French school funding debate
Education minister says Ottawa content with how money spent in P.E.I. French schools
Education Minister Jordan Brown wants discussions between the province and P.E.I.’s French language school board to be a two-way street. During question period Tuesday, Brown gave somewhat of an update to the legal situation surrounding the province and school board.
In April, the board filed formal notice to sue the province over what it believes were misallocated funds from a federal agreement and gave the province 90 days to satisfactorily address the board’s requests. Brown said every year the federal government reviews the federal-provincial agreement, which was drafted with consultation from the school board, and that it is content with “the way in which we spend the money.”
“We are happy with that ... Moving forward, we will work with the French Language school board, provided they’re willing to work with us,” said Brown. “I will indicate that the first meeting I had with (the board), they arrived with a stack of Supreme Court of Canada cases. “Discussion goes two ways, and in order to have a discussion you have to be willing to talk.”
The statement came after a line of questioning, which alternated between French and English, from Rustico-Emerald MLA Brad Trivers on the legal situation and how it was “allowed to get to this state.” “The community is claiming that the province repeatedly violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in how it managed federal dollars from a federal-provincial agreement,” said Trivers. “Dollars earmarked for other purposes were used to cover operational costs like salaries.”
Since 2013, Ottawa has invested $1.5 million annually to support education in French as a first language with the 2013-18 agreement on Frenchlanguage education calling on the province to invest the same amount.
The board alleges the province repeatedly violated a section of the charter during federal-provincial negotiations leading to the agreement, as well as during its implementation.
It has requested the province stop using federal funds to reimburse regular school operations and to instead invest it to meet priority needs of the school board.
During question period, Brown, who responded both in French and English, also took an opportunity to state the province was proud of its investments in the French education program.
He said it costs roughly $17,000 a year to educate a student in the French as a first language system and a little under $11,000 on the English side.
“Over the last 15 years, we have spent 20 per cent of our capital budget on five per cent of the students in this province,” said Brown. “We are very proud of the investments we have made in French language education.”