Education Act ruling:

---Major win on Bill 40 for advocates of elected English School Boards

Quebec’s English School boards will remain as they are after the province’s Superior Court judged in favour on a stay of Bill 40, An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance. The judgement was rendered by Justice Sylvain Lussier on Monday. 

The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is applauding the court’s judgement on the education reform bill, a legislation that abolishes boards across the province and replaces them with service centres. QESBA and its co-applicants filed for an interlocutory injunction or a stay in May to suspend the application of Bill 40 to English school boards in the province, arguing that the new governance model does not respect section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to manage and control its own minority language educational institutions. 

The court’s decision to allow a stay of Bill 40 only applies to English school boards across the province.

The Quebec Superior Court found that the applicants had raised “very serious questions” pertaining to the Bill’s constitutionality. Moreover, it found that the disappearance of  English-language school boards (and their transformation into English-language school service centres) constituted irreparable harm. In his decision, Justice Lussier agreed that the legislation impinges on constitutional anglophone minority rights.

“We are very pleased with the decision today, which has the effect of suspending the application of Bill 40 to English school boards pending a decision on the merits of the case. Given the very limited amount of time our boards have to organize school elections, scheduled for November 1, we are hopeful that the government will not appeal this decision,” said QESBA President Dan Lamoureux. 

QESBA is the voice of English public education in Quebec and represents 100,000 students in 340 elementary, high schools, and adult vocational centres across Quebec. 

When asked on Monday what the provincial education ministry’s plans were in light of the court’s decision, minister Jean-François Roberge said he would consult with lawyers.

The education reform, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February after the Quebec government invoked closure.

As part of the law, general elections were eliminated for schools within the French-language system. However, English-language service centres still retain the right to hold democratic elections.

A court date for the first hearing on the constitutionality of the legislation has not yet been set.

[Local Journalism Initiative]