Canada's Quebec province voted out a separatist government Monday, choosing a former neurosurgeon and his federalist Liberal party to lead a promised economic rally.

Television networks predicted a Liberal victory soon after the polls closed at 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Tuesday).

Quebec voters head to the polls Monday to pick a new government to lead Canada's French-speaking province, after a campaign that saw the separatist ruling party renew calls for independence.

But the Parti Quebecois's renewed talk of having the province break away from Canada could prove costly, with Premier Pauline Marois's party trailing in the polls behind the pro-unity Quebec Liberals.

Authorities battled harsh winter conditions Friday as they began a grim search for victims and the cause of a fire at a Quebec seniors home that killed at least five.

Some three dozen people remain unaccounted for after the blaze a day earlier decimated the three-story building.

A massive fire at a Quebec residence for the elderly has killed at least three people, with 30 more missing, authorities said Thursday.

The blaze at the home, which housed an estimated 50 to 60 elderly people in 52 units, broke out shortly after midnight.

A Quebec court ruled Thursday that a federal government proposal to unilaterally reform Canada's Senate is unconstitutional, as calls mounted for abolishing the upper chamber mired in controversy.

The Quebec Court of Appeal in an opinion said the federal government has no right to schedule Senate elections and set term limits without provincial approval.

Officials in Quebec Tuesday presented their controversial bid to ban religious apparel -- including headscarves, turbans and yarmulkes -- on public sector workers, part of an overhaul to the Canadian province's "Charter of Values."

The reforms are a response to the "crisis of religious accommodation" granted to ethnic minorities that has "created tensions between Quebecers of different backgrounds and faiths," the minister in charge of the issue, Bernard Drainville, said at a press conference.

A Muslim youth conference criticized by the Quebec government was canceled Saturday by the Montreal convention center where it had been set to take place.

The Palais des Congres said it canceled the "Entre Ciel et Terre" (Between Heaven and Earth) conference after a "security review." It had been set to take place September 7-8.

The final death toll of a train derailment that flattened part of a Quebec town two weeks ago will likely stand at 47, Canadian police said Friday.

No new remains have been discovered in the rubble since Thursday when the number of confirmed dead was 42, officials said.

Some residents warily eyed the driverless "ghost train" as it rushed through the Quebec countryside. The train derailed, crashed into this small town, engulfing the downtown area in flames. Now scores of people -- perhaps as many as 80 -- are missing.

Rescuers cautiously entered the charred debris Sunday, more than 24 hours after the spectacular crash that saw flames shoot into the sky and burn into the night.

Maple syrup producers in Quebec found themselves in a sticky situation after thieves made off with millions of dollars worth of the breakfast sweetener that had been stored in a warehouse.

Empty barrels were found at a warehouse that had held some 10 million pounds of syrup worth an estimated $30 million, indicating that the thieves had emptied syrup into other containers to sell on the black market.