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Genetic counseling is a fast-growing profession worldwide, with genetic counselors taking on increasingly comprehensive and autonomous roles in the healthcare sector. However, the absence of appropriate legal frameworks could potentially create risks of harm to the public. Legal recognition serves to protect the public from risk of harm by regulating the safe and competent practice of healthcare professionals. Genetic counseling is not legally recognized in most world jurisdictions. Examination of the legal status of genetic counseling in different jurisdictions and whether existing legal mechanisms are adequate to address potential risks of harm is therefore timely. This paper examines the different roles of genetic counselors in the Canadian province of Quebec and the state of Qatar, the authors’ respective jurisdictions. It considers the types of harms that may be created where appropriate legal mechanisms are lacking, considering the socio-political and legal differences between the two jurisdictions. Moreover, it examines the legal status of genetic counseling in Quebec and Qatar to determine whether these statuses appropriately address the identified risks of harm. The authors argue that existing legal frameworks are inadequate to address these risks and recommend that additional regulatory mechanisms be implemented to properly protect the public from risks of harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In 2018, the sale of non-medical cannabis was authorized in the province of Quebec in Canada, within a public monopoly under the Société Québécoise du Cannabis (SQDC). The objective of this study was to offer a description of the cannabis-using population regarding the sources of cannabis supply and to explore whether at-risk individuals are purchasing cannabis at SQDC. Method: We used data from a cross-sectional, representative population survey (age >18 years, n = 1799), the Enquête Québécoise sur le Cannabis, which was completed between February and June 2019. Analyses involved adjusted binary logistic regressions, incorporating population weights, to assess 7 potential indicators of harm. Results: The vulnerability profiles of SQDC consumers (47.8%) and those acquiring their cannabis elsewhere (52.2%) were similar in terms of frequency of cannabis use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12-1.67), motivation to use (aOR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.16-2.46), concomitant consumption of other substances (aOR = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.14-4.75), cannabis-impaired driving behaviours (aOR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.26-3.36), psychological distress (aOR = 0.99; 95% CI = 0.26-3.79), and problematic cannabis use (aOR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.13-1.64). However, SQDC consumers were more likely to be aware of the cannabinoid content of the product purchased compared to those who acquired their cannabis from other sources (aOR = 4.12; 95% CI = 1.10-15.40). Conclusions: No association was detected between the source of cannabis supply and potential vulnerability indicators of cannabis-related harms, but SQDC consumers were more aware of the cannabinoid content of the products purchased. These results suggest that the regulated government supply in Quebec is reaching a substantial portion of those with potential high vulnerability to harm. Whether this knowledge translates into a reduction in the negative consequences related to consumption is still to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the fiduciary property through a historical and comparative analysis of the legislation and doctrine of Québec, France and Romania. The contemporary fiducia ought not to be confused for the Roman fiducia, whose name it borrowed. As a result of the reception of the Anglo-American trust in the mixed legal system of the Canadian province of Québec, the fiducia has been the subject of subsequent legal transplants into the continental tradition. The Romanian legislator, inspired by its French counterpart, took over the restrictions brought to the fiducia in said legal system. In the matter of real rights, this legislative option also meant the rejection of the doctrine of an ownerless patrimony, an innovation of the legal system of Québec, in search of a continental instrument to replace the division of title between the legal holder (trustee) and the equitable one (beneficiary), as enshrined in the Common Law tradition. Commenting on the solutions proposed within French legal literature (including the classification as a method of ownership or even as a result of dismemberment), the author argues that only a combination of them may fully explain the mechanism of the fiduciary ownership. In essence, the fiduciary owner acts like a true owner, but by virtue of a title held under a resolutive condition, while the beneficiary enjoys a virtuality of law in his capacity as an owner under a suspensive condition. However, the constraints to which the right of ownership transferred to the trustee is subject, in terms of its exclusivity and perpetuity, may be explained by the fiducia contract itself, the effects of which are assimilated to the conventional limitation operated, for example, through an inalienability clause. In other words, the fiduciary owner may be considered an owner under a resolutive condition, yet he remains subject to the conventional limitations brought upon by the very nature of the fiduciary operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that many consumers believe local foods are more expensive than comparative products coming from other markets. The aim of this study was to measure the price competitiveness of products certified by the Aliments du Québec program, a well-known program in the Canadian province of Quebec. Using machine-learning, artificial intelligence and targeted data mining, the report identifies local products and comparator products, to consider whether locally certified products are more expensive than comparative products coming from outside Quebec. Uncertified products used as comparative products come from anywhere around the world, outside of the province of Quebec. For this study, a total of more than 350,000 discrete price data points were analyzed in the Winter 2022. Local product prices were examined relative to the prices