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An end to school board elections? QFHSA hopes not

WATCH ABOVE: With the Quebec government working to cut its deficit, the QFHSA says it’s against a possible plan to eliminate school board elections. Global’s Billy Shields has more.

MONTREAL – The Quebec Federation of Home and School Associations has come out saying it is strongly against a possible plan to eliminate school board elections.

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“There is a constitutional guarantee of linguistic representation in education,” said Lawrence DePoe, the QFHSA’s president.

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Plans are still not entirely clear.

Last week, Premier Philippe Couillard said school board elections were expensive in relation to participation.

READ MORE: Not so fast, QESBA tells Quebec’s new education minister

He and the province’s Education Minister, Francois Blais, are considering an appointment system of some kind for school boards to save money.

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Lawrence DePoe, of the QFSHA, favours tying school board elections to municipal elections. Billy Shields/Global News

Quebec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil was the keynote speaker at QFHSA event Saturday, and she downplayed the talk about school boards.

READ MORE: The fight for Quebec’s school boards

“There’s no formal announcement yet,” she said.

But members of the QFHSA, like Joyce Shanks, worry that eliminating school board elections will have a deeper, derogatory effect on Anglophones.

READ MORE: English private schools: Quebec admission rules limit access to students

“If we don’t deal with the language issues in this province, we are discriminating against a very core part of our population,” she said.

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The government has yet to issue a formal proposal concerning the school boards.

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