Feds announce $11 billion for icebreakers built in Quebec
On Monday Prime Minister Marc Carney and Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette announced in Lévis that the federal government will be spending $11 billion to construct six new icebreakers in the province, The Canadian Press reported.
The ships will be built in the Chantier Davie Shipyard, where the announcement took place, and will be for the Canadian Coast Guard.
Carney said it was the largest shipbuilding contract awarded in Quebec’s history. The ships will replace the Coast Guard’s medium and heavy icebreakers.
“We will move fast. The first steel will be cut next fall, the first ship will be delivered five years later, and the full fleet will be in service five years after that,” Carney said.
Fréchette said it was good news for the area, and would support an estimated 5,000 jobs in the region.
Hells Angels logo banned in Quebec
Quebec’s Public Safety Minister Ian Lafrenière signed an order last week making the biker gang the Hells Angels the first group to be targeted by a new law banning criminal groups from displaying their logos, the Montreal Gazette reported.
Bill 13, which was passed in the spring, allows the province to declare a group criminal and make the display of any of their symbols an offence.
“They show up — especially at festivals — with trucks to sell clothing featuring these logos saying ‘Hells Angels, Support 81.’ But these are criminal groups. It doesn’t make sense that in Quebec we’re familiar with (these logos),” said a spokesperson for Lafrenière’s office, Maxime Tardiff.
People violating the law can be fined heavily, and even have their property seized, depending on the situation.
While the Hells Angels are the first group to be named under the law, Tardiff said that more would be listed.
Lasalle College could close due to provincial penalties
Montreal’s Lasalle College could close just before the new school year, due to a $48 million debt owed to the province for surpassing its student quota for English-language classes, Radio-Canda reported.
According to a letter college president Claude Marchand sent to Premier Christine Fréchette over the weekend, which was obtained by Radio-Canada, they would be seeking creditor protection shortly if there was no relief from the provincial penalties.
The private, provincially-subsidized college was penalized $29.9 million for exceeding its student quota for English-language classes from 2023 to 2025, and has been asked to repay another $17.9 million in subsidies it received for 2025/26.
The college exceeded its quota by roughly 700 students in 2023/24, and around 1,000 students in 2024/25, and under provincial rules, the penalties for exceeding the limit can be up to $7,000 per student.
Marchand called the penalties “unjust, excessive, and without precedent,” and said that the college lacks the cash flow to absorb a penalty of that size.
The office of Higher Education Minister Martine Biron declined to comment on the matter at the time of publication.
