Callan Forrester

Cedar Rooms at regional schools share awareness of Indigenous culture

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

Recently, the New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) launched an initiative as part of its commitment to reconciliation towards the Indigenous students at its schools. Both Howard S. Billings and Chateauguay Valley Regional (CVR) high schools have opened a Cedar Room as a part of this: a space where students can learn about and celebrate Indigenous culture.

Isabelle Arsenault is an Indigenous (Inuk from Iqaluit) teacher at CVR and is the leader of its Cedar Room. She explains that the goal of the space is “to provide academic and social emotional support to our Indigenous community and to educate and to provide cultural information to the whole school community.” Arsenault also asked fellow CVR teacher Brittany Marlin to help with the Cedar Room, since it does require quite a bit of time, energy, and paperwork.

Though the Cedar Room is a place where Indigenous students can feel represented, it welcomes all CVR students. “It’s just a small step for our school that is working towards reconciliation, and I think it’s important that it’s open to both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous students so that everyone is getting the same information … working together is very important,” Marlin says.

The Cedar Room hosts a variety of activities, but it is also a cultural centre where students can go to relax and have tea. Arsenault explains that they have done activities like beading (including making beaded ornaments), making monthly bannock (a traditional Indigenous bread), having tea gatherings, and collaborating with Billings to organize an outing for Indigenous students to participate in an event organized by Native Montreal. Last May, they also had a ceremony for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Marlin shares that this year they hope to continue these activities and potentially invite a guest speaker to the school.

Arsenault says that it is important to have a space like this at CVR because it “brings awareness to Indigenous culture and to have a safe space for everyone to learn together.” Marlin emphasizes that education is often the cure for prejudice, saying that “People are more comfortable and open-minded to things that they understand, and if they can gain some kind of understanding, appreciation, or feel some kind of connection from coming to the room, then people feel more protective and open-minded.”

Though this initiative is fairly new, they have already done a lot of great work and have plans to keep growing and sharing Indigenous culture with the CVR community.

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Education centre helps with kids and families – nearby

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

When a child needs extra support in school, it can be frustrating for parents if access to resources and services is difficult or even non-existent. Kathleen Ledoux aims to help with these barriers and has launched the Bla Bla Bla Centre professionnel pour enfants in Huntingdon.

Ledoux provides services related to extra education for kids and support for their parents. The organization offers help with language stimulation, orthopedagogy, massage for children, social work, tutoring services, and more. “We’re here for anything related to children who have extra support needs,” she says.

The organization started when Ledoux was feeling the strain of the lack of services nearby. “I’m a mom of four boys, and I have kids who need extra support. I was trying to get them evaluated and had to follow up each week. There was almost nothing in the region to help us; we had to go to Valleyfield or Montreal to be evaluated.” She struggled to understand why she was having to drive so far just to take care of her children. With this organization, she says she hopes “to give people services without having to cross a bridge. We’re capable of having them here as well.”

She explains, “At its core, what is important is giving people joy in expression. Yes, the kids are small, but they can tell us what they need.” She says it’s important that parents listen to their children’s needs and take them seriously. At the same time, she also wants to make sure that parents feel supported. “After all meetings, we meet with the parents and give them tricks,” she shares. This helps the work continue outside of the centre.

Getting children diagnosed as soon as possible ensures that both students and parents can be set up for success. “Having our children diagnosed helps parents to have different resources at school if necessary; we offer follow-ups afterwards by specialists and help parents to find solutions so that things go better at home or at school.” Ledoux says. Her message is that the most important thing is having respect and giving everyone the tools they need to thrive and develop.

Something else Ledoux mentions is the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the development of children. Kids that were born at the beginning of the pandemic are now almost ready to start kindergarten. “There is more demand for language stimulation than before; the children had a lack of socialization during COVID and the masks didn’t help language development at all,” she explains.

