Lévis

English-speaking youth from Quebec City, Lévis welcome at Youth Forum

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

English-speaking youth from Quebec City, Lévis welcome at Youth Forum

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Provincewide youth civic participation organization Youth 4 Youth Québec (Y4Y) is seeking young people aged 16-30 from the English- speaking community of the Capitale-Nationale region to participate in its annual youth forum in Montreal on Wednesday, March 19.*

The free day-long event at the Coeur des Sciences pavilion at the Université du Québec à Montréal, held under the theme “Inform, Engage and Empower,” will give teens and young adults the chance to meet other young anglophones from around the province and discuss issues facing English- speaking youth, including outmigration, media consumption and how they identify as citizens of Quebec, Canada and their local communities. The day will end with an in- formation fair featuring civic participation and career guidance organizations, health and social services agencies and an exhibition by young English- speaking artists.

“Through consultations and research, we know that English-speaking young people are often less informed than we’d like them to be about the information, the people and the resources available to them in Quebec,” said Y4Y executive director Adrienne Winrow. “At Y4Y, we always seek to inform our English-speaking youth community in a non-partisan way about various issues … and ways to get more involved in their local communities, but also in the wider society.”

Winrow said participants can expect “a warm and welcoming space where youth are the main event and their voices being heard is the main goal.”

During the panel discussions, Winrow said “we’ll be talking about the democratic deficit. We’ll be talking about identity and all the forms that it takes, particularly in youth culture. We’ll be talking about media consumption – how do people get their news these days? How important is it to them to get news? Do they make distinctions about sources and the veracity of the information they’re receiving?”

Panels will feature high school, college and university students and young professionals from around the province, and interaction between panellists and other participants will be encouraged. Winrow said she hopes the forum will start conversations about civic participation and belonging among young anglophones. About 300 youth from several regions of Quebec, including Montreal, the Eastern Town- ships, the Gaspé and the Lower North Shore, are expected to attend.

“Young people who are already engaged, who are think- ing about maybe joining the student union or becoming president of their club at school, if they’re at that level on the ladder of engagement, the Youth Forum can be a way for them to think about how they could push it further, be- cause there will be youth there who have achieved a great deal of things in their lives as English-speaking youth here in Quebec. If a student is less engaged, maybe because they feel, as many young people do, that they … don’t have a seat at the table in decision-making circles, [they can] come to the Youth Forum and see that that’s not true. This Youth Forum is for everybody … we don’t want anyone to feel like it’s not for them.”

Participants will also be offered breakfast and lunch. “We want it to be a free, fun and accessible day … a meeting of the minds,” said Winrow.

It’s not too late to sign up! To register for the Y4Y Youth Forum or learn more, visit y4y-quebec.org/youth-forum-2025.

*A previous version of this story said the Youth Forum was scheduled for March 15. March 19 is the correct date. 

English-speaking youth from Quebec City, Lévis welcome at Youth Forum Read More »

Day camp registration season around the corner

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Day camp registration season around the corner

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

With spring just weeks away, cities across the province are preparing for summer. Quebec City and Lévis recently announced rates, schedules and registration timelines for their summer day camps. Registration starts in early April with limited spots: 15,000 in Quebec City and 1,130 in Lévis.

With the support of 22 partner organizations, the Ville de Québec has an $11.5-million budget to cover 65 per cent of the weekly costs per child, with families paying the remaining 35 per cent. This budget includes $3.2 million for integration programs for children with disabilities. In Lévis, families pay 34 per cent and the city takes care of the remaining 66 per cent. Other Quebec cities have similar pricing structures for city-run camps.

In Quebec City, the early- bird registration price is set at $68 per week for the first child – a $2 increase from 2024 – with slightly lower rates for the child’s younger siblings, plateauing at four children or more. The city will also accommodate non-resident campers for $155 per child. Registration begins April 14 and prices go up May 6. Summer day camps will run from June 24 to Aug. 15.

Low-income families can receive financial assistance from the 22 partner recreational organizations listed on ville.quebec.qc.ca/citoyens/loisirs_sports/camps-de-jour.

Families pay more in Lévis, with the price set at $113 per child per week from June 30 to Aug. 8. Registration will take place April 7 and 8 in the west sector and April 9 and 10 in the east sector. The camp will run from June 30 to Aug. 8.

