Funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, CKUT’s Local Journalism Initiative will publish local news stories from reporter Jules Bugiel. You can also read the web stories on Canada-Info and listen to our Local Journalism Initiative roundup every Tuesday at 5:00 pm on Off The Hour.
All stories are free to republish, in full, through a Creative Commons license. More details here.
Here’s some of our trending stories:
November 21: Schools close as Common Front workers demand better pay, conditions
Common Front workers are back on the picket line, asking for better working conditions and a salary that rises with inflation. That means that schools are closed from Tuesday to Thursday – and even longer for schools with teachers represented by the FAE, who are starting an indefinite strike on Thursday. We chat with workers, union leaders and parents about the closures.
November 16: Montreal budget sees hikes in property taxes and spending on police, transit
Mayor Valérie Plante and city staff presented Montreal’s 7-billion-dollar budget on Wednesday. Property tax hikes and increases in transit and police spending are the big-ticket items for 2024.
November 14: Foreign workers ask Marc Miller to keep his promise, fast-track permits
Foreign workers say an immigration agency and catering company promised them legal work but never delivered the documents. Now, the feds are taking back their offer to fast-track open work permits.
November 8: Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers on strike with the Common Front
Hundreds of thousands of public and parapublic workers went on strike in the province on Monday. Roughly 420,000 workers are represented by the Common Front, a coalition made up of the CSN, CSQ, FTQ, and APTS unions. They’re asking the government for higher wages and better working conditions.
November 1: Students take to the streets to protest of out-of-province tuition hikes
Hundreds of students and supporters came out on Monday to protest the doubling of out-of-province tuition, which is slated to affect incoming undergraduate and professional master’s students next fall.
October 26: McGill students walk out, blockade administration building in solidarity with Palestine
Hundreds of McGill students walked out of their classes in protest of Israel’s bombing of Gaza on October 25. They called for a ceasefire abroad and solidarity at home in an event that ended with around a dozen students blockading the entrance to the James Administration building.
October 24: Midwives’ autonomy is under threat, says association president
Montrealers braved the rain on Sunday (Oct. 22) to protest the proposed Bill 15’s changes to midwifery in the province. Josyane Giroux, midwife and president of the Regroupement Les Sages-femmes du Québec, joins CKUT to share her concerns with the bill.
October 17: McGill to lose out-of-province students, pivot to international admissions
The province’s out-of-province tuition changes will have major impacts on student body composition at anglophone universities, says higher education consultant Alex Usher. “If I had to guess I’d say McGill is going to lose half its out-of-province students,” he tells CKUT. “And what will they do? They’ll pivot to more international students.”
October 16: Academics, politicians join thousands demanding ceasefire in Gaza
“Genocide,” “war crimes,” “apartheid”: these were just a few of the allegations levelled at Israeli authorities at Friday’s protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Here’s coverage of that protest and the press conference that preceded it.
October 13: Quebec to double out-of-province tuition next fall
The CAQ announced Friday they’re upping base tuition fees for out-of-province students in undergraduate and professional master’s programs. Currently, the minimum students pay is $8,992 per year; that’ll go up to roughly $17,000.
October 5: Foreign workers deceived and exploited, class action suit alleges
A pandemic measure allowing visitor visa holders to apply for work permits was exploited, leaving hundreds of foreigners working in poor conditions without documentation, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
September 14: Housing crisis sees students in dire straits
CKUT speaks to HOJO manager Leanne Ashworth and other Montrealers to learn how the housing crisis is affecting students at the start of the fall term.
August 29: Montrealers take to the streets to save lease transfers
Hundreds of Montrealers took to the streets last Friday in protest of the proposed Bill 31. If passed, the bill would allow landlords the right to refuse a tenant’s lease transfer without cause. CKUT was on hand to speak to protestors about what the legislation would mean for renters in the province.
July 21: Quebec casino workers’ strike hits one-month mark
1700 workers from four Quebec casinos and online gaming have been on strike going on a month. They say that Loto-Québec’s proposal to cut starting wages and keep salary increases below the rate of inflation will make life less affordable for workers.
