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More English voices need to be heard at Bill 86 hearings, says QCGN

Click to play video: 'More voices need to be heard at Bill 86 hearings'
More voices need to be heard at Bill 86 hearings
WATCH ABOVE: The Quebec Community Groups Network says groups that are opposed to Bill 86 are being kept out of the committee hearings on the education reform – Jan 18, 2016

MONTREAL – Committee hearings examining Bill 86, the proposed law designed to do away with school board elections, get underway at the National Assembly in Quebec City on Jan. 28.

READ MORE: PQ leader vows to fight for Anglos to be heard on Bill 86

While the committee has agreed to hear from two school boards it initially excluded, the English-speaking community said it’s still not enough.

WATCH: EMSB to attend Bill 86 hearings
Click to play video: 'EMSB to attend Bill 86 parliamentary hearings'
EMSB to attend Bill 86 parliamentary hearings

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) said it is surprised that a commission on the future of school boards is not being heard – and neither is the government’s own advisory committee on English education.

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The QCGN said the government may be stacking the cards to garner support for its project to change the way school boards are managed.

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“The government wants control of who it listens to and therefore who will give support to them in their view,” said Sylvia Martin-Laforge with the QCGN.

“So, it’s a way of deciding what the outcome of the bill will be.”

WATCH: PKP on Bill 86
Click to play video: 'PKP on Bill 86'
PKP on Bill 86

On Thursday, the Anglophone community found an unlikely ally in the National Assembly, when Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau accused the Liberal government of not respecting their rights when it comes to Bill 86.

READ MORE: EMSB applauds decision to be included in Bill 86 hearings

As it stands, the bill is expected to become law on July 1 of this year.

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