NEWS FOR MONDAY, MARCH 26TH 2018

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LOCAL
By Loren O'Brien-Egesborg

Hundreds of health care workers and patients marched in protest in Montreal over the provincial government raising the salary for specialists and general practitioners on Saturday.  

According to CBC News, the government had decided in February to increase the salary of the province’s 10,000 medical specialists from $4.7 billion to $5.4 billion by 2023.

The demonstration was organized by Médecins québécois pour le regime public to put out the message that health care should be more accessible, and that money should be spread out more evenly throughout the system.

NATIONAL
By Ana Bilokin

In support of the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington, marches were held in over a dozen Canadian cities including Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver on Saturday.

According to CBC News, the marches, a response to the deadly February 14th school shooting in Parkland, Florida, aimed to show support to those affected by the shooting and protest gun violence in both Canada and the United States.

Protesters, some whom were elementary school students, marched by the United States consulates in various cities as an act of solidarity with the student driven activism south of the border.

INTERNATIONAL
By Karl Knox

The month-long Syrian Government offensive supported by the Russian military now has 70% of Eastern Ghouta under government control.

According to BBC News, rebel groups have pulled out of more towns in Eastern Ghouta, as the government tightens it grip on this enclave outside Damascus with civilians, fighters and their families being bused out the area on Saturday, leaving the city of Douma as the last rebel-held stronghold.

Eastern Ghouta is so close to the capital of Damascus that rebels have been able to fire mortars into the heart of the capital, leading to scores of civilian deaths over the course of the eight year conflict.