EMSB contesting law that allows schools transfers without consultation
"The EMSB is concerned that similar school transfers will happen in the years to come (and we want) a clear declaration of the government's obligation to consult the English community"
Katherine Wilton • Montreal Gazette
Sep 10, 2019 • Last Updated September 10, 2019 • 2 minute read
EMSB chairperson Angela Mancini, seen in a file photo, is encouraging other English school boards to contribute to the board's legal fund. Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette
The chairperson of the English Montreal School Board defended a decision to take legal action against the provincial government, saying Quebec's decision to transfer English schools without public consultation has violated the community's minority language rights.
The board is contesting the constitutionality of Section 477.1.1 of the Education Act, which gives the education minister the power to transfer buildings from one school board to another.
"It requires no true consultation of the English-speaking community," board chair Angela Mancini said Tuesday at a news conference. "The EMSB is concerned that similar school transfers will happen in the years to come (and we want) a clear declaration of the government's obligation to consult the English community."
The EMSB maintains that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives the English boards the authority to make decisions relating to instruction and its buildings.
In July, a Quebec Superior Court judge rejected the EMSB's request for an emergency injunction to temporarily block the transfer of two of its schools to the overcrowded French school board in the east end. But Mancini said it's important that the court case continue so a judge can rule on the merits of the case.
Francis Bouchard, a spokesperson for Education Minister Jean-François Roberge, accused EMSB commissioners of playing politics and said they should spend more time focusing on the success of their students. The board has a 91-per-cent graduation rate, the highest in Quebec.
Bouchard defended the government's decision to transfer two half-empty EMSB schools to a French school board to help solve overcrowding problems.
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Mancini encouraged other English school boards to contribute to the board's legal fund. The EMSB will use money from its surplus to pay for the court challenge.
As part of a plan to reform school governance, Quebec wants to cancel school board elections and replace school boards with service centres that are to have boards of directors that include parents and members of the community. Roberge wants schools to have more autonomy by giving more decision-making power to administrators who know the students by name.
The EMSB wants the government of Premier François Legault to test its theory that its school board reform plan is legal by asking the Quebec Court of Appeal for a declaratory judgment. However, Bouchard said that wouldn't be necessary because the government's bill would respect all existing legal guidelines.
kwilton@postmedia.com