Abolishing school board elections called sexist
The federation representing francophone school boards in the province said Thursday it believes the government's decision to abolish school board elections is “sexist” and will lead to the creation of “boys' clubs.”
Josée Bouchard, president of the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec, argued school democracy in Quebec is the only democracythathasachievedgender parity, in other words, electing the same number of women and men.
She said 51 per cent of elected school board officials are women, while 49 per cent are men, and the samenumbersapplytoanglophone school boards.
“I want to get the premier, the education minister, all the MNAs and the rest of society thinking,” she said. “Do we want to tell women ‘bravo for your hard work carving out your place in school politics, now it's over?' “
Élaine Hémond, the founder of Femmes, politique & démocratie, a group helping more women get involved in politics, said only 27 per centofthemembersoftheNational Assembly are women.
EducationMinisterFrançoisBlais is expected to table a bill abolishing school board elections — which cost $20 million — by Nov 15. The minister has already made public his intention to create a new nominationprocessinwhichparentswould be more involved. Commissioners could be appointed at annual parent meetings, or through governing boards, instead of by universal suffrage, Blais suggested.
This nomination process would lead to the creation of boys' clubs, Bouchard said. “If we proceed through nomination, if I look at nominations for boards (in general in Quebec), if we look at statistics, we can fairly deduce that it will be more natural to name men,” she said. Bouchard said that on the off chancethenewnominationprocess produces parity, it will not have the same value because representatives will not be properly elected by the population.
Blais's press attaché, Julie White, said the government's objective is to empower parents, and they include women. “We are confident that the new model we will soon table will meet their needs,” White said.
Bouchard and Hémond were accompaniedThursdaybythreeother female leaders, including Liberal Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, who said she has been working — unsuccessfully — for seven years on a federal bill to force publicly-traded companiestohavewomenmakeup at least 40 per cent of their board members.
“Womenareatadmorededicated than their male counterparts for the simple reason that they have had to work harder to get there,” she said.
Hervieux-Payette recounted how when she served on the Le Gardeur de Repentigny school board, between 1973 and 1979, that her male colleagues would often not look at their files. Inside the Senate, she said men “are in their offices” while women sit in the Senate chamber and do their work.
The senator said she wants to see school board elections maintained in Quebec, because they promote “gender equality in public life and areexcellentspringboardstolaunch women into politics.”