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The present paper, which is based on the experience of the Baie-Johan-Beetz Solidarity Cooperative, examines the efforts of a small Northern community of 78 residents to empower itself and which, despite its unfavourable geographical location, is developing large projects. To address the issue of local development in Northern living environments, it draws on the literature bearing on centre-periphery models, social innovation and relationships to territory. Situated at the crossroads of academic and citizen-based knowledge, and rooted in fieldwork-related methodology, the paper is built around the story occurring over the last decade of the birth, development and vitality of the Baie-Johan-Beetz Solidarity Cooperative. Set against a backdrop of local struggles fighting the deterioration and closure of local services, the community in question provides an example of the ability to mobilize Northern communities around a collective and socially innovative project. The conclusions underscore the urgent need for change in the Northern governance model, with a view to promoting local development for the benefit of Northern communities, as well as improving relations between Northern and Southern Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, bioethicist Arthur L. Caplan, along with three colleagues, stated in a paper published in the PennLive Patriot-News in May 2020 that anyone with COVID-19 who has not followed public health guidelines regarding mask use or social distancing, or who is responsible for a COVID-19 outbreak, should volunteer to be treated last. They do this based on the principle of the philosopher John Stuart Mill that the expression of freedom cannot cause harm to others. While one can understand the arguments raised by Caplan and his colleagues, this position cannot be applied in the Quebec context, for philosophical (ethical) and public health reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently conducted a Quebec-wide postal survey designed to assess major stakeholders' attitudes toward extending medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to non-competent patients with dementia. This paper reports the results of qualitative analyses of the comments left by the respondents at the end of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed to randomly selected representatives of four stakeholder groups: adults 65 years old and over (n=621), informal caregivers of persons with dementia (n=471), nurses (n=514) and physicians (n=653) caring for such patients at the time of the survey. A total of 1,050 questionnaires were returned, of which 420 included comments. Comments were coded into categories, themes and subthemes, and the frequency of categories compared across the four stakeholder groups. Coding enabled identification of 23 themes and five sub-themes clustered into seven major thematic categories. These relate to: 1) the respondent, 2) the survey and questionnaire, 3) persons with dementia, 4) their informal caregivers, 5) the healthcare system, 6) the legal framework governing end-of-life care, and 7) society in general. These categories were identified in all stakeholder groups, although to a varying degree for five of the seven categories. This study highlights the host of factors that may influence a person's attitude toward extending MAiD to non-competent patients with dementia. It also illustrates how making systematic use of freetext comments can provide valuable insight into attitudes toward complex social policy issues and extend understanding of postal survey findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the residential strategies developed by different waves of Jewish migrants in Toronto and Montreal since their early establishment in Canada. Tracking the creation of synagogues and centres of worship, as well as Jewish schools, allows us to evaluate their impact on the urban landscape. Where and how were these enclaves built? What were the strategies that have prevailed with each new wave of immigrants to incorporate their culture within these particular landscapes? Whereas religious and ethnic affiliations were essential expressions of identity in those enclaves, French language became the dominant factor of integration for Moroccan Jews in Quebec during the 1960s and 1970s. The paradox of their establishment in the 1960s is that even though most of them spoke French and founded their schools and main institutions in that language, they chose to live within established Jewish enclaves, which were multi-ethnic and anglophone. Did religion trump language? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]