By Murray Sherriffs
=
The people who run Quebec’s regional family-medicine departments say that they will not enforce the sections of Bill 2 that change how doctors are paid and penalize doctors who don’t see a set number of patients on a given day. In a letter sent to Premier Legault and the people who run the health care system, the family-medicine directors said “…we cannot imagine imposing more patients on our colleagues when they are already completely overwhelmed.” Health Minister Christian Dube stands by the law and says doctors are misinterpreting it.
=
Official Languages Minister Marc Miller is hurt, Premier Legault thinks he is “a disgrace” and spreading “stupidity”, finding it strange to hear that some people find the French language is on the decline in Quebec because, “…I was part of a government that recognized the decline of French across Canada, including in Quebec, and amended the Official Languages Act, to meet that concern” because “…French, I will repeat, is immensely fragile in North America, and it must be protected.”
=
Liberal House Leader Steven MacKinnon says the Quebec premier ”sometimes has interesting opinions” and echoes views of Quebec Liberal Party House Leader André Fortin who “…knows the premier talks about the ‘Louisianization of Quebec’” and “…refuses to offer any solid assistance to newcomers to learn the French language and that is a disgrace.”
=
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says that people who speak for cultural communities lack loyalty to Quebec; that “the intellectual vacuity and sycophancy of a substantial part of Quebec’s cultural community are frankly embarrassing. I am ashamed.”
=
Léger Marketing says that the Quebec Liberal Party is hurting, down six percentage points from the last poll while the Parti Quebecois comes in up seven points, standing at 39%; and that the CAQ is at 18%. Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez comes in at 12% when the question “who would make the best premier of Quebec” is asked.
=
The Canadian branch of the International Commission of Jurists is taking its fight against Quebec’s proposed constitution to the world stage, arguing that the legislation fails to respect the rights of minorities, Indigenous people and the rule of law. It has asked a United Nations special group to look at Bill 1, to determine whether it infringes on human rights.
=
The Sûreté du Quebec is conducting raids aimed at taking down a synthetic drug operation in Sainte Sophie, Saint Donat de Montcalm, Saint Bernard, Sainte Anne des Plaines, Sherbrooke and Terrebonne.
=
Physician and former Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir has been suspended from practicing medicine for six months for prescribing long-term antibiotic therapy to treat Lyme disease, despite agreeing with the Collège des médecins that he would stop.
=
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is looking at getting Montreal police to wear body cameras to “…give the people confidence they’re being treated fairly.”
=
21-year-old Yacine Mehennaoui has been sent to jail by a Laval judge, for four-and-a-half years, for criminal negligence in the death of a three-year-old child in Bois-des-Filion, two years ago.
=
Psychological distress among teens has reached an unprecedented level, according to the 2025 report from Tel-jeunes. Requests for help from young people and parents have risen 20 per cent and will total 60,000 by year’s end. 50 per cent of help requests relate to mental health (anxiety, depression, self-harm, isolation and self-esteem).
=
Habs 3 Jets 2 (shootout)
=
Snow (2 cm) / wind / -5º today
Sun / -5º tomorrow
