Published January 13, 2024

Joel Goldenberg – The Suburban LJI Reporter

The monthly protests against Quebec legislation, usually only against the language law Bill 96, took place again downtown recently outside Premier François Legault’s Montreal office and was expanded as a demonstration against legislation affecting all Quebecers.

Organizer Marc Perez refers to the most recent demonstration as the “rally of rallies,” which also protested against Bill 15, which will centralize health care in the province; Quebec’s economy underperforming, the tuition hikes for out-of-province university students from $9,000 to $12,000, Bill 21 banning religious garb and symbols for people in positions of authority and teachers under provincial jurisdiction and Bill 40, which abolishes school boards.

Perez told reporters that he is especially disappointed in the CAQ, as he had voted for them when they first won in 2018.

“The political choices we had have betrayed us for the last 50 to 75 years,” he added. “Legault said he was going to help build the economy and be the Premier of all Quebecers. I gave him his shot…. Legault’s popularity is going down because he is going way too far. There was a social contract between the francophones and anglophones about the economy, not overstepping on each other, having this cordial atmosphere, which we’ve had since 1995. There was a status quo that was perfect until Legault came. Now people are really seeing who he is — the truth is coming out.”

Perez said the monthly protests have expanded beyond Bill 96 because “there are way too many problems in this province.

“I invited everyone, because we’re just going in the wrong direction.”

Perez also announced the creation of a new website, parlonsdu.quebec/en/ to “start a conversation about what matters most to Quebecers” on such subjects as health care, urban planning, education, the economy, the environment and other topics for a future roundtable discussion.

“We’re going to write policies and figure this out together, because the biggest problem we’re having right now is that nobody — Valérie Plante, Legault — is listening. They’re just doing what they want and destroying everything we’ve built! They want to protect Quebec but all they’re doing is destroying it.”

Dr Arthur Fischer, who ran for the Canadian Party of Quebec in the West Island Jacques-Cartier riding, was on hand as well. Dr. Fischer said he participated in the protest as a retired physician and a recent patient in hospital regarding a kidney stone discovered in 2022.

“Ten months later, I finally had my definitive surgery. I almost lost a kidney. I’m not complaining about the medical treatment, just the long delay I went though to get treated. I believe that since I’m a doctor and a recent patient, I have a better understanding of the things that are going on.”

Dr. Fischer said he strongly objects to Bill 15.

“The fact it’s 1,500 pages, that it was in committee for a year and they only managed to go through half of the legislation and they found lots of errors. The examination of the bill was blocked by the government and just ramrodded through the system. It’s now law. I object to hospital boards being abolished, to the lack of innovation. I do not like the establishment of the central committee rather than having local professionals dealing with local problems. A huge bureaucracy will be created by Bill 15.” n

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