“Quebec City is a major city that offers the most accessible, most affordable day camps in the province,” said Coun. Marie-Pierre Boucher, member of the executive committee responsible for summer day camps.

In 2024, 18,449 children participated in the camps offered by Quebec City. Attendance fluctuated over the eight weeks because Quebec City offers families the option to register children for two, three or five days per week, with prices adjusted accordingly. Similar information for Lévis was not available at press time.

Both Quebec City and Lévis are currently hiring camp counsellors. Quebec City offers rates of $17.60 per hour for 35 days, while Lévis pays $16.50 per hour over 30 days. Quebec City has 2,000 positions to fill. The number of vacancies for Lévis was not available at press time. Both municipalities expect to fill the positions quickly.

City-run summer camps are offered in French only.  Voice of English-speaking Québec offers an English-language camp; visit veq.ca/directory/fit-fun-english-summer-day-camp to learn more.

For more information about city-run day camps in Quebec City, visit ville.quebec.qc.ca/ citoyens/loisirs_sports/camp-jour.

Day camp registration season around the corner Read More »

Ukrainian Quebecers mark three years of war

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Ukrainian Quebecers mark three years of war

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter 

Cassandra@qctonline.com

As Quebecers continue with their lives, compete in friendly sporting events and celebrate the beauty of winter, war wages on in Ukraine. Russia dropped more bombs on the eve of the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

On Feb. 23, Ukrainian communities around the world, including across Canada and in Quebec City rallied to send a message of support to those still fighting for their lives, peace, justice and liberty in Ukraine. 

The Associations of Ukrainians of Lévis and Quebec City organized a peaceful gathering in front of the National Assembly where hundreds of people shared words of love, solidarity and hope for a better future. 

“The war in Ukraine has been going on for three long years … years of destruction, but also of incredible resilience and exemplary courage,” said Bohdana Porada, president of the Alliance des Ukrainiens de Québec. “We are here to remind people that the Russian aggression continues to breathe with full lungs.” She continued, “The people of Ukraine are showing the world the true meaning of dignity and liberty. Ordinary men and women have become heroes. We have to fight for a place where children won’t be obliged to fight.”

Porada, like her fellow Ukrainians now living in Canada, looks to the government for a solution to end this war. The Canadian government has already given over $19.5 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including $4.5 billion in military aid since February 2022, in addition to training more than 42,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Canada will support Ukraine joining NATO, something that must be done urgently, even at the cost of President Volodymyr Zelensky stepping down. This comes after President Donald Trump called him “a dictator with elections” and claimed Ukraine was the instigator of this warfare. 

“We have to work hard for peace, justice and liberty. We are all revolted by what we have heard from President Donald Trump. We cannot let ourselves be intimidated,” said the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos who was present at the assembly. “We will always be there to support Ukraine. We will always be there to defend peace, liberty and justice.” His words of support were echoed by MNAs Jean-François Simard and Étienne Grandmont. 

To raise more money for the reconstruction of his homeland, Ukrainian cyclist Dariy Khrystyuk bikes long distances in an initiative he named “Je roule pour l’Ukraine.” During the night of Feb. 22 to 23, he pedalled from Montreal to Quebec City through snow, low visibility and in total solitude, arriving just after 2:30 p.m. to a large welcoming committee. “I find inspiration from the Cossacks, symbolic warriors of Ukraine, to push through the challenging obstacles,” he said. 

This was Khrystyuk’s fourth long-distance fundraising challenge. In 2023, he biked 53,000 kilometres from Vancouver to Quebec City. “I wish to complete the Canadian trail to Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said. “After I finish my studies in 2027, I want to donate all the money after biking from Bordeaux to Kyiv (over 3,000 km).” Hopefully, he will pedal to a country still standing. 

Ukrainian Quebecers mark three years of war Read More »

CAQ to hold info sessions on ‘third link’ as details leak

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

CAQ to hold info sessions on ‘third link’ as details leak 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peteblack@qctonline.com

Residents will have an opportunity to learn more about options for the “third link” at information sessions recently announced by Transport and Sustainable Mobility Minister Genevieve Guilbault, to be held on Feb. 26 in Quebec City and Feb. 27 in Lévis.

According to a press release, “Representatives from the ministry will be on site to provide information, gather participants’ impressions and answer questions concerning, in particular, the corridors under study as well as the current and future stages of the project.”

