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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]