One of the more unexpected (and exciting) services offered involves therapy with miniature horses. “They’re so small they fit in my car when I transport them,” Ledoux says. These animals are helpful for folks of all ages and have been a huge favourite at Bla Bla Bla. “We go to early childhood centres, schools, old folks’ homes, birthday parties, and more. It brings a lot of joy to people when we show up; some people cry from excitement when they see us, and that fills us with joy,” she says.

For Ledoux, the best part about the organization is “seeing the kids with their smiles when they come in, and them not wanting to leave because they loved their workshop so much.” She is thrilled to see it resonating with people and hopes to see it continue to grow. “The more we can help, the better off we will be. There are kids who need help whose parents don’t know where to go or who to see. This will be beneficial for everyone.”

Bla Bla Bla is planning new programs, but there must be interest for them to actually happen. For more information and to see what programs are being offered currently, check out the Facebook page, Bla Bla Bla – Centre Professionnel pour Enfants.

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Resources are available to maximize tax benefits

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

As March approaches, the end of the fiscal year is sitting heavy on many people’s minds. It can be stressful figuring out how to most efficiently and effectively file taxes, especially when access to resources like accountants can come with a pricey bill. In the Valley, ADDS (the Association pour la Défense des Droits Sociaux) may be able to help with filing those taxes.

Marie-Ève Gagné, the general manager of ADDS, explains that they have a free income tax clinic to help ease the stress of tax season, with the goal of reaching residents of the Haut Saint Laurent who are in vulnerable situations. These clinics will be available at the main office in Huntingdon, as well as in Ormstown, Saint-Anicet, Saint-Chrysostome, and Dundee. The tax clinic is open from March 3 to April 17. Clients must be members of ADDS (which costs $10) and they must meet the financial criteria. To be eligible, a single person must have made less than $32,000 or a couple has to have made less than $42,000.

The goal of these clinics is to help vulnerable residents to receive all of the benefits that are available to them. “These benefits, by increasing their income, enable them to access their most basic social rights, namely adequate housing, clothing, and, above all, food,” Gagné says.

ADDS works with residents at a certain socio-economic level. Having a free service like this helps people who may hit barriers like a lack of digital skills or the high cost of tax services. Plus, it is a part of “reducing the stress associated with tax obligations; it helps to empower members by informing them about their tax situation, while ensuring that they don›t miss out on financial assistance to which they are entitled,” Gagné says.

Living in a rural area can mean that access to resources can sometimes be more difficult. But Gagné believes that it is important to fight for access to all regional resources. During the clinic, ADDS will also “be accompanied by various partner organizations, depending on the location, who will be promoting community services such as transportation, food, mental health, and community involvement,” Gagné says. They will also be conducting a survey to learn how they can better serve community members.

Gagné joined ADDS as the general manager recently and has found it to be both stimulating and rewarding. “I realized the challenges we had to face, but also the opportunities we had to strengthen the organization›s impact in the community,” she says. Her first goal was to understand the internal and external dynamics of the organization, and make sure she could maintain relationships with everyone involved from the other employees to the members to the partners. “Every day allows me to learn and adapt, always with the goal of pursuing our mission of defending social rights and supporting those who need it most,” she adds.

To be better prepared for tax season, Gagné offers some advice. The biggest thing is to make sure to have all of the necessary forms ready to go, including T4 slips, social assistance statements, donation receipts, medical or childcare expense statements, and the 31 return, which is provided by the landlord.

“It›s a good idea to keep these documents on hand throughout the year, to avoid rushing at the last minute,” Gagné says. Preparing early is also an asset. To book an appointment with ADDS, call 450-264-6888.

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JAG speaks out against homophobia and transphobia

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

On January 30, members of the Corporation de Développement Communautaire (CDC) de la Montérégie got together for the second edition of the Journée Arc-en-ciel, which has the goal of combatting homophobia, transphobia, and violence against the LBGTQIA+ community in the region and raising the general public’s awareness of these experiences.

