🚑 Breaking & Incidents
- Cracked steel beam on the Mercier Bridge renews calls for a new structure. The report identifies a cracked steel beam on the Mercier Bridge, prompting engineers and some municipal officials to press again for replacing the bridge rather than further repairs; dates, repair estimates or a timeline were not provided in the item.
- Family of a Quebec boy calls off ghost bike memorial after receiving hate messages. The family cancelled the planned ghost bike ceremony for the child killed while cycling because they received hate messages, and they publicly announced the cancellation to avoid further harassment.
🏛️ Government & Politics
- Canada’s fractured immigration consensus is shifting ballots and bolstering the Parti Québécois in Quebec. The piece links the PQ’s recent minority mandate to promises of tighter immigration controls and lists five Alberta referendum questions on immigration being pushed by Premier Danielle Smith, including provincial control over economic immigration and fees for non-permanent residents.
- Montrealers held a solidarity protest for French students and warned against complacency. Protesters gathered at Phillips Square to support high school students in France who have been striking since mid-September over school conditions and to decry rising cost-of-living issues; speakers included Montrealers Amara Grant and Yves Hupé who tied the movement to broader concerns about social rights in Quebec.
🎨 Community & Culture
- Quebec author Thélyson Orélien suspends effort to document whether AI wrote his novel. Publisher Éditions du Boréal confirmed Orélien ended his attempt to compile evidence about the creation of C’était ça ou mourir, leaving questions about alleged AI use unresolved while the publisher continues to sell the book, according to co-director Renaud Roussel.
- Gatineau’s Julien Leblanc plans a return to the Octagon. The article reports that fighter Julien Leblanc from Gatineau is preparing to return to mixed martial arts competition, with details on his training and matchup expectations provided in the piece.
- Quebec health‑care technology has been sent to the International Space Station. The report states a Quebec-developed health-care technology was placed aboard the ISS, highlighting a provincial contribution to space-based medical research.
- Laura Hall upended Valérie Maltais to win her first long-track national title. The B.C. speed skater Laura Hall beat Valérie Maltais to claim her first long-track national championship, as reported in the national competition coverage.
