Egged on by polls, Legault bullies teachers

In his inaugural speech to the National Assembly this week, Premier François Legault delivered an upbeat message. There was nothing that would have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the Coalition Avenir Québec’s electoral platform. Legault emphasized the need for courage and daring; the biggest adversary, he suggested, is fear — of change, of failing, of making a mistake. He also promised to be responsive to Quebecers: We are “your government,” he said; he declared that his was a “nationalisme rassembleur” (one that brings people together); in English, he reassured anglo Quebecers their historical rights would be protected. Even so, for all of the speech’s fine rhetoric, it gave anyone concerned about minority rights ample reason to fear. Legault said his government intends to move ahead with abolishing elected school boards, a measure that would infringe on the Englishspeaking community’s constitutional rights. He also reiterated the intention to “move quickly” to ban signs of religion for public employees wielding state authority, including teachers, this in the name of state secularism ( but, as Legault earlier stated with presumably unintended irony, not before Christmas). Such a measure would be an odious violation of religious freedoms, discriminatory in its effect and be the opposite of socially unifying. Also of concern is the government’s intention to move ahead with electoral reform, given that the main proposal, for a mixed proportional system, would, as columnist Don Macpherson has pointed out, be apt to leave English-Quebecers even more under-represented in the National Assembly than they are already. It was reassuring, though, that Legault suggested no change would be made in the absence of consensus. There also was much to applaud. Making education the No. 1 priority is far-sighted, as is the emphasis on early detection of learning disabilities (though the financial and practical feasibility of making kindergarten universally available for 4-year-olds is questionable). Moving ahead with family law reform was long overdue. There was welcome recognition of the plight of caregivers to disabled or elderly family members; of barriers to justice for middle class, who cannot afford lawyers but are not eligible for legal aid; of the need for increased staffing in long-term care hospitals; of the need to move ahead with public transit and electrification. These priorities provide many reasons for optimism. But a government cannot tell all Quebecers it is theirs if it fails to respect the rights of minorities. Respect for Charter rights is a fundamental obligation in our constitutional democracy, and cannot be trumped by any level of majority support.