The session in Quebec City will be at the Travelodge Hotel on Blvd. Hochelaga, and the Lévis one at the Lévis Convention Centre, on Rue J-B Michaud. Both sessions run from 3 to 8 p.m.

The announcement of the sessions comes as information about the routes being studied leaks out. A Quebec Solidaire MNA said he has documents from a transport ministry whistleblower that the government favours a downtown-to-downtown tunnel. (See separate story below).

A Radio-Canada report, based on leaked documents, said bridges built to the east of the downtown areas of Quebec City and Lévis “would contravene almost all government guidelines on land use planning. Analyses by the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) reveal several points that are ‘incompatible’ if the option favoured by the Legault government comes to fruition.”

The study, which examined several possible “third link” scenarios, including two bridge routes to the east, the option initially favoured by Premier Francois Legault, indicated the project would involve “a significant encroachment on several forest areas, wetlands and more than 77 hectares of agricultural land on the South Shore, the equivalent of nearly 150 football fields.”

The report also revealed the two eastern bridge routes would “result in the demolition of several residences and apartment blocks along Sainte-Anne Boulevard and the demolition of around 10 residential properties on the South Shore.”

There is one positive element about a bridge to the east mentioned in the report obtained by Radio-Canada: It would “promote the attractiveness of the territories and the dynamism of the communities in addition to connecting industrial zones and existing employment centres. This is the only government orientation in regional planning compatible with both scenarios.”

In an interview with the Journal de Quebec, Guilbault said the leaks about bridge and tunnel studies are likely coming from people within the civil service  “who oppose the project, just like the three opposition parties.”

The opposition at city hall reacted to the latest CAQ controversy over its plans for a bridge or tunnel.

Official Opposition and Québec d’Abord Leader Claude Villeneuve told a city hall media scrum, “I look at the government’s conduct on the third link and I can’t help but draw a parallel with what Donald Trump is doing on tariffs … there’s a kind of chaos that’s created. It means that we only talk about that and we don’t talk about other subjects anymore.”

Limoilou Coun. and Transition Quebec Leader Jackie Smith said the recent revelations are “proof beyond any doubt that this project must be stopped. We must end the project and kill the third link.”

She said, “It is absurd that … Guilbault is so attached to a project that makes no sense. She is ready to force a third link down our throats in the east despite the expertise of her own department’s officials.” 

The minister, for her part, noted in the release announcing the information sessions, that “23 companies responded to the international call for interest launched on Oct. 11, 2024 … The number and reputation of the participating companies confirm that our project for a third link between Quebec City and Lévis is serious and credible.”

She added, “I invite all citizens of the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions who are interested to come and learn more about the steps we have taken and those that await us.”

Full details on the information sessions can be found on the website: Quebec.ca/troisiemelien. 

CAQ to hold info sessions on ‘third link’ as details leak Read More »

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

Calling it “excellent news,” Transport Minister and Louis- Hébert MNA Geneviève Guilbault announced last week that 23 companies have responded to the “international call for interest” in the proposed project to build a third link between Quebec City and Lévis.

The minister convened a news conference on Nov. 27 to make the announcement, less than seven weeks after she had issued the call on Oct. 11. Companies had 30 days to submit a proposal to take part in the process.

Guilbault said 29 companies had requested the required documentation to prepare a proposal, and 23 of those officially threw their hats in the ring.

“Twenty-three companies is a lot,” Guilbault said. “When we look at this type of call for interest procedure, we don’t do it systematically in all projects, we do it occasion- ally in major projects … Of all the times we’ve made calls for interest, this is the time when the most companies have shown interest.”

The transport ministry has engaged consultants KPMG to “organize interviews between interested companies and representatives of the ministry. The results of these meetings will then be analyzed independently,” according to a news release.

Guilbault said that with the application process, “We were ultimately testing two things: interest in a project and inter- est in doing this project in a collaborative mode with the Quebec government, and the response was more than positive. I must tell you, obviously, when we launch these types of procedures, we do not know in advance what the result will be.”

Guilbault rejected talk of adapting the Quebec Bridge, recently repatriated by the federal government, as an op- tion for heavy vehicle traffic. “[D]espite everything I hear from the federal government … about the Quebec Bridge, the reality is that it is not an option for trucking, and we need a third link to ensure the security of freight transporta- tion in particular.”

The minister said she would report back on the results of the vetting process “in early 2025.”

