Local 514

Échec à la guerre’s white poppy campaign, now in its 16th year, calls for remembering all victims of war, including civilians, and making peace an intentional part of how we observe Remembrance Day.

Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa speaks with Martine Eloy about the campaign. In the past, criticisms have been levied against the white poppy campaigners for being “disrespectful” to veterans. Martine rebuffs these criticisms by sharing with us some moments when veterans themselves donned the white poppy. Martine has seen the criticisms quieten over the years of her work with the anti-war collective.

The campaign itself this year has received a surge in interest as defence budgets continue to balloon.

The debate over objectivity in journalism has consequences beyond the newsroom. In his new book, La Presse deputy editor François Cardinal dismisses some progressive Montréal reporters as “activists.” But what does that distinction mean for journalists on the ground facing police?

Christopher Curtis joins Local 514’s Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa to discuss Cardinal’s criticism of Pivot as well as Pivot’s sharp response. At CUTV, these questions hit close to home as one of our journalists, Savanna Craig, was arrested while covering a protest in 2023. The police similarly questioned whether she was a legitimate journalist or not.
Cardinal’s position gives state authorities cover to decide who counts as a journalist. That can leave reporters exposed to police targeting and undermine their ability to challenge it.

Tune in for the full conversation.

Zach Jutras sits down with Milan Bernard, spokesperson for the National Council of Unemployed Workers (NCUW), to discuss their demands for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.The NCUW, along with other unions and worker organizations, gathered outside the minister’s office in Shawinigan to demand that the government cap employment insurance eligibility hours at 420. Right now, the hours needed for EI can range from 420 to 700, depending on your region. Bernard says that the current requirements are not achievable for many part-time employees. The NCUW agrees with some new temporary measures that help workers access EI during economic uncertainty; however, they want those measures to become permanent.Make sure to follow Local 514 & CUTV on social media to stay up to date with new episodes and more content:Local 514Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/local514montreal/CUTVInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutv.community/Website: https://www.cutvmontreal.org/

The Parti Québécois is back in power with 60 seats, having gained one more after a recount in Vachon on Montréal’s South Shore. But its minority government will need support from other parties to pass legislation and budgets. What should Montréalers expect?
Journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes joins Local 514’s Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa to discuss the CAQ’s decline, the PQ’s return and what the new government could mean for Montréal, particularly its immigrant and anglophone communities.
Noakes examines the party’s focus on language and national identity, questioning what its priorities offer a city struggling with housing costs, underfunded transit and aging infrastructure. The discussion also considers the prospects for another sovereignty referendum, Alberta’s referendum and the influence of American politics on Québec’s independence movement.
Running through the conversation is a question of political power: how much say does Montréal have over its own future? As the PQ pursues greater independence for Québec, Noakes argues for greater autonomy for Montréal—and asks who might lead that fight.
“It’s unfortunate that right now we do not have political leadership to match the ambition of the people of Montreal.”
Narrowing that gap, he argues, will take nothing short of “a political rebirth.”

On October 16, 2026, a La Presse investigation revealed that PDQ 21 suspended two officers. One officer had urinated on an unhoused individual, and another had posed for multiple photos with a suspect put into a humiliating position.

These two suspensions follow a disastrous year for the SPVM, after last June’s massive suspension of an entire night watch unit at PDQ 39, where officers reportedly cut off the locs of hair from arrested individuals to keep as trophies.

Today, Local 514 sits down with Orlando Nicoletti, a PhD student in the Department of Sociology who studies the policing of the unhoused.Here is the link to the upcoming protest on Saturday https://www.resistancemontreal.org/evenement/manif-la-police-nous-pisse-dessus-nous-on-pisse-sur-la-police

Québec’s election delivered a Parti Québécois minority government with roughly 28 percent of the popular vote, raising questions about how closely the National Assembly reflects the electorate. The result gives the PQ the largest share of seats, despite nearly three-quarters of valid ballots going to other parties.

Original data research by Local 514 journalist Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa reveals another dimension of that representation gap: in 92 ridings, the number of registered electors who did not vote exceeded the ballots cast for the winning candidate. If non-voters were counted as a hypothetical party, they would have finished first in those constituencies.
The comparison shows how a candidate can win while receiving the support of a relatively small portion of the people registered to vote in their riding. Under Québec’s first-past-the-post system, a candidate needs more votes than any rival, not a majority of votes cast.

In a new Local 514 episode, Kalden Dhatsenpa and CJLO News Hour host Adam Inniss discuss what these findings mean for democratic representation and electoral reform, with the latter re-entering public discourse in light of this election.

Proportional representation would bring parties’ seat totals closer to their share of the vote. Some mockups of this election’s popular vote transposed into a proportional system show how different the results would be, with the CAQ receiving between 17 and 19 seats. Changing the voting system could improve representation, but these proportional transposals don’t show how differently people might vote if their vote counted more.

The election leaves Québec with a government able to lead, but whose electoral support falls well short of a majority. Local 514’s findings sharpen the province’s question: what would an electoral system that better represents Quebecers actually look like?

Joseph from Anakbayan Montréal joins Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa to discuss the Filipino youth organization’s wide-ranging work, from cultural activities and community support to workers’ rights and international solidarity. He shares how learning about human rights abuses in the Philippines moved him to get involved, connecting struggles back home with organizing here in Montréal.Find Anakbayan Montreal on social media:Instagram:   / anakbayanmtl  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/...Make sure to follow Local 514 & CUTV on social media to stay up to date with new episodes and more content:Local 514Instagram:   / local514montreal  CUTVInstagram:   / cutv.community  Website: https://www.cutvmontreal.org/In a rush and want to hear more? Listen to our Local 514 podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/08F3UST...

An interview with Randy Legault-Rankin, Liberal Party of Quebec candidate in Laurier-Dorion. Legault-Rankin pitches why Quebecers should vote for the party.

In this conversation, we discussed the party’s reasons for keeping Quebec in Canada, the homelessness crisis, the notwithstanding clause, and more.

The provincial election is on Oct. 5th. Stay tuned for more Local 514 election coverage, including our livestream with CJLO on election night at 7 pm.

Make sure to follow Local 514 & CUTV on social media to stay up to date with new episodes and more content:

Local 514Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/local514montreal/

CUTVInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutv.community/

Website: https://www.cutvmontreal.org/

An interview with Vincent Hubert, Parti Québécois candidate in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Hubert pitches why Quebecers should vote for the party.In this conversation, we discussed the party’s plan for independence, lowering grocery prices, limiting temporary immigrants, and more.The provincial election is on Oct. 5th. Stay tuned for more Local 514 election coverage, including our livestream with CJLO on election night at 7pm.Make sure to follow Local 514 & CUTV on social media to stay up to date with new episodes and more content:Local 514Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/local514montreal/CUTVInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutv.community/Website: https://www.cutvmontreal.org/

The Quebec provincial elections are fast approaching. On October 5th Quebecers will decide which parties will be voted into the National Assembly. But what is it that the parties are promising with regard to the housing crisis? And how might some of these parties even worsen the crisis?
In this episode, housing policy analyst Gavin Armitage Ackerman joins Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa to grade each party’s housing platforms.