Quebec passes law in effort to end daily protests

MONTREAL — Quebec Liberals are getting set to choose their new leader at a convention today in Montreal. Former premier Jean Charest stepped down as Liberal leader last September after losing his seat when his government was toppled by the Parti Quebecois in the provincial election. Three former cabinet ministers are vying to succeed him — Philippe Couillard, Raymond Bachand and Pierre Moreau. Couillard, the presumed front-runner, was health minister between 2003 and 2008.

Quebec’s eternal debate between sovereigntists and federalists is spilling into the classroom as the Parti Québécois government moves to reshape the provincial curriculum. On Thursday, Education Minister Marie Malavoy announced she is putting the brakes on a program that would have provided intensive English instruction to francophone children in Grade 6, saying that the teaching of English is a “sensitive” subject in Quebec.

MONTREAL — Liberal leadership favourite Justin Trudeau waded into two areas of provincial policy today in Quebec. Trudeau offered his opinions on Quebec language legislation and tuition fees, while also reiterating a promise to increase federal involvement in education. Speaking at his alma mater, McGill University, he offered indications that a Trudeau prime ministership would be a marked departure from a Harper era defined by a hands-off approach to provincial issues.

MONTREAL — The Quebec government will propose small annual increases to university tuition during its ongoing education summit, an event called to help calm last year’s student crisis. The governing Parti Quebecois is expected to make the announcement Monday at the two-day Montreal conference, a government source said. Tuition increases were at the heart of the 2012 student unrest, which saw Montreal consumed by massive, nightly demonstrations. It was sparked by the former Liberal government’s plan to hike tuition fees by 77% over five years.

QUEBEC — The former leader of the Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, appears to have landed a government job two years after he lost his last one in a historic electoral drubbing. He is being appointed by the pro-independence Parti Quebecois provincial government to lead a commission whose role will be to fight the feds over changes to skills training. Duceppe led the Bloc through six federal elections, with some resounding successes, until the sudden and spectacular wipeout in 2011 where his party nearly disappeared and he lost his own seat.

OTTAWA — By a slim majority, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Quebec does not have to give common-law spouses the same rights as married couples. The complex, detailed ruling issued Friday means the financial aspects of the province’s family law regime are constitutional and do not have to be changed. Despite the fact that one-third of all Quebec couples are unmarried, the province’s Civil Code does not provide equal rights for those in common-law unions.

Quebecers afflicted with a terminal illness may soon be able to seek the help of a doctor in ending their life. A panel of legal experts has recommended the provincial government allow what it is calling “medical assistance to die” in rare cases where a patient is close to death and unable to endure the physical or psychological pain — and the Quebec government says it believes it has found a way of not running afoul of Ottawa with the measures. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Canada under the Criminal Code.