Pearson board is right to continue Bill 40 battle

Joining the legal challenge as co-applicant makes sense

It may seem shocking to read about local elected officials making decisions on something NON-COVID -19 related.

But it’s worth noting that, while coping with coronavirus quarantine directives and with schools closed since March 13, the Lester B. Pearson School Board called a special meeting March 20 to become a co-applicant in what seems like an uphill legal challenge to Bill 40, the new Quebec law replacing school boards with service centres.

To respect social distancing, the Dorval-based board made its decision in a boardroom closed to the general public, with commissioners voting by virtual attendance, though the meeting was webcast and then archived on the Pearson website. Chairman Noel Burke, who took a few questions from the public through email or by phone, explained that lawyers in the case deemed the board’s decision on this matter time-sensitive, hence the urgent meeting.

This follows last month’s pledge by the Pearson board of $100,000 from its reserve fund toward the Bill 40 lawsuit led by the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA). There’s no extra cost for Pearson becoming a co-applicant, Burke said.

The QESBA’S challenge is expected to be based on the constitutional right of minority language committees to govern their own schools.

I think it’s a reasonable strategy by the Pearson board to join the legal process as a co-applicant, considering that many members of the English-speaking community have expressed concerns about the government’s abolition of school boards in favour of educational service centres. It’s a battle to preserve the control and management of one of the few remaining English community institutions in Quebec.

However, on top of potential delays due to the COVID -19 crisis, the legal process is expected to be a long one, and it is hard to see how the plaintiffs can succeed in having Bill 40 applied in a different fashion by this fall.

The law eliminates public voting for service centre positions in the French sector, while the election of representatives in the English sector will continue, albeit in an amended fashion.

As it stands, voting for the English education centres’ board members is set for Nov. 1. The service centre that would replace the Pearson board is expected to have 12 parent members to be elected in designated wards. But to be eligible candidates, parents must also sit on the governing board of a school. There will also be eight community members, who must meet certain background criteria to be eligible, and who will be elected by votes cast across the service centre’s territory.

Those community members are essential. Taxpayers in general, not only parents, should have input in public education. It’s a service for the wider community as it helps instil culture, values and societal norms for the next generation.

Burke said while he supports increased parental involvement on school boards, he is concerned that Bill 40’s restrictions on candidate eligibility will marginalize the vast majority of parents heading into the planned Nov. 1 vote. That’s a valid concern.

Bill 40 plaintiffs hope the courts force a return to the current voting procedures in place for English boards. The Pearson board currently has 12 community reps plus a chairman who are elected by universal suffrage, as well as four parent commissioners.

Heading into the March break, students and their parents had hoped to recharge themselves for the final term of the 2019-2020 school year. Who could have imagined that four days after students returned from the break that the school year would be suspended and that dayto-day life would be affected to such a degree by COVID-19. Normalcy has taken a back seat. Hopefully, closing schools, libraries, malls, playgrounds, many businesses and restaurant dining rooms will make a difference.

By fall, maybe there will be a return to local first-world issues, and debates over the future of English schooling will top our news cycle — instead of worrisome daily COVID-19 counts in Quebec.