A few weeks ago, Concordia University’s rocketry club achieved a Canadian first: A group of passionate young scientists and engineers launched their liquid-fuelled rocket, Starsailor, making it “the first space-bound rocket launch in more than 25 years on Canadian soil” and the first by a student team globally.

A few weeks earlier, The Gazette’s René Bruemmer wrote an exciting play-by-play of the lead-up to the launch and the high stakes involved.

These students have consistently been punching above their weight in rocket competitions, beating other renowned universities like Stanford, MIT, Caltech and McGill. In other words, this Montreal-based achievement is no small potatoes. It’s a feat very much worth celebrating — and many in our city justifiably did just that.

However, watching Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry congratulate Concordia’s team on its accomplishment left me exasperated. Déry shared the success story in an online post, with the words: “The genius of our talented youngsters at work!”

I’m sorry, what?

This from a minister of a government that has repeatedly........

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