Quebec’s English school boards launch legal action on Bill 40
The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is mounting a legal challenge to Bill 40, the education reform act that abolishes school boards across the province and replaces them with service centres.
“We recognize that the filing of this legal action is not ideal under the current circumstances,” said QESBA president Dan Lamoureux in a statement Thursday.
In February, François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government invoked closure to pass Bill 40 in the National Assembly.
The QESBA said it filed for an injunction and judicial review in Quebec Superior Court on May 15.
“This should not come as a surprise as we publicly announced our intention to file this action accompanied by all of our education and community partners last February,” Lamoureux said. “It has, however, become a pressing matter due to the looming November school elections and the deadlines surrounding the legal requirements and logistics of these elections.
“Furthermore, we are collectively facing an ongoing pandemic, which is making the planning for and potentially the holding of these elections complicated for school boards”
Quebec Education Minister Jean-françois Roberge declined to comment on the QESBA legal action.
APPELE-QUÉBEC, a coalition of 16 groups that wants to maintain English school boards, endorsed the QESBA’S constitutional challenge to Bill 40.
“As we have argued for months, Bill 40 curtails our community’s constitutional right to manage and control our school system,” said Geoffrey Kelley, chair of APPELE- Québec.
Kelley, a former Liberal cabinet minister, said Bill 40 will have a profound effect on Quebec’s English-speaking minority.
“We have an honest and fundamental disagreement with the Quebec government. We fear that going ahead with the implementation of this legislation will have a significant and detrimental impact on the vitality and continuity of Quebec’s English-speaking minority.
“The responsible way to move forward is to wait until the courts have ruled on this matter. It is good public policy and will be less expensive for all concerned.”
Roberge has argued the school reform bill could save taxpayers $45 million over the next four years by reducing bureaucracy and replacing school boards with service centres. The savings, he said, would be passed on to students in the form of a better education.
APPELE-QUÉBEC has maintained that the law threatens the English-speaking community’s constitutional right to manage and control their schools, as granted under Article 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The minister himself confirmed during committee hearings that the newly minted service centres, school boards’ successors under the bill, will be nothing more than empty shells, stripped of the powers and responsibilities that democratically elected school boards now have,” APPELE-QUÉBEC said in a statement.
Kelley said the pandemic has made the implementation of Bill 40 impractical.
“Delaying the implementation of Bill 40 is both the practical and responsible course of action, particularly in light of the pandemic,” he said.
“Holding elections this fall — when, as officials have warned, the preparatory work for the organization of elections is far behind schedule and there will likely still be restrictions on public gatherings — is unrealistic.”
The QESBA represents 100,000 students in 340 elementary schools, high schools and adult and vocational centres across Quebec.
Bill 40 curtails our community’s constitutional right to manage and control our school system.