MONTREAL -- In the news this week: Refugee claimants wait on work permits; the court overthrows a provision barring Jews from buying land; a Quebecer finds a golden lottery ticket on the floor of his truck; and earthquake hits south of Montreal; and Maman Dion has died at age 92.


Refugee claimants forced to turn to welfare as work permits stalled in federal bureaucracy

Asylum seekers Montreal

In 2017, Quebec experienced a wave of refugee claimants streaming across the border to apply for asylum in Canada. Many of those people are still waiting for their hearings with the Canadian government. They've been waiting so long their 2-year work permits are now expiring, and many people able and willing to find work on their own are out of a job and on public assistance.


Court overthrows provision stating Jewish people can't buy homes in city southeast of Montreal

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

The City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 40 km southeast of Montreal, says it will consider changing the name of a street that was designated in honour of an anti-Semitic farmer. 

The statement comes after a Quebec Superior Court judge overturned a condition of sale that bans Jewish people from being able to rent or buy homes on a specific plot of land that was owned by landowner Alphonse Waegener in the 1950s and 1960s.

Six months after draw, Quebecer finds $1 million-winning lottery ticket on the floor of his truck

Patrice Perreault

Quebecer Patrice Perreault was heading home from a hunting trip last month when he decided to check some discarded lottery tickets that had been piling up on the floor of his truck.

He took the tickets to a depanneur in Roxton Pond, about 70 km east of Montreal, where the convenience store clerk informed Perreault that one of his tickets had won the $1-million Loto-Quebec draw more than six months earlier, on June 1, 2019.


Earthquake hits south of Montreal, startles residents near and far

Earthquake hits Montreal

A 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit just south of Montreal, near the U.S. border. According to Earthquakes Canada, it happened at 5:38 a.m. Monday at a depth of five kilometres.


'Maman, we love you so much': Therese Dion, mother of superstar Celine Dion, has died at age 92

Therese Dion

Road conditions were difficult, particularly south of the St. Lawrence River, especially on the South Shores of Montreal and Quebec while more than 137,000 Hydro-Quebec customers were affected by 125 disruptions to the network.

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