A Quebec superior court judge has ruled against a request for a temporary injunction filed on Sept. 15 by a teacher’s union demanding the government put in place a rapid COVID-19 testing strategy in schools.
While disappointed with the ruling, the Fédération autonome d’enseignement (FAE), which represents about 49,000 teachers, said in a news release that it is “more determined than ever to continue its efforts to ensure the protection and safety of teachers and students.”
The union argued the government’s back-to-school plan, released in August, was incomplete and did not guarantee a safe working environment.
Issues such as allowing students to remove face masks in the classroom, allowing extra-curricular activities to resume and aging ventilation systems in some schools were cited as worrisome examples.
Also given the active role that students can play in the transmission of the virus, the FAE was hoping for priority testing.
The FAE’s position was that rapid and priority testing would allow to quickly identify and isolate infected people as well as those in close contact with the infected person.
The union also argued that priority testing would allow teachers to return to work more quickly following a negative test and the absence of symptoms.
In his decision, Superiour court judge Babak Barin recognized the urgency of the situation as presented by the FAE, the seriousness of the issue and the irreparable nature of the damage caused by the government’s decision.
Barin rejected the request for not satisfying the requirements for the balance of convenience.
In his decision, Barin said he didn’t have enough information on record to conclude that the remedy proposed by the FAE in regards the implementation of rapid, priority screening strategy for schools would serve the public interest more than the solution advocated by the government.
He also said that forcing the government to quickly put in place a screening system for schools would probably require a reallocation of resources.
Barin explained it would be difficult to predict the repercussions of such of move and that ultimately reallocating resources could have a negative impact on other sectors of society, including vulnerable populations.
The FAE says it is consulting with its lawyers as to what the next steps will be.
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