Premier François Legault’s government plans to appeal a recent court decision on the province’s controversial education reform legislation, known as Bill 40, he said Friday.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Sylvain Lussier ruled in August that sections of the law to abolish school boards in favour of school service centres, were unconstitutional.
Lussier noted that setting limits on who can run for elections and sit on the boards, violates the rights of the English-speaking minority to govern their own institutions.
Legault for his part, said he disagreed and told reporters in Saguenay, where his party held its pre-sessional caucus meeting, that transforming school boards into service centres is essential.
Legault pointed to low participation rates in school board elections and a need for more uniformity.
“I think that, even on the English side, not many people vote, so the percentage of participation is very low,” he said, “and … it’s important that you make sure the best practices are put in place everywhere — French and English side.”
The law abolishing school boards was adopted in February 2020 but the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) mounted a legal challenge on behalf of the province’s nine English school boards.
In 2020, they successfully petitioned for a stay while awaiting the outcome of the challenge.
The government response comes despite calls from English-language school boards and advocacy groups, as well as the Official Opposition, to accept the ruling.
In a statement to Global News, QESBA president Dan Lamoureux expressed his disappointment.
“This was a strong judgement for our community and we are very disappointed that this government has decided to pursue an appeal of the entire judgement,” he wrote.
“This decision means that the onus continues to be on us to defend our Charter rights.”
Lