Anglo groups in Quebec cheer ruling in B.C. case

Confirmation of minority language rights helps buoy advocates in this province

The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is applauding a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that sided with British Columbia’s francophone school board in a dispute over French-language education in that province.

The high court ruled in favour of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-britannique and francophone parents in their case on funding of French public education in B.C.

QESBA President Dan Lamoureux

called the ruling “historic.”

“The QESBA is delighted with the decision of the Supreme Court for its measured deliberations and in continuing to enforce the protection of minority education and communities in Canada,” Lamoureux said in a statement.

“Section 23 rights are the cornerstones to any linguistic minority community in Canada and cannot be dealt with lightly,” Lamoureux said. “Although education is a provincial jurisdiction, the Parliament of Canada deemed it important to enshrine Section 23 rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect minority language education throughout the country.”

Section 23 guarantees minority language educational rights to French-speaking communities outside Quebec and to the English-speaking minority in Quebec.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner said “the purpose of Section 23 is not only to ensure the sustainability of the country’s linguistic communities, which is a concern focused on the future, but also to make it possible for those communities to develop in their own language and culture, a concern focused on the present.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the ruling was “good news” for minority-language communities across the country who feel shortchanged on services.

“We now hope that the provincial governments will step up further in areas that are their exclusive jurisdictions, like education and certain services for minority-language communities,” Trudeau said.

“This is excellent news for parents in B.C., but also for official language minority communities across Canada,” said Geoffrey Chambers, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network.

He said this will bolster a recent court action by QESBA and other groups against Quebec’s Bill 40, which abolishes school boards and replaces them with service centres.

The B.C. case began when the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-britannique, and parents alleged the province had breached a Charter of Rights and Freedoms provision guaranteeing minority-language education.

They sought orders requiring the province to change how it funds French-language education, fix problems with inadequate facilities in a number of communities and offer compensation for its failure to provide proper funding.

This is excellent news for parents in B.C., but also for official language minority communities across Canada.