Tag: Quebec

Ontario and Quebec Report Drop in Number of New COVID-19 Cases

MONTREAL—Ontario and Quebec each reported a significant drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases today, but an expert warns it’s too soon to draw conclusions from the data. Quebec reported 1,634 new COVID-19 cases, which included about 200 from the previous day that weren’t noted because of a delay. The province had broken the…


COVID 19: Quebec High School Students Return to Class After Month-Long Layoff

MONTREAL—Quebec high school students are back in the classroom today after a month-long layoff imposed by the government to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All students are required to wear procedural masks inside high school buildings and the government is providing each student two masks per day. Premier Francois Legault closed primary and high schools…


COVID 19: Provinces Work on Revised Plans as Pfizer BioNTech Shipments to Slow Down

Quebec and Ontario, the two provinces hit hardest by the COVID−19 pandemic, say a decision by drugmaker Pfizer−BioNTech to slow vaccine shipments in the coming weeks will mean changes to their respective game plans. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams said the company’s decision to delay international vaccine shipments to upgrade production facilities…


Quebec Threatens Construction, Manufacturing Sectors With More COVID Restrictions

MONTREAL—Quebec’s labour minister is threatening to impose more restrictions on the province’s construction and manufacturing sectors for allegedly flouting health orders. Jean Boulet said today in a statement that he’s received many reports of non-compliance connected to the two sectors since the government imposed new restrictions Jan. 9. The new measures—in effect until at least…


Quebec Police Fine Residents Protesting Against New Curfew Measure

Quebec police issued more than 150 tickets to residents who did not comply with the province’s newly enacted curfew measure that began Saturday night, police said. The curfew, which mandates Quebecers other than exempt groups to stay off from the streets between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. until Feb. 8, is the latest measure imposed…


Quebec to Impose Province-Wide 8 PM Curfew Until Feb. 8

MONTREAL—Quebec Premier Francois Legault is imposing a province-wide 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew beginning Saturday and for the next four weeks as a way to halt surging COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. Legault said today he wants to give Quebecers an “electroshock” regarding the critical situation in the province’s hospitals, which he said are overburdened…


Provincial Debt Crises Looming, Say Economists

News Analysis Economic forecasters say that Canada’s provinces and other levels of government below the federal level are spending unsustainably and will face a debt crisis unless they change course. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) provided this finding in a recent fiscal sustainability report updating the assessment it made in February 2020. The report projected the debt…


Premier Legault Postpones Announcement of New Lockdown, Nightly Curfew

Quebeckers who have been anxiously waiting for updates of a new lockdown to be released Tuesday have to wait until Wednesday, as Premier François Legault postponed his press briefing. The province announced on Monday that Legault will hold a rare 5 p.m. press conference on Tuesday. But a second announcement came a few hours later…


Quebec Liberal Vacationing in Caribbean Called Home by Party Leader as Criticism Mounts

Quebec Liberal member Pierre Arcand is being asked to return home amid mounting criticism over his decision to vacation in the Caribbean. A spokesperson for Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade confirmed today that she has asked Arcand to return home from Barbados as soon as possible. Arcand, a former interim leader of the party, issued a…


Business Coalition Sues Quebec Government for ‘Excessive’ Lockdown Measures

A coalition of Quebec business leaders has filed a lawsuit against the Legault government, saying the province’s decision to continually extend its state of health emergency and impose widespread lockdown measures is unconstitutional.    The recently formed group “Entrepreneurs en Action du Québec (EAQ) filed the appeal, which seeks to obtain “the nullity of decrees…