Latest news with #Bill40
Montreal Gazette
15 hours ago
- General
- Montreal Gazette
Hanes: Bill 40 appeal shows the Legault government has learned nothing
By Whenever a new fracas erupts between the government of Premier François Legault and the anglophone community, Eric Girard, the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, is dispatched to try to patch things up. Recently, he admitted that new directives issued last summer that suggested eligibility certificates for education in English could be used to access health care in English were ' not our finest moment' and that he was 'disappointed' at how the whole saga played out. Previously, Girard acknowledged that tuition hikes for out-of-province students that disproportionately harmed Quebec's English universities had ruffled feathers, and he vowed to smooth things over. When he was appointed to the portfolio in 2022 after the angst surrounding the adoption of Bill 96, Quebec's update of protections for the French language, Girard promised to allay fears and 'do better.' 'When I say we need to do better, I mean we need to improve relations,' he told The Gazette back in the early days of his tenure. But time and again, these prove to be empty promises. Because actions speak louder than words. And even though it was less than a month ago that Girard called for the latest reset, the Legault government has demonstrated the depth of its contempt for the rights of English-speaking Quebecers anew by announcing its intention to appeal the latest ruling on Bill 40 all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada (if the top court agrees to hear it, that is). The attempt to abolish English school boards and replace them with service centres was one of the first bones of contention between the anglophone community and the Legault government after it was first elected in 2018. The Quebec English School Boards Association launched a constitutional challenge of the law immediately after its passage and has since won two resounding victories. Both Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeals have agreed that Bill 40 is a violation of Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and affirmed the rights of the English-speaking minority to manage and control its own schools. Both courts have categorically said that transforming school boards into service centres like their francophone counterparts, centralizing many of their decision-making powers in the ministry of education, and axing the elected councils of commissioners run counter to those constitutional guarantees. But the Legault government is forging ahead trying to defend the discredited law. At this point, there is no principled reason to drag this out — and no pragmatic imperative, either. Quebec's English school boards obtained an injunction in 2020, keeping them intact for the duration of the legal proceedings. For five years they have continued to operate as they always have, overseen by elected representatives from the community, alongside French service centres. At this point the government's argument that it can't have two different systems for running French and English schools doesn't really hold water. In fact, there is growing concern that francophone service centres, administered by parents drawn from local school governing boards, lack transparency and accountability. And since Bill 40 was adopted five years ago, Education Minister Bernard Drainville has grabbed even more authority from service centres, like the power to appoint their directors general and overturn their decisions. The English school boards have already proven their management and control rights — twice. But the Legault government just won't let it go. Are they gluttons for punishment? Or is this merely a continuation of the pattern of antagonizing the English-speaking community? So often over two mandates in office, the premier or his ministers say one thing and do another. Legault claimed nothing would change for anglophones under Bill 96, yet there has been major upheaval. English colleges now have quotas for francophone and allophone students and new French course requirements, which has left them destabilized. English versions of government and public websites now have warnings about who is allowed to consult the content, which is an insult to intelligence. English court documents and decisions must be accompanied by French translations, which are costly and time-consuming, impeding access to justice. And these are just a few examples. The rights of anglophones are either complete afterthought or collateral damage. A year ago, when new rules on simultaneous translation of court judgments came into effect, a Quebec Court judge on the verge of presiding over an English criminal trial had to convene representatives of the prosecution service and attorney general's office to get basic information on how this was supposed to work. He was essentially told there was no plan and things were still being figured out. For his efforts, he was the subject of a complaint to the judicial council for overstepping his authority. He was later totally exonerated. His decision declaring the new regulations inoperable for English criminal trials is being appealed, however. The list of slights goes on and on. Yet concerns are frequently dismissed as the rantings of 'angryphones' acting like the world's most spoiled minority — until the government gets egg on its face over something truly ludicrous. Whether it's having to intervene on the Go Habs Go fiasco, override a library's decision not to allow an English book club to meet without simultaneous translation or rewriting the confusing health directives, each incident erodes trust. If Girard was at all serious about wanting to rebuild confidence with English-speaking Quebecers, there was one, simple, concrete gesture the government could have made that would have gone a long way and meant a lot in laying the groundwork for a truce: not appealing the Bill 40 ruling to the Supreme Court. Instead, the Legault government couldn't resist fighting a losing battle to the bitter end.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Quebec to ask Supreme Court for permission to appeal school board reform ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada says it is moving away from the social media platform X. The Supreme Court of Canada is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick MONTREAL — Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal a ruling that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed Friday the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April. That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the provincial government. While the French boards went along with the government, the English boards chose the legal route. The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed in 2020 pending the outcome of the court challenge. The English boards have maintained that Section 23 gives them the constitutional right to manage and control its school boards. Quebec Superior Court Justice Sylvian Lussier ruled in August 2023 that the province's law abolishing school boards was unconstitutional and violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He wrote that several sections of the law cannot be applied to English school boards, including those that set limits on who can run for election and sit on the boards. 