People in Quebec are worried that Muslim women could be denied certain public services, after the government passed a “religious neutrality” bill.
The province’s Bill 62 was passed by the Quebec provincial government on Oct. 18. It says that people who work for the government in certain jobs must have their face uncovered. It also requires people who are using government services — for instance, riding a bus or using a library — must do so with their face uncovered.
It also bans public workers, like doctors and teachers, from covering their face while they are working.
Tag: Liberals
Canadians Vote On October 19
On October 19, Canadian adults will vote in a federal election. Their votes will help to decide who becomes the next Prime Minister.
Liberals Win Majority In Quebec
Voters in the province of Quebec made their feelings known on Monday, giving the Liberal party a majority government.
Majority means the Liberals got more votes than all of the other parties put together.
The Liberals beat the main rival, the Parti Quebecois, led by Pauline Marois.
Surprising Win For Liberals In BC Election
The Liberals unexpectedly won the provincial election in British Columbia on Tuesday surprising many people, who thought the New Democratic Party (NDP) would win.
The Liberals and the NDP are two of Canada’s biggest political parties.
The Liberals were already in power in B.C.; after this election, they will stay in power.
Being “in power” in this case means they are responsible for making many of the important decisions involving laws and money in the province. It also means that their leader is the Premier of the province.
Many people—including political experts—thought the New Democratic Party would win the election. Not only did the Liberals win, but they won a “majority government.” That means they have more seats in the legislature than all of the other parties combined.
Justin Trudeau New Leader Of Federal Liberals
Justin Trudeau is the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Justin Trudeau is the son of Pierre Trudeau, who was the charismatic Prime Minister of Canada for more than 15 years in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
A new kind of Trudeaumania swept the Liberal Party on Sunday, where Justin Trudeau won the leadership of the party by a landslide.
He took more than 80 per cent of the vote, winning handily on the first ballot.
Trudeau has a big challenge—to get the Liberal party focused again, and eventually to get it back in power.
He wants to be Canada’s next prime minister.
Dalton McGuinty’s Sudden And Shocking Retirement As Ontario’s Premier
On Monday night, the Premier of Ontario did something surprising. He quit his job.
It was shocking, because most people didn’t see it coming.
Dalton McGuinty has been the Premier for nine years.
He is also the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, a position he has held for 16 years.
At the same time as he resigned, he also “prorogued” the legislature. That means he stopped all business taking place in the Ontario House of Commons.
Most of the work MPPs were working on has been cancelled until a new session is called.
No one knows exactly why McGuinty quit, and so suddenly.
Some people say he intends to run for leader of the federal Liberal party—in other words, take over the national Liberals so he can run for Prime Minister in the future.
Other people say he quit because his provincial government is in the middle of many difficulties including contract negotiations with some unions.
PQ Forms New Government In Quebec
There has been a significant change in government in the province of Quebec.
On Sept. 4, the PQ party won the provincial election.
They will take over from the Liberals, who have been in power there for nine years.
The PQ leader is Pauline Marois. She will become Quebec’s first female premier.
The PQ or Parti Quebecois advocates “sovereignty” for Quebec. That means they believe Quebec should be a separate country from the rest of Canada because it is unique in terms of culture and language. Most people in Quebec speak French.
How Much Did Fighter Jets Really Cost?
In 2010, new F-35 Fighter Jets were ordered by Canada’s Defence Department (the department that oversees the country’s military).The new jets were supposed to cost around $15-billion.
Now, however, the Auditor General of Canada has said that the 65 planes will actually cost $25-billion, $10-billion more than expected. The Auditor General’s office watches over Government spending.
NDP and Liberal MPs (Members of Parliament) have accused the Defence Department (part of the Conservative government in power) of “hiding” the extra $10-billion in their financial reports when the 2011 election was coming up. Some are saying that the Conservatives wanted to keep it secret so people wouldn’t see the real costs and not vote for them.
Now that it is in the open, some MPs have demanded that Canada’s Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, step down from his job.
The Defence Department has explained their position saying that their original estimate did not include many costs such as operations (day-to-day expenses), people to run the project, or a “contingency fund” (in this case, this refers to money set aside for unknown problems in the project). Some of that money was already recorded in other budgets.
Protests and Accusations – The “Robo-Call” Scandal Continues
Canadians marched through the streets of Vancouver last Saturday to protest the use of misleading “robo-calls” during the federal election last May.
More than 31,000 people have complained to Elections Canada about the automatic voice-mails they received, directing them to go to the wrong polling station to vote.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that his party had nothing to do with the robo-calls.
Representatives from the Liberals and the NDP have urged the people responsible to come forward.
The Liberals and NDP have also denied having anything to do with the potentially illegal calls.
Many Canadians want to know who placed the calls, and they want the party responsible for them to be held accountable.
Two Canadian Political Parties In Hot Water Over Use Of Technology
During elections, people often get a recorded message on their telephone that reminds them to vote and tells them where to go, to vote.
These messages, which use pre-recorded voices, are known as robo-calls.
Canada’s federal Conservative party is being accused of using robo-calls to mislead the public, during last year’s election.
The RCMP and Elections Canada (the group that makes the rules for elections), are looking into accusations that some robo-calls steered voters to the wrong polling station, or to polling stations that didn’t even exist, which would be illegal.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn’t know anything about the illegal robo-calls.
