By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Quebec’s English-language school boards are preparing to defend their continued existence before the Supreme Court of Canada. After a Quebec appeals court ruling earlier this year found the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government’s school governance reforms infringed on the English-speaking community’s charter right to oversee its education system, the Quebec government has applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, multiple sources reported on Friday.
In February 2020, the CAQ government passed Bill 40, which replaced elected school boards with government-run service centres overseen by volunteer boards with limited power. At the time, English boards argued the law infringed on the anglophone community’s charter right to control its education system. The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) took the government to court, obtaining first an injunction which suspended the law’s application to English boards, then a Superior Court ruling which found the law did infringe on the community’s charter rights. The government appealed that decision, and in April of this year, an appeals court panel unanimously upheld key elements of the Superior Court ruling. At the time, QESBA and its member boards hoped the government would accept the ruling and lay the groundwork for a new working relationship with English school boards. That hasn’t happened.
In a statement, the association said its members were “deeply disappointed” by the government’s decision to ask for leave to appeal.
“We were hopeful that the government would accept the unanimous ruling of the Court of Appeal and finally respect the rights of the English-speaking community,” said QESBA president Joe Ortona. “At a time when Quebec faces serious financial pressures, it is disappointing to see public funds used to continue a legal battle that so clearly infringes on the rights of minority communities.”
