Students at Montreal high school under investigation say teacher made comments that shocked class
CBC
High school students at one of the four Montreal schools under investigation by Quebec's Education Ministry for alleged toxic behaviour among staff say their teacher referenced wanting to hit them last week.
The students' account is one of the few specific incidents to be reported after the ministry announced it was investigating the schools following a series of columns aired by French-language radio station 98.5 FM over the past year.
The students CBC News spoke with on Tuesday morning go to La Voie high school in the city's west-central Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. They said one of their teachers made remarks last week that stunned the class.
The service centre overseeing all the schools in question, the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), told CBC News it had met with the teacher following the incident. It is unclear whether this teacher's behaviour was already being investigated.
Adalyhia Abigail Stamp, 16, said the teacher was speaking to her class about grades when she made the remarks.
"They mentioned something about our grades, and that we weren't doing so good. So they were like, 'If I could, I would hit you guys to get you to study and do better in your classes.' And she was mentioning her old country and how they did it there, and how she can't do it anymore because it's banned," Adalyhia told CBC News.
"I would say half of the class kind of laughed it off, and then the other side of the class were a little concerned because she seemed — like, she was laughing, but she seemed like she was very serious about it."
CBC News spoke with other students at the school who confirmed Adalyhia's account.
Of the four Montreal schools, three of which are in Côte-des-Neiges and one in Saint-Michel, Bedford elementary school in particular has found itself in the spotlight after 11 teachers were suspended over the weekend.
Earlier this month, the Education Ministry released a 90-page report on the climate at Bedford. The ministry followed up by saying it was looking into similar allegations at three other schools: La Voie high school and Saint-Pascal-Baylon and Bienville elementary schools.
Despite a warning in the report by the ministry not to draw conclusions about the teachers' cultural backgrounds, politicians appear to be doing just that.
Quebec Premier François Legault, Education Minister Bernard Drainville and Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon have all linked the allegedly unhealthy climate among teachers at Bedford to the ongoing debate about religion in public institutions and the province's secularism law, commonly referred to as Bill 21.
Chedly Belkhodja, a professor at Concordia University's School of Community of Public Affairs, says the statements from the Coalition Avenir Québec party and the PQ are basically "the same tune" that's been sung in the province for years when it comes to cultural identity.
"Nationalist groups are using some issues to promote a certain vision of identity in Quebec and it's always to the detriment of immigrant populations, mostly Muslims and people from North Africa," said Belkhodja.
The head of Canada's Leaders' Debates Commission says the independent body should stop organizing post-debate news conferences and will make changes to how it decides what leaders to invite after this spring's leadership debate was surrounded by controversy.
The Alberta Health Services CEO who took over after a controversial firing in January is now himself off the job.
Standing inside her non-profit managed rental unit in central Windsor, Ont., Sue Pare points to a crack in her kitchen floor she can’t get fixed.
Five people were sent to hospital, including one person with life-threatening injuries, after a fire broke out at a fraternity house near Western University prompting a police investigation.
A rusting and derelict ship that’s been looming large over the waterfront in Springdale for years will soon be removed and disposed of by the federal government.
Greater Sudbury taxpayers will be paying 3.9 per cent more in property taxes in 2026.
When it comes to wintry weather, the Maritimes has certainly dipped a toe into the water with this week's chilly temperatures and snow.
N.B. Power is warning that the U.S. company it hired to build and run a billion-dollar gas plant could walk away in April — a move that would set the project back years, and possibly lead to power shortages in the province.
After Serge Belloncik suffered a stroke in 2022, he developed aphasia, a communication disorder affecting his ability to speak.
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation says its annual Winterfest celebration has been cancelled for 2026, with the southwestern Manitoba First Nation's newly elected chief saying there was not enough time or funding to plan the four-day festival.
Amid a housing crisis, Saskatoon is poised to add more than 200 new apartment units near the downtown early next year.
Retired teacher Lynn Phaneuf says he and his wife generally only use the smart TV in the living room of their Prince Albert home to watch the news.
Tens of thousands of Edmonton public and Catholic school students are chronically absent each year, according to data obtained by CBC News. Education experts say they are alarmed by the numbers, warning they could be an early symptom of deeper issues for those students.