covers Westmount, downtown and Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.
Chelsea Craig, who works for Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and is a Quebec Community Groups Network board member, is running in Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.