For this year’s Journée Arc-en-ciel, Simon Proulx, the director of the CDC des Maskoutains, moderated a press conference that featured speakers from different organizations to talk about issues the queer community is facing. He set the tone of the conference by saying, “We’re here to talk about a worrying reality: the rise in homophobic and transphobic violence. Through this Journée Arc-en-ciel, we are reaffirming our commitment to a more inclusive and safe world for all people in the LGBT community.”

The day also included a virtual training session, which was introduced by Joanne Nystrom from Troc Montérégie. Over 200 organizations took part in this mobilization against hate.

Jessica Grenon and Dominique Théberge of JAG, and James Galantino of the Conseil Québécois LGBT spoke extremely candidly about the current realities for queer people. JAG is an organization that provides education and support about emotional, sexual, and gender diversity. It is the only such resource for many young queer people of the Montérégie. Grenon explained that from 2023 to 2024, there was a 69-per cent increase in hate crimes towards queer folks. On top of that, the data from 2017 to 2024 shows that now, one in five people are uncomfortable with a child being raised by two mothers, compared to one in 14 eight years ago.

They also explained that organizations like JAG are being turned away from schools because there is fear of how the students or parents will react. “I have colleagues who have had to be escorted to and from the bathroom, or even escorted out after a class period, because the students’ attitudes and comments suggested that their safety was in danger,” Grenon shared. She added that there have been weekly acts of violence towards members of the organization. “I’ve been at JAG for 10 years now and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Our tolerance threshold for violence has reached levels that are completely disproportionate,” she said.

Galantino expanded on these concerns and the severity of their impact. “After food, safety is the second most basic need on Maslow’s pyramid … You need to understand that members of our community are scared.” He also reminded people that politics at the municipal level have the most direct impact on a citizen’s day-to-day life. He explained the Inclusive Municipalities project, which is a certification made possible by the Bureau de Lutte Contre l’Homophobie et la Transphobie. “The goal is also to offer a website, an updated map of all the municipalities in the Montérégie region, which shows commitments and municipalities that offer a climate of benevolence for their entire population,” he said. This is to help queer people know where they may be more safe.

Mélanie Villeneuve, mayor of Otterburn Park, also spoke to the importance of allyship at the municipal level. “Through our policies, through the actions we take on a daily basis, in our planning, etc., we can play the role of being benevolent. We can play the role of being good employers to ultimately promote openness and inclusiveness,” she said. Her goal is to “make living environments that are inclusive, that are welcoming, and that promote inclusiveness, openness, and caring.”

Right now, JAG is begging for people to be loud and proud allies to the queer community. “More than ever, we need allies – people who will act as amplifiers of the voices of people of sexual and gender diversity, and who will stand up for them. The danger of the rise of hate speech and hate behavior is very real and has catastrophic impacts,” Grenon said. Villeneuve added that “There’s work to be done, work that had to be done before, work that has to be done today, and work that will have to be done again tomorrow.”

The commitment to helping the queer community has to happen at all levels. It is important that members of the Haut Saint Laurent are also active in this work. Remi Pelletier from the CDC Haut-Saint-Laurent said, “Community organizations cannot meet the challenge of countering transphobia and homophobia alone. It is together, with the support of our partners and the public, that we can create safe and inclusive environments. The Journée Arc-en-ciel demonstrated that local solidarity can have a profound impact.”

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Bisexuality is community

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

Of all the letters in the 2SLGBTQIA acronym, one of the more misunderstood is the “B”: bisexual. Bisexuals are often the recipients of large amounts of skepticism, along with a lack of understanding of what a bisexual identity looks like.

Rachel Patenaude is a bisexual person who grew up in Hemmingford. She explains bisexuality as “experiencing attraction to same/similar and different genders to yourself, including all kinds of genders. The ‘bi’ isn’t a count of genders, it’s a count of types of attraction: ‘same’ and ‘different’ … I like the phrase ‘Love is a many-gendered thing.’” 

