CAQ leader and anglophones
Re: “Trailing in polls, Legault expects to win next election, wants anglophone support” (Gazette, July 12).
François Legault wants the anglophone community to jump on his “no-referendum-for-10-years” bus and drive merrily down the road to oblivion.
His proposal to eliminate school boards is an insidious way to rid the anglophone community of its last vestige of control and management of a public institution.
This is not about the value of school boards. That can be debated by lovers and haters ad nauseam. This is about allowing the English community to determine, within government guidelines, what is best for our children and their future. This is about enabling us to continue to support those in our community less privileged and with less access to services.
How will Mr. Legault accomplish the elimination of our school boards? The right to manage and control our own school system is guaranteed under the Canadian Constitution. The Supreme Court has ruled on it. Even the PQ gave up on trying to do away with boards because of the constitutional guarantee for Quebec anglophones, which cannot be set aside by the use of the notwithstanding clause.
The only way to eliminate school boards is to enact legislation that would plunge Quebec into a constitutional crisis that would force the separation issue to the fore.
There would potentially be years of legal wrangling, wasted expense, and ongoing uncertainty in public education.
On the other hand, Mr. Legault could simply strip boards of all their powers, and effectively place all school boards under his trusteeship.
Do we really believe that bureaucrats in Quebec City would have the best interest of students in mind with every decision? Do we really believe that school principals have so much free time that they could take on all administrative tasks done by the boards?
Mr. Legault’s proposal must be rejected. Mr. Legault’s party must be rejected. The English community must stop complaining and start mobilizing. We must find the leaders who will be willing to take on the task of speaking for our community. We must build and support our own political machinery. We must build partnerships with other communities to make a better, more open and respectful Quebec. Marcus Tabachnick Dollard des Ormeaux
Does François Legault actually believe he’s telling anglophones anything new when he states that the “Liberals take the anglophone community for granted”? This is quite the discovery on his part, right up there with discovery of the Higgs particle.
For a long time now, anglophones have been well aware of the position they hold in the grand scheme of things, without Mr. Legault stating the obvious. If the Liberals have taken the anglophones for granted, the PQ, however, which Mr. Legault was a part of as a minister in its last government, has largely ignored them. How convenient of him to remember the anglophones only now that he’s formed his own party and needs their votes.
The most infuriating thing is that Mr. Legault seeks anglophone support and yet he still backs the very language laws that oppress and subjugate them.
Maria Algeri Pierrefonds