of comparator products. In total, there were 48 subcategories considered. In 70.83% of the subcategories, the local product was either as expensive (similar price) or less expensive than the comparator product. Results challenge the popular belief that local food products are often more expensive. This study also provides limitation and future research paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental short amplicon sequencing, or metabarcoding, is commonly used to characterize the bacterial and fungal microbiota of cheese. Comparisons between different metabarcoding studies are complicated by the use of different gene markers. Here, we systematically compare different metabarcoding molecular targets using V3–V4 and V6–V8 regions of the bacterial 16S rDNA and fungal ITS1 and ITS2 regions. Taxonomic profiles varied depending on the molecular markers used. Based on data quality and detection capacity of the markers toward microorganisms usually associated with the dairy environment, the ribosomal regions V3–V4 and ITS2 were selected and further used to evaluate variability in the microbial ecosystem of terroir cheeses from the province of Quebec in Canada. Both fungal and bacterial ecosystem profiles were described for 32 different ready-to-eat bloomy-, washed- and natural-rind specialty cheese varieties. Among them, 15 were studied over two different production years. Using the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index as an indicator of microbial shifts, we found that most variations could be explained by either a voluntary change in starter or ripening culture composition, or by changes in the cheesemaking technology. Overall, our results suggest the persistence of the microbiota between the two years studied—these data aid understanding of cheese microbiota composition and persistence during cheese ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour-controlled investment is often touted as an alternative, pro-worker form of finance. Since 1983, the province of Quebec in Canada has experimented with workers' participation in the form of workers' funds controlled by the two major trade union federations. Drawing on research from secondary sources, archival material and semi-structured interviews, this article offers a comprehensive portrait of one of Quebec main workers' funds, the FTQ Solidarity Fund. To date very little has been said about the impact of workers' funds on firm governance, employment quality and labour relations. The article argues that any attempt to use investment to shape firm behaviour in the interests of workers and local unions is a limited and contradictory project. The argument is sustained through a discussion of the historical formation and institutional practices of the Solidarity Fund. The presence of large union-controlled investment funds offers local firms an alternative source of capital investment, protecting small and medium-sized firms from more aggressive financial actors. However, the main results show persistent tensions and contradictions between the Fund's social goals and financial logics, as well as unintended effects on workplace union practices and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building from Blum and Dobrotić's conceptual framework, this paper shows that the decisions to reopen childcare centres and schools in the Canadian province of Quebec in 2020 were influenced by four goals: (1) protecting public health, (2) promoting academic success / fostering early education, (3) addressing social inequalities, and (4) helping parents to reconcile employment and care activities. Although the first three objectives were considered in the sequence of reopening, the government quickly chose to prioritize work-family reconciliation above other objectives. Quebec's tight sequence of reopening childcare centres and schools is not simply a consequence of evolving research showing lower risks associated with COVID-19 for young children, it also reflects the province's cultural norms toward mothers' employment and the high legitimacy of the state in subsidizing childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this text is to present a reflection on the link between local initiatives to combat food insecurity and actions adapting to climate change. To this end, two case studies of ongoing experiments in the Canadian province of Quebec will be presented and compared. While these two cases are very different in terms of location, production and people involved, they share the objective of bringing fresh and healthy food, produced locally, to the population of their territory and of rethinking the relationship of the community to nature through food production. Despite their significant differences, each of these two cases features actions for responding to problems that have a common cause: an agro-industrial food system that, by decoupling the locations of production and consumption, in order to maximize the economic profitability of the capital invested, has compromised both the health of citizens and the ecological balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hydro-Québec can provide annual storage ranging from 3 to 6 TW h for high VRE markets. • Price arbitraging with high VRE markets leads to sustainable changes for hydropower. • Hydropower maintenance flexibility will gain more value with VRE growth. • Revenues from price arbitraging with high VRE markets remain low. Northeastern North America is transitioning rapidly from fossil fuel generation to variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind and solar. Their integration into electricity grids poses challenges in terms of matching supply with demand. Once VRE represent a large share of installed capacity, intermittency and variability of their production will become a major issue. Hydro-Québec, the public electric utility in the Canadian province of Québec, has a large hydropower generation fleet. Its storage capacity enables adjusting hydro production, when the system needs it, to support VRE integration. In this paper, potential impacts of VRE growth within neighbouring grids are simulated through operational production management models. The results show that Hydro-Québec has the potential to facilitate this energy transition but that the current electricity market structure does not provide incentives for an optimal contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]