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Montreal Gazette
01-05-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: FACE is a Montreal success. Quebec must not mess with it
This month, Quebecers learned that the cost of renovating the Gérard-D.-Lévesque building — home to the Finance Department in Quebec City — has ballooned from $188 million to $340 million. The project has been hit by delays and is now expected to be completed in April 2027, some 18 months later than the last revised target date. Apparently, the Quebec government can find hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade offices for bureaucrats, some on hybrid work schedules that don't require them to show up every day. But when it comes to investing in FACE, a unique school that unites English and French students under one roof in a first-rate arts-based program, suddenly, the money isn't there. FACE is more than just a school. It's a rare and remarkable collaboration between the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) and the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), housed in a downtown Montreal building with deep historical and cultural roots. For nearly 50 years, it has offered bilingual, bicultural and coeducational learning in music, drama and the arts. Without consultation and with little more than a Friday afternoon press release, Education Minister Bernard Drainville cancelled long-promised renovations to the FACE building, citing rising costs — from $150 million to $375 million. What began as a temporary relocation of elementary students to a building in Plateau-Mont-Royal and high school students to the old Baron Byng/Sun Youth Organization facility has morphed into a permanent dismantling of the unified FACE model. The decision was made unilaterally and the EMSB was informed just an hour before the public. It's safe to assume the CSSDM — created by the government to replace elected school boards in the French sector — was likewise sidelined. No consultation. No transparency. No respect for the communities affected. This is not just a betrayal of the FACE community — it's a broader betrayal of Quebecers who value education, co-operation and the arts. Drainville's lack of engagement in real dialogue reflects a troubling pattern of top-down governance and disregard for the rights of the English-speaking community. These rights — affirmed by the courts — include the ability to manage and control our schools. Yet here we are, learning of this decree the same way the public did: through the media. Had the minister bothered to consult, he would have heard what parents, educators and students know: FACE works. Its integrated approach builds bridges between languages and cultures, between older and younger students, and between disciplines. Its graduates thrive — not only in the arts, but in medicine, science and beyond. FACE isn't just an academic success — it's a social and cultural one. So what now? We are calling on the Quebec government to reverse course and reopen a dialogue. The CSSDM, EMSB and FACE parent communities must be part of the solution. Perhaps phased renovations can make the project more affordable. Perhaps a new site could house both programs under one roof. But the starting point must be this: the FACE model must be preserved. In tough economic times, governments have to make choices. But investing in young people, in education and in a model that fosters unity and excellence — this is not an expense; it's an investment in our collective future. Instead of building lavish offices for bureaucrats, let's prioritize the future of our students. Let's keep FACE whole. Joe Ortona is the chair of the English Montreal School Board.
CBC
24-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
13 Montreal organizations are facing eviction, but Ottawa just offered to save them
Thirteen community organizations are currently facing eviction in Montreal's Ahunstic-Cartierville borough, but on Saturday, the cards were reshuffled and those groups were offered a glimmer of hope. Mélanie Joly, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, announced a $15 million investment to relocate the groups currently housed at the Ahunstic Community Centre. The centre is located in Joly's riding. She's been an MP there since 2015 and plans to run again as a Liberal candidate in the federal election that was called on Sunday. "There's been a call for help from the community sector here for a long time," she told reporters on Saturday. The organizations will move to the Écoquartier Louvain, a new residential neighbourhood to be built in the same borough that's expected to include 1,000 affordable housing units. For months, the 13 groups had been threatened with eviction by the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal (CSSDM), the province's largest school service centre, which plans to transform the space they've occupied for about 20 years into a French-language learning centre. The organizations were asked to pack up on Dec. 27, but refused to budge. Although the eviction case is before the courts, Joly said she would work with the Quebec government and the CSSDM to ensure that the organizations can continue to work at the centre until the new building is built. Among the organizations being evicted is the Service de nutrition et d'action communautaire (SNAC), which offered food assistance to 1,970 households over the last year, feeding nearly 4,000 people from their location inside the centre. The centre's offering is wide-ranging: it has a daycare, a youth advocacy group, services for seniors, assistance for people dealing with homelessness and addiction as well as a meals-on-wheels program. There's even a francization centre already on site that's offering French-language classes. In December, with the CSSDM's deadline hanging over their heads, the organizations reported that they had nowhere to relocate after struggling for months to find an affordable place. Joly explained that it's "always a challenge" for the federal government to financially support community centres, as decisions are usually made at the municipal and provincials levels. "But this project is also part of the creation of a new neighbourhood with several affordable housing units," said Joly.
