Quebec misfires on tuition hike
In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I tried to shed light, instead of just blasting heat, on the tuition hike that you may have heard about. The short version: It’s perfectly defensible for Quebec to have a policy that favours Quebec students in post-secondary education. Provided it works. This won’t.
I also wrote a piece in National Magazine about lawyers in British Columbia, led by the incomparable and extraordinary barbara findlay, creating a rapid-response legal team to assist people dealing with anti-trans bigots. Dans le climat que l’on sait, j’ai l’impression qu’iel seront bien en demande.
The Saskatchewan human rights commissioner has resigned over the provincial government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to take away children’s rights to privacy and security of the person when it comes to name and pronoun use. And not just because she is parent to a trans kid either.
In a letter on Monday announcing her resignation effective immediately, Kuttai — one of six human rights commissioners in Saskatchewan — said the decision did not come lightly. But to her, the policy itself is “an attack on the rights of trans, nonbinary, and gender diverse children.
“A child’s rights must always take precedence over a parent’s obligations and responsibilities,” Kuttai said.
“My first concern is that this (bill) is going to hurt kids.”
Meanwhile in Manitoba… This is a great speech by Premier Wab Kinew.
Local news
A very cool book about bridges in the Ottawa area (the NCR, as us dorky types say), the stories behind them, with lots of great photos.
In an amazingly surprising and crazy-ass unpredictable development, LRT contractors have no clue what’s wrong with the system. But fear not, the blighted thing keeps stopping. A very apt oxymoron, that.
But hey, chin up because we also have great news. We’re almost ready to start thinking about considering the possibility of maybe allowing a tiny little bit of gentle density to this chronically affordable-housing-deprived city. Unless, that is, we’re not.