There’s a misconception that bisexual people only experience attraction to cisgender men and women, leaving trans and non-binary people out of the equation. However, bisexual people have a more expansive definition of who they are attracted to. Patenaude adds that when you take into consideration the identity of each bisexual person and the identity of who they date, “No two bisexual experiences are the same,” and adds that “There isn’t a clear guide of how to date people when your dating history may not look like theirs. You’re not always coming from the same social communities.”

For a long time, the term “bisexual” was used differently from how we use it today. Patenaude explains that historically it was used for what we now call “intersex.” Bisexuals often fell under the gay or lesbian umbrellas. There were moments in history, like the radical feminist movement and the AIDS pandemic, that stigmatized bisexuals for not “picking a side,” and often left them ostracized from their own communities.

There are many other misconceptions that come with being bisexual. The obvious ones are that bisexuals are greedy, cheaters, or experiencing a phase that will pass. But there is also the notion that bi folks are not as involved in the political action of the queer community. 

Patenaude refutes this, sharing that she herself has been an organizer and participant in many political activities for the queer community and beyond. Most recently, she was one of the organizers for the 2024 Montreal Dyke March, where she shared that half the team was bisexual. “We’re just as much a vital part of the heartbeat that is the queer community,” she says.

Bisexuality also creates a unique relationship to gender identity. Though gender identity and sexual orientation are two different experiences, they can often be quite linked. “To be a queer person, even a cisgender one, is inherently gender non-conforming,” she says, explaining that it is a societal expectation that women are cisgender and heterosexual and they date cisgender, heterosexual men, and vice-versa. Being queer breaks those expectations. Patenaude defines her own relationship with gender as “genderqueer” or “woman and other.”

One of the most valuable parts of Patenaude’s journey has been learning queer history, and specifically the history of bisexuals. She notes, “The mother of Pride, Brenda Howard, is a bisexual woman. She put together the first march to commemorate the Christopher Street riots (better known as Stonewall) … We have Pride parades because of her.”

For folks who may be newly questioning their sexuality or new to their bisexuality, Patenaude encourages them to learn queer history. For her, it has helped her feel connected to a community that has spanned across generations, which is a feeling easily missed if you are the only queer person within your family or friend group. “I’m proud to be standing in the legacy of so many incredible people,” she states. She recommends the writings of bisexual activists Brenda Howard, Lani Ka’ahumanu, Robyn Ochs, and Loraine Hutchins as great jumping-off points.

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The reality for over one million queer people

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

June is Pride Month: a time to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, plus) community, and to remember the fight it has taken the get to where we are, and how much fighting there is still left to do.

Statistics Canada has released some information about the realities of queer people in Canada. The wage gap between queer folks and straight folks is quite wide. Heterosexual men earn an average yearly salary of $61,400 compared to gay men ($51,400) and bisexual men ($39,400). Lesbian women and heterosexual women had a similar average income ($48,600 and $47,300 respectively); however, bisexual women only made an average of $38,500. This could partly be due to the fact that the average age of a bisexual person in the workplace is younger than that of straight people, gay men, and lesbians.

The queer community is a growing population in Canada. Data from 2019 to 2021 shows that approximately 4.4 per cent of Canadians (1.3 million people) identify as queer. That being said, one in ten youth aged 15 to 24 years (10.5 per cent) identified as queer, making them the demographic with the highest percentage of queer people. About one per cent of people in this same demographic identify as transgender or non-binary.

The Quebec government has also released some information about the mental health of the queer community. It says that queer folks are “at greater risk of having suicidal ideations or attempting suicide because of the isolation, stigmatization, discrimination, homophobia, or transphobia that they may face… Moreover, cases of mood disorders (in particular, depression) or anxiety disorders are more common in the LGBTQ+ population.”

Statistics Canada backs this up by sharing that “Transgender or non-binary people (54.7 per cent) were over five times as likely as cisgender people (9.9 per cent) to consider their mental health to be fair or poor. The likelihood of reporting fair or poor mental health was also higher for bisexual (36.8 per cent) and gay or lesbian (16.9 per cent) people than for heterosexual people (9.1 per cent).”