Of the 23 interested companies, Guilbault said 65 per cent are engineering firms, 30 per cent contractors and the rest management firms. Some 13 of the companies are identified on the government’s publicly accessible tender website, although Guilbault only named two, Ingerop, a British-French firm, and Construction Demathieu & Bard, whose head office is in Saint-Jérôme.

If all goes according to plan, Guilbault hopes to see a contract to build the link signed in 2027, construction start the next year, and the structure open in 2034-2035. No budget has been set for the project.

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project Read More »

Immigrants rally against cuts to francisation courses in Quebec City

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Immigrants rally against cuts to francisation courses in Quebec City

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

Students across the province rallied on Nov. 12 to call on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to walk back planned cuts to subsidized French courses for adults, known as francisation. More than 250 students assembled at the Centre Louis-Jolliet, the largest francisation course centre in Quebec City.

School boards and service centres across the province have been forced to drastically reduce adult francisation course offerings because of a lack of funding.

“Last year, we sent $104 million to school service centres, and this year, we are sending another $104 million to school service centres. The total budget allocated to francisation, which has been increasing for four years, will reach $251.3 million in 2024-2025. Quebecers’ ability to pay is not elastic,” Jean-François Roberge, minister of immigration, francisation and integration, argued in October. “No one is telling us, ‘Increase our taxes and our duties to francize more people.’”

Demand for the courses has risen significantly in recent years, pushed by rising immigration and changes to the Charter of the French Language which opened the courses, previously reserved for recent immigrants, to longtime Quebec residents and newcomers from other provinces. As teachers’ union representatives previously explained to the QCT, school service centres scheduled courses and hired staff for the current school year based on current demand, but the funding for the courses was calculated based on far lower pandemic-era demand. When it became clear that the government didn’t intend to top up the funding, service centres cancelled classes.

“I understand that they want to do well, but the demand is enormous,” said Roberge. “Every day, 350 people register with Francisation Québec. That is 170,000 people per year. We cannot francize 170,000 people per year.”

“These budgetary restrictions lead to human tragedies. After years of investment, immigrants won’t be able to access the job market, while others will have to give up their plans for permanent residency if they do not master the French language,” said Marianne Bois, a francisation educational advisor and teacher at the Centre Louis- Jolliet who has taught there since 2018. Bois explained that immigrants must complete level seven of 12 to earn a certificate allowing them to apply for permanent residence, a path that has been suddenly cut short.

“I don’t understand Premier François Legault and Minister Jean-François Roberge claiming to be the greatest defenders of the French language and, on the other hand, cutting francisation. It doesn’t take a PhD in quantum physics to understand that this is completely ridiculous, that it’s not going in the right direction,” Québec Solidaire MNA for Taschereau Étienne Grandmont said at the protest.

“We could certainly have let this cohort finish their course. It doesn’t make sense to cut it off in the middle of the process,” said Grandmont. “What are their options? What do they have left?” Government officials suggest applying to programs run by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI), despite long waiting lists for places in those programs.

“If these people had the right to vote, I’m pretty sure the CAQ would take better care of them,” said Grandmont. “Today, I’m very happy to see them come out, to demonstrate, to say that they’ve had enough of this government that mistreats them.”

Francisation student Maria Estevez arrived in Quebec five years ago from Miami, Florida. “These courses are extremely useful and helpful for us im- migrants. They teach more than just the French language. We learn about the Quebec culture, society and how things work here.” Her words were echoed by numerous others at the rally. Students of the Centre Saint-Louis, an adult education centre in Loretteville where francisation courses were also cut, distributed an open letter on the matter; separately, members of the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) teachers’ union federation protested against the cuts at the office of Education Minister Bernard Drainville in Lévis on Nov. 15.

With files from Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Immigrants rally against cuts to francisation courses in Quebec City Read More »

Francisation courses cut in Lévis as Duclos raises funding questions

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Francisation courses cut in Lévis as Duclos raises funding questions

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The subsidized French classes offered at the Des Navigateurs adult education centre (CEAN) in Lévis have become the latest casualty of a dispute over funding between the Quebec government and several school boards and service centres which offer the courses, known as francisation.

The courses are funded by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) through the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning (MEES). The Centre des services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN), which oversees the Lévis program, said in a statement that the program had received funding for the 2024-25 school year based on enrolment numbers from 2020-21, Enrolment numbers were far lower that year, owing to the fact that pandemic-era border restrictions had drastically reduced immigration, and classes at the time were still reserved for recent immigrants.

