Hello and welcome to montrealgazette.com and welcome to Midday. Here’s the rundown on some of the stories we’re following for you today.
As hearings begin Tuesday on the proposed Quebec Charter of Values, a new public opinion poll suggests even some Quebecers who support restrictions on religious symbols in public institutions think the move is already fuelling stereotyping and tension among the province’s communities and is likely to foster civil disobedience. The poll also found substantial confusion among Quebecers about how sternly any charter should be policed, with just over one-third of respondents saying they believe a person who defied the law by refusing to remove a religious symbol ought to be fired. The poll of 1,000 Quebecers, conducted by Léger Marketing for The Gazette and the Canadian Institute for Identities and Migration, found 48 per cent of Quebecers support the Parti Québécois government’s plan to outlaw people of faith from wearing religious symbols such as hijabs, kippas, turbans or conspicuous crucifixes while working in government jobs. That’s a slight uptick from the 46 per cent who said they were in favour of a secular charter in a poll conducted in October. You can also listen to our podcast on the poll results.
The Charbonneau Commission resumed its public hearings on Monday morning, picking up right where it left off in December. The province’s powerful labour unions were still front-and-centre as the inquiry entered a new year, with the former head of the real-estate arm of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ (known as SOLIM) taking the stand at 9:30 a.m. Guy Gionet seemed nervous but was mostly cooperative as he was asked about his time with the union investment fund. He corroborated previous testimony from his former boss, Richard Marion, confirming that Jean Lavallée, the ex-head of FTQ-Construction and a member of the FTQ’s board of directors, pushed hard for certain projects to go ahead. Among those projects was the refurbishment of the Brousseau marina. The marina has been mentioned several times at the Charbonneau Commission, and was reportedly frequented by members of the Hells Angels. It famously played host to union-sponsored wet T-shirt contests and allegedly served as a port for the smuggling of cigars and other contraband.
Globes are typically Hollywood’s bawdiest awards show — “a wonderful mess,” said co-host Tina Fey of this year’s bash. But in the end, after all the boozy banter — some of it bleeped for broadcast — the 1970s corruption tale “American Hustle” got a very serious push toward Oscar glory, picking up three major awards. Benefiting the most from Sunday night’s Globes as focus shifts to the Academy Awards, David O. Russell’s con caper locked in best comedy, best actress (Amy Adams) and best supporting actress (Jennifer Lawrence). Not that early-season favourite “12 Years a Slave” isn’t still in the running. Though it earned only one award, Steve McQueen’s historical epic took home the night’s top honour: best film drama. But “American Hustle” seems to have emerged from the 71st annual Golden Globes as the film to beat.
And finally, Quebec seems to have dodged the proverbial bullet when it comes to a demographic slump that was forecast for its universities. Despite the turmoil of the recent student uprising over tuition fees and a severe $250-million funding cut (over two years) in December 2012 that walloped Quebec’s already struggling universities, student enrolment is up at the province’s four largest universities in Montreal. And that’s good news since university funding is so inextricably tied to student population. “The ministry (of higher education) has been predicting for a few years that the student population would decrease, but it seems to have been postponed,” said Thierry Morel-Laforce, president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec. “We hope the numbers will continue to go up.”
Stay with us for more on these stories and breaking news as it happens at montrealgazette.com