'The minority is having the vision of the majority imposed on it as to who can represent it, whereas for more than 200 years, all members of the community have been eligible to take care of school management,' Lussier wrote. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law 'radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards.' In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, the appeal court wrote the law infringed on rights guaranteed in the Charter and upheld most of the constitutional conclusions of the Superior Court decision. The Quebec English Language School Boards Association said in a statement Friday it was disappointed by the province's decision to appeal to the Supreme Court and that it will continue to defend the constitutional rights of English school boards before the high court. 'We had hoped the government would accept the Court of Appeal's unanimous decision and finally respect the rights of the English-speaking community,' said Joe Ortona, president of QESBA, said in a statement. 'At a time when Quebec is facing significant financial cuts, it is disappointing to see public funds being used to pursue a legal battle that so clearly infringes on the rights of minority communities.' As Quebec is now seeking to appeal again, Julien Garon, a spokesman for Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, said the government has no further comment. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025. Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Quebec seeks leave to appeal school board reform ruling to Supreme Court of Canada
Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal lower court rulings that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed this week the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April.T That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the province. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law "radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards." The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed pending the outcome of the court challenge.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Quebec to seek leave to appeal school board reform ruling to Supreme Court of Canada
MONTREAL – Quebec will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal lower court rulings that found a provincial law abolishing school boards violates English-language minority education rights. A spokesperson for Quebec's justice minister confirmed this week the province will appeal a ruling from the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered in April. That ruling upheld a Quebec Superior Court decision from August 2023 which found the province's law abolishing school boards violates linguistic minority education rights, guaranteed in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, known as Bill 40, was adopted in February 2020 and transformed French schools boards, which were governed by elected commissioners, into service centres run by a board of directors overseen by the province. The Court of Appeal said last month that the law 'radically alters the mission of these school service centres compared to school boards.' The law's measures affecting English school boards were stayed pending the outcome of the court challenge. As Quebec is now seeking to appeal again, spokesman Julien Garon says the government has no further comment. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Quebec government launches Bill 40 appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
Joe Ortona, head of the QESBA, says it's 'disappointing' that the province is launching its appeal of Bill 40 to the Supreme Court of Canada. Nearly two months after Quebec's highest court ruled that Bill 40 violated the rights of the English-speaking community, the François Legault government is taking its legal challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Attorney General of Quebec has requested leave to appeal to Canada's top court, according to a filing obtained by CTV News. This means the Supreme Court could have the final say on the constitutionality of the law since it was adopted more than five years ago if the court agrees to hear the case. Quebec's English school boards have been fighting the law in court since 2020. Last month, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered what anglophone groups called a 'historic decision' when it struck down parts of the law, which sought to abolish school boards in Quebec and reform school governance in the province. The unanimous April 3 ruling largely upheld a 2023 Superior Court ruling that said parts of the bill violated fundamental rights under section 23 of the Charter. Among them was a provision that had abolished school boards and replaced them with school service centres, which was later stayed in the English school system pending court challenges. The three appellate judges agreed with the lower court ruling that stated the bill violated the rights that allow certain individuals who are not members of the linguistic minority in Quebec to vote and run in school board elections for the English-language education sector. The government argues in its 20-page brief filed with the Supreme Court on Friday that the panel of appeal court judges erred in its interpretation of section 23 of the Charter. Joe Ortona, president of the Quebec English School Board Association, said it is 'disappointing' that the province is taking the legal battle further after the April ruling, which he thought put the legal wrangling to bed. 'We're fully confident that we will be successful at the Supreme Court of Canada, and you know, at least we know that that'll be the end of the road, and then the government's not going to have a choice. They're going to have to respect our constitutional rights. That is the only way that this will conclude,' he said in an interview. 'They've never been able to justify why they need to overhaul governance in English language school boards, and we've maintained that they're unconstitutional. The courts have said that we're right, through and through, Francophone justices in Quebec have repeatedly agreed with us,' added Ortona, who is also the chair of Quebec's largest English school board, the English Montreal School Board, (EMSB). When asked if the English school boards can continue spending money on legal challenges for Bill 40, he said 'school boards cannot afford to not challenge the law' in order to protect themselves from a 'hostile' provincial government. He said most of the funding has come from private donors for years. 'The government is fighting Bill 40 with the taxpayer money of the English speaking community, of the Francophone majority, of all Quebecers, and they're the ones who really need to take a look in the mirror, and eventually, I hope that they'll come to the realization that this was never worth it,' Ortona said.