It should also be noted that folks who live at different intersections of marginalization (race, gender, socio-economic background, etc.) experience these realities at a much higher rate.

With the population of queer Canadians growing each year, it’s important to recognize the reality of how people’s lives are affected based on their sexuality and gender identity.

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Sainte-Barbe launches new municipal website

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Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

At the end of May, the municipality of Sainte-Barbe launched its new website: ste-barbe.com, with the goal of improving communication with residents, visitors, and partners. It has also made it more user-friendly, with a streamlined design, so that users have easier access to information like news, activities, bylaws, recreational facilities, and more.

At the website’s launch, the mayor of the town, Louise Lebrun, shared that “We’re proud to launch this new communications tool, which is in line with our 2023-2030 strategic plan and inspired by our new, streamlined, avant-garde brand image. Our old website had reached the end of its useful life. With this new tool, we are affirming our desire to modernize our services, while confirming our commitment to the community.”

One of the main updates involves permit applications to the Service de l’urbanisme, de l’environnement et du développement: these can now be done online. 

“Many hours of work went into the creation of this new website, with its intuitive structure and enriched content. In addition to buttons leading to the most frequently consulted pages, a powerful search engine makes it easy to get straight to the point. We are convinced that this new site will quickly become an indispensable resource for all those who deal with Sainte-Barbe,” said the municipal councilor responsible for communications, Johanne Béliveau.

The municipality also encourages residents to subscribe to its online newsletter to make sure they aren’t missing important details about the town. This will help to reduce paper consumption, as the news is usually printed in the municipal newsletter, Le Barberivain.

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JAG laments funding shortage, pushes for support

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

On January 30, the Table régionale des organismes communautaires (TROC) Montérégie et les Corporations de développement communautaire (CDC) collaborated with JAG to celebrate Rainbow Day. JAG is the only LGBTQ2SIA+ organization in the Montérégie and provides services and support for queer people and their allies.

The day consisted of virtual training sessions adapted from two of JAG’s most popular resources. The first was based on understanding the LGBTQ2SIA+ acronym, and the other was about being a strong ally. Between these two sessions, there was also a press conference where JAG director general Dominique Théberge spoke frankly about the needs of the community and the state of the organization. He shared that over 150 organizations signed up for the sessions, and he knows some of these included classrooms as the number of viewers was high. He was very impressed with the turnout.

The past year has been one of transition for JAG. In April 2023, it was forced to shut down its Montérégie West office due to a lack of funding. Théberge said last year’s budget for the region was about $49,000: “That’s really not enough to pay for an employee, rent, internet, etc.”

Last December, the provincial government announced that an additional $11 million in funding would be funneled into organizations like JAG, but the Montérégie will be receiving next to nothing. As JAG is the only organization of its kind in this region, it becomes very difficult for queer people to access needed information and resources without it.

Théberge said this is especially frustrating considering the population in the Montérégie, which for 30 years has seen the largest increase in Quebec. He explained the population is larger than six Canadian provinces and 11 American states, and at least 7,000 people in the Montérégie West were using JAG’s services. The services are still available, but there is no longer a physical space for people to visit.

In the Haut-Saint-Laurent specifically, “There have been a lot of stories of violence in this region,” which makes JAG’s leaving even scarier for queer people. For him, returning services to the region is extremely important, especially since it’s an area without much queer representation. “What we absolutely don’t want is for the Haut-Saint-Laurent to be a desert of services. There are certain regions where we are less well received, and people in these areas have more trouble because there is less information from politicians or local papers.”

Théberge said that 2023 saw backwards movement, in terms of diversity and acceptance, for the first time in years. “There was a rise in violence in 2023. In 2022 or 2021, if you had a message, you saw less hate than the same message in 2023 would. That’s proof of regression.

“Victims are experiencing the breakup of families who didn’t have the support they needed; professionals are distraught, no longer knowing how to intervene; and, all too often and increasingly, Quebecers have suicidal ideations or take the irreversible step – as young as 14!”

Théberge said he hopes local governments acknowledge the need in the community. “There are solutions, and the need is there. It’s up to the politicians to have the desire to take care of these citizens,” adding he wishes that it was a given that people would fight for queer people’s rights. But that is not the current reality. “It makes me scared, especially when the political parties seem to be scared to defend us,” he says.

The beauty of organizations like JAG is that they encourage people to take care of each other. Training sessions like the ones on Rainbow Day show people how to ask for help and how to offer help. Despite the struggle that JAG is experiencing right now, Théberge said members of the community should still be hopeful of what can be achieved, and should aim to maintain the organization’s services in order to have a more accepting and diverse community.

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Housing crisis hits home in the Haut-Saint-Laurent

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Callan Forrester – LJI reporter

With the current economic state of the province, the housing crisis continues to get worse across Quebec. Recently, the Quebec government announced the introduction of Bill 31. According to the National Assembly’s statement, “The bill amends the Act to allow the Société d’habitation du Québec to offer services for compensation and with a view to self-financing to stakeholders in the housing sector.”

This bill makes it more difficult for tenants to transfer leases to new tenants, meaning that if a tenant leaves a lease, landlords can increase rent without having to respect rent-increase rules. This bill also allows owners of buildings built less than five years ago to raise rents without any sort of limit. And it fails to include anything prohibiting the eviction of tenants from their homes to create short-term rentals such as AirBnBs.

There has been some backlash surrounding this law, particularly in regard to how it affects tenants and the cost of housing. The Fédération québécoise des organismes communautaires famille (FQOCF) recently issued a press release explaining how much of this law will affect Quebec families seeking housing. It requested that the government consider four modifications to the bill that take tenants and families into consideration.

First of all, it asks to encourage private investment in the rental housing sector by offering financial and tax incentives to help create a better market for tenants, while providing benefits such as tax credits for landlords who create more affordable housing. It also requests more transitional measures for families in vulnerable situations as a way for them to cope with skyrocketing housing and cost of living expenses in recent months. It is also calling for a huge reinvestment in programs for social and community housing. Finally, it asks the government to provide more support for community organizations whose goal is to offer support on a day-to-day basis for families who are struggling financially.

Rémi Pelletier, the director of the CDC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, says the crisis is affecting individuals directly in the Haut-Saint-Laurent. “We hear regularly about families that are coming to us looking for housing; it’s a major issue,” he says. There are many factors which contribute to the costs increasing so much, including construction materials being significantly more expensive right now; the cost to hire builders has also been affected by inflation; and there is simply a shortage of available housing.

“We understand the need from the perspective of the owner, but there is an imbalance that leans too strongly towards the raising of prices,” Pelletier says. “Unfortunately, the reality is that the citizen wants the prices to stay low, but their reality isn’t always taken into consideration,” he adds.

He explains that “40 per cent of families in this region spend over 30 per cent of their revenue on their housing.” But on top of this, “Almost ten per cent are paying up to 50 per cent, and two per cent pay up to 80 per cent of their revenue toward housing. These numbers are very concerning.”

Besides this, 9.2 per cent of housing in the Haut-Saint-Laurent needs major repairs, according to a study released by Statistics Canada in 2021. The Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques (IRIS) recently released a study that shows the cost of living is higher in Huntingdon than in Montreal. The livable income in Huntingdon for a single-person household is $38,404 versus $32,252 in Montreal; $50,102 for a single parent with one child in Huntingdon versus $44,187 in Montreal; and $77,017 for a two-parent home with two children in Huntingdon versus $71,161 in Montreal.

Right now, Pelletier says, “What we recommend is not leaving where you currently live. Each time someone leaves, it makes the prices go up. … That’s the biggest issue with Bill 31.” If you are currently looking for housing, he recommends contacting the Comité Logement Beauharnois, which has an office in Huntingdon.

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