Want to Keep up with Quebec News in just 5 minutes?Perfect for Ex-pats or those in a rush!
Every Saturday read a short, subjective weekly review of Quebec news with a Anglophone POV.
Carifesta, the Black Carrebean community's annual parade took place last Saturday. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. Here's a great video that showcases the energy as well as the great dancing and costumes.
MORE VIDEO HERE
Hospitals across Quebec have shut close to 700 beds because of a lack of staffing. It seems summer holidays are more important than maintaining the integrity of the health system. Don't blame the unions, this one is squarely on the weak-kneed management who are unable to implement appropriate systems.
It's no better over at Urgences Santé, the government's ambulance service. A man with appendicitis waited six hours for ambulance because there were not enough drivers available, again due to staff shortages caused by vacations.
Perhaps the health system can avoid these problems by following the example of the construction industry which just shuts down completely for two weeks at the end of July.
Due to the closure of the nuclear facility at Chalk River that produces medical isotopes, Quebec hospitals have delayed at least 12,000 diagnostic tests and have put on hold the treatment of some patients with thyroid cancers. argh!......
Almost 3,000 women will be re-tested in relation to botched breast cancer screening tests. Last May, Quebec’s pathology association took some 15 breast cancer tissue samples (which had been reliably tested lab) and sent them to assorted labs across the province asking them to retest for hormone receptors. The results were abysmal, with 15-20% of the hormone receptor tests wrong and 30% of the tests looking for HER2 protein also wrong. (a test used to determine if chemotherapy is appropriate).
A Montreal woman has asked the Quebec Superior Court for permission to launch a class action lawsuit against the provincial government for these alleged errors in breast cancer testing.
Montreal Canadiens, dumped two long time fan favorites when they failed to re-sign Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalov. What is interesting is that both players wanted desperately to stay in Montreal with Koivu even offering to take a discount on his salary.
Unemployment rates, hold steady in June but there's a startling difference between Montreal's 9.5% rate and Quebec City's 4.6%, which is less than half. For the first time in memory Ontario's unemployment rate of 9.6% is higher than the province of Quebec's 8.8%.
The city with the lowest in Canada- Regina-3.8%, while the city with the highest rate =Windsor-14.4%.
Canada's overall rate is 8.6% while in the USA the rate is 9.5%.
It's no better over at Urgences Santé, the government's ambulance service. A man with appendicitis waited six hours for ambulance because there were not enough drivers available, again due to staff shortages caused by vacations.
Perhaps the health system can avoid these problems by following the example of the construction industry which just shuts down completely for two weeks at the end of July.
Due to the closure of the nuclear facility at Chalk River that produces medical isotopes, Quebec hospitals have delayed at least 12,000 diagnostic tests and have put on hold the treatment of some patients with thyroid cancers. argh!......
Almost 3,000 women will be re-tested in relation to botched breast cancer screening tests. Last May, Quebec’s pathology association took some 15 breast cancer tissue samples (which had been reliably tested lab) and sent them to assorted labs across the province asking them to retest for hormone receptors. The results were abysmal, with 15-20% of the hormone receptor tests wrong and 30% of the tests looking for HER2 protein also wrong. (a test used to determine if chemotherapy is appropriate).
A Montreal woman has asked the Quebec Superior Court for permission to launch a class action lawsuit against the provincial government for these alleged errors in breast cancer testing.
Montreal Canadiens, dumped two long time fan favorites when they failed to re-sign Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalov. What is interesting is that both players wanted desperately to stay in Montreal with Koivu even offering to take a discount on his salary.
Unemployment rates, hold steady in June but there's a startling difference between Montreal's 9.5% rate and Quebec City's 4.6%, which is less than half. For the first time in memory Ontario's unemployment rate of 9.6% is higher than the province of Quebec's 8.8%.
The city with the lowest in Canada- Regina-3.8%, while the city with the highest rate =Windsor-14.4%.
Canada's overall rate is 8.6% while in the USA the rate is 9.5%.
CRIME & PUNISHEMENT
(Weekly review of interesting crime stories and court room antics)
Killer will not Face trial. Last summer Mélissa Beaudoin, aged 17, of Pointe-aux-Trembles (at the eastern tip of the island on Montreal) went to spend the summer in the country, doing some babysitting for her boyfriend's father, Richard Bérand. Two days after she arrived the father, drunk and high on cocaine demanded that Mélissa and her boyfriend (his son) have sex in front of him, which they refused to do.
That night the father crept into her room and told her that her mother was gravely injured in an accident and that he'd take her to see her. Of course, it was a ruse and she never made it anywhere. The father raped and killed her by bludgeoning her with a stone.
It's a sad story, but not one that's extraordinary in the annuls of violent crime. What is different however, is that Mr. Bérand will probably never be tried for his crime!
His doctor submitted a document to court detailing the fact that Mr. Bérand is in the final stage of a generalized cancer.
As you can imagine the parents of the victim are furious, wishing that the killer would at least spend some time in prison before dying. LINK(Fr) LINK(fr)
