Follow-up report released on Quebec youth services
A five-year progress report following a public inquiry into Quebec’s youth protection services found that less than half of recommendations had been fully or largely implemented, The Canadian Press reported.
The province launched an inquiry in 2019 following the death of a seven-year-old girl in Granby, and concluded in 2021.
While 29 of the report’s recommendations have been implemented, 27 have been partially implemented, and eight show little or no progress.
“Transforming a system like this requires time, rigour, and consistency,” said social services minister Lionel Carmant.
Quebec has been urged by its newly appointed commissioner on children’s well-being, to adopt a charter of children’s rights for the province, which is also one of the inquiry’s recommendations.
Des Collines introduces passenger vehicle registration tax
MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais will be charging residents a new registration tax on their vehicle in the new year, CBC News reported, with a plan to use this money to improve regional public transit.
The municipalities of Chelsea and Cantley had already been charging this $30 fee, which will be expanded MRC-wide in January 2027, affecting residents of the Municipality of Pontiac, Val-des-Monts, L’Ange-Gardien and La Pêche. The rate is expected to increase to $35 in 2028 and $40 in 2029.
The money will be invested in regional public transit organization TransCollines. Warden Marc Carrière said that the decision to charge a fee had been made to compensate for provincial funding that was cut, as well as increased demand from residents.
“There’s more and more people asking for services from Transcollines and we are saturated,” he said.
Quebec rolls out new financial relief measures
On Monday (May 25), Quebec premier Christine Fréchette announced a major sales tax cut coming in June as well as reductions in the vehicle registration fees, according to The Canadian Press. Speaking in Sherbrooke, she announced a cut to sales taxes on some groceries and certain hygiene products, as well as a cut of $50 for vehicle registration fees, and new tax credits for vulnerable populations. The credits and tax cuts will come in June, while the vehicle registration reduction will begin in September.
Radio-Canada reported on Sunday that Finance Minister Eric Girard had sent a letter to Fréchette warning that this spending would exceed the $250 million that had been allotted for her use in this year’s budget.
Girard’s office estimated that the changes announced on Monday would cost $336 million, $86 million more than initially budgeted. He said the amount could be easily absorbed with an increase in revenue and federal transfers, and that the changes to vehicle registrations and tax credits for vulnerable people would be temporary, and phased out the following year.
