Gov’t asking court opinion about funds

The provincial government is asking the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal for an opinion about how much it must contribute to francophone education.

The question stems from a May 28 court decision, in which the government was ordered to pay $3.3 million to the province’s francophone school board, the Counseil des écoles fransaskoises (CEF).

The government is appealing part of the decision, specifically, that it should have to pay for Alberta students attending a francophone school in Lloydminster.

Justice Minister Gordon Wyant told the Leader-Post an opinion by the Court of Appeal would help clear up exactly what the government must pay.

“The Counseil des écoles fransaskoises maintains on top of education, we should cover after school activities, culture and identity, community centres — this sort of thing,” he said.

“Generally speaking, anything that’s not schoolrelated we don’t believe should be under our funding mandate.”

Wyant said an opinion by the court would help “set the parameters.”

“Then I think we’ll be able to sit down and have meaningful discussions with the CEF,” he said.

The court is within its rights to decline the government’s questions, but an opinion may help inform a separate funding lawsuit the CEF is bringing against the government in the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Wyant said he couldn’t give a timeline on when the court might offer its opinion.

“This isn’t done often, so I can’t really say,” he said.

“Our position is it’s an important step to help resolve these issues, which we want to do as soon as possible.”