We don’t care about school board elections, but care about education

Anglo leaders, mainstream Quebec together must support bilingual culture

Can you think of anyone who would not want to be fluently bilingual? Everyone wants this. We envy it.

Can you think of anyone, a regular person, who cares, really cares, about school board elections?

Sure, if you set your mind to it, you could find a few who actually cast a ballot in a school board election. There are a few thousand of them around. But do they really care? About the elections?

They care about education. If they voted in an English school board election, they probably care about access to minority language education. They definitely care about the future of the English-speaking community in this province. But do they care about the elections themselves?

That question is the key to the standoff that is shaping up between the provincial government and the association that represents the Quebec English school boards. There are plenty of people who care what the school boards are preparing to defend, but these same individuals could not name a school board commissioner to save their lives. It’s a reality. It’s also going to be a big, big problem because the issues at stake with the Liberal government’s proposal to abolish school board elections could seriously affect the future of the English-speaking community in this province.

So how do we fix the disconnect?

The first move is to make sure that no one associated with school boards takes the lead in this campaign to rally the passions of the anglo community.

Second, community leaders in both the traditional anglo community need to join forces with mainstreet Quebec and voice the importance of maintaining and supporting the growing bilingual culture in the province. How radical is that?

Think of it as the Ginette movement. How do you unite Montrealers? You take a Quebec vedette who has a little vintage flare, let her proudly belt the message out in both French and English and the crowds will cheer. And let them be seen to cheer.

Don’t focus on school board elections. Instead, ask yourself: Can you think of anyone who would not want to be fluently bilingual? Everyone wants this. We envy it. We can get behind that. We care about that. And that is really what is at stake in the coming standoff between the provincial government and the English school boards.