Like several of its counterparts in other regions, the CSSDN planned on the basis of current demand and hit a funding wall. More than 300 students were enrolled in francisation classes at CEAN this fall. As of this week, “two groups, about 30 learners, will receive training from now until June 2025,” the statement said. The other students will be placed on waiting lists.

The Centre de services scolaire (CSS) de la Capi- tale, which covers much of Quebec City, and the CSS des Découvreurs, in Sainte-Foy, announced similar cuts last week. According to teachers’ union representatives, similar cuts have taken place in the Montreal region, in the Eastern Townships, in the Lower St. Lawrence and in Abitibi, with the loss of dozens of jobs and hundreds of classroom places. The Quebec Liberal Party has called for Commissioner for the French Language Benoit Dubreuil to lead an inquiry into the cuts, arguing that Quebec is “breaking a moral contract” with newcomers.

“We are going to announce openings and increases in course offerings in the coming weeks, in the coming months,” Roberge told MNAs at the National Assembly on Oct. 30, without providing specifics.

Brian Gignac is the executive director of the Megan- tic Community Development Corporation (MCDC), a community organization which supports anglophones in the greater Lévis and Thetford Mines areas. “I think when the government starts cutting in certain regions, it was inevitable for this to happen in Lévis. Unfortunately, new- comers are left on their own,” he told the QCT. “From what we’re hearing, newcomers are extremely reliant on these classes … you might be one of the 30 people lucky enough to continue. If not, good luck. There have been a lot of people coming here for work over the years, and that’s a major blow to their whole integration.”

Gignac and South Shore English Network community development co-ordinator Olena Peleshok, herself a recent arrival from British Columbia who has benefited from francisation classes, said the classes were an important stepping stone into the labour market and into Quebec society, enabling newcomers to get jobs, make friends and communicate with their children’s teachers. They also were worried that the abrupt end to classes made it harder for families to plan.

“Now everyone’s just taking stock of what happened. … Will other groups be able to dispense the classes? How will everything be reorganized? I think it’s going to take maybe a few days or even weeks before we have clearer indications of what’s the path forward from now on,” Gignac said.

Duclos wonders where federal funding went

Early last week, Québec MP Jean-Yves Duclos wrote to Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge to formally ask how $775 million in federal funding for immigration and integration in Quebec had been spent.

“We sent $775 million, and the ministry invested $475 million, including $104 million in francisation,” Duclos told the QCT. “There’s a difference between $104 million and $775 million. … We continue to trust the Quebec government with these funds, but when we see classes closing, teachers being laid off and programs being interrupted, we ask questions and we don’t get answers.”

Roberge accused Duclos in a statement of “taking shortcuts that don’t help anyone.

“The real problem is the loss of control at our borders by the federal government. There are too many asylum seekers in Quebec,” Roberge wrote on so- cial media. “The costs involved are immense: health care, education, last-resort assis- tance, housing allowance, food assistance, legal aid, to name a few. Mr. Duclos should start by talking to his colleague [federal immigration minister] Marc Miller so that the $750 million promised by Justin Trudeau in June to compensate [the costs engendered by] asylum seekers is paid. The reality is that we have never invested so much in francisation.”

Duclos acknowledged that Quebec had received more than its share of asylum seekers in recent years, but said the proportion of asylum seekers in the province had dropped in 2024. “It’s normal that the Quebec government is asking for more, but we still signed an agreement for $750 million,” Duclos said, adding that asylum seekers “may need help [in the beginning] but in a few weeks, they find a job and feed their family and pay taxes like everyone else.”

No one from Miller’s office was immediately available to comment.

Francisation courses cut in Lévis as Duclos raises funding questions Read More »

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government is moving ahead with its off-again, on-again pledge to build a third link between Quebec City and the South Shore.

Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault made the announcement on Oct. 11 of an “international call for interest” to parties to be considered as a partner in the development of the project.

Vowing that whatever option is decided will be “the best project at the best price,” Guilbault said if all goes according to plan a contract would be signed to build the link in early 2027.

Addressing a news conference in Complexe G following a technical briefing by transport ministry officials, Guilbault said the call for interest “marks an important step in the third link project, which will allow us to confirm the market’s interest in our project. I am convinced that we will arrive at the best solution to meet the fluidity needs of our citizens on both shores.”

The minister said the two principal objectives of the third link would be to ensure economic security for commercial transport in the event of the Pierre Laporte Bridge being closed and to reduce traffic congestion in the region.

Guilbault said the choice of which corridor the link would take would be decided by next summer, based on options identified in the report by the Caisse de depôt et placement Infra presented in June.

In a previous announcement of a third link proposal, the CAQ government had envisioned a bridge between the eastern ends of Lévis and Quebec City. A proposal prior to that envisioned a tunnel between the downtowns of the two cities.

Asked by the QCT how much influence politicians would have on the ultimate choice of a corridor, Guilbault said, “It’s too early to determine a specific corridor,” pending the submission of recommenda- tions from interested parties.

She also said having a bridge with enough clearance to allow for cruise ships to enter port in Quebec City or Lévis “would be taken into consideration.”

Transport officials and the minister did not exclude a tunnel as a preferred option, nor would they commit to the third link being used for public transit such as the tramway system.

Guilbault said in two years, after the next scheduled pro- vincial election, “we will be at a level of the evolution of the process [where] it will be irreversible.”

She said since all the op- position parties are opposed to the third link idea, the CAQ is the only one that is pursuing it. “People will realize we are actually doing it for real.”

Guilbault acknowledged the CAQ’s “credibility is at stake” with the third link project. “We have to demonstrate we are resolutely committed to the realization” of the project.

Opposition critics were quick to denounce this latest move by the CAQ. Liberal transport critic Monsef Derraji said in a statement, “It’s clear that this announcement is more about diverting attention from other issues than it is about genuinely advancing mobility in the greater Quebec City area. Should the CAQ lose power after 2026, this commitment could easily crumble. It all appears more like a campaign promise than a real solution.”

Québec Solidaire MNA for Jean-Lesage Sol Zanetti told reporters, “We will talk about it [the third link] for decades as the symbol of the promise of the electoral bauble that will never happen, that is irresponsible, that costs a lot, and that is useless.”

Parti Québécois MNA for Jean-Talon Pascal Paradis said, “There will be no project. It won’t happen. What we are being presented with today is a fabrication, a smokescreen.”

Guilbault would not commit to a price tag for the potential bridge or tunnel, saying it would be determined as the planning process proceeds. She highlighted the new collaborative approach the government is taking, saying, “[T]he government will work closely with the designer and the builder from the first stages of the project design.”

A series of calls for tenders will be launched in the spring “to obtain the professional services and support required throughout the project. A first call for tenders aimed at ob- taining consulting services in insurance and financial guarantees will be published in the coming weeks.”

The building of a third link was a CAQ promise in the 2018 election that brought the party to power. At the time, the party vowed that the project would be underway by the end of its first mandate.

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’ Read More »

Male caregivers are welcome in the Shedquarters

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Male caregivers are welcome in the Shedquarters

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

English-speaking men in the Quebec City region who are caregivers will soon have access to a new Wellness Centre program aimed at creating social connections and making the experience of being a caregiver less isolating.

The Shedquarters project is inspired by the pan-Canadian Men’s Shed movement, ex- plained project co-ordinator Elise Arsenault. Men’s sheds are autonomous community initiatives that provide a safe and friendly environment where men can work on meaningful projects at their own pace, in their own time, in the company of other men. Arsenault, a master’s student in social work at Université Laval, explained that women tend to be more at ease than men when it comes to discussing difficulties they face openly, whether with a professional or with a friend or family member. “We know there are male caregivers around who are not using existing support services. When men talk about what’s bothering them, they tend to do it shoulder to shoul- der, rather than face to face,” she explained.

Shedquarters intends to give participants the opportunity to do just that. Arsenault said she hoped participants would take ownership of the project, creating “a community of English-speaking male caregivers, by and for the participants.”

The project is open to English-speaking and bilingual men of all ages who are caregivers, the schedule is flexible and the definition of “caregiver” is not restrictive. “You could be caring for a spouse or family member, or helping out a friend or neighbour – it’s a very wide definition,” said Arsenault. Men from around the greater Quebec City, Valcartier and Lévis areas are welcome to join. Arsenault said the program has already had several expressions of interest, and activities were expected to begin later this fall.

If you would like more information about the Shedquarters program for English-speaking male caregivers, either for yourself or someone you know, contact Elise Arsenault directly by phone (418-928-8388) or email (elars18@ulaval.ca).

Male caregivers are welcome in the Shedquarters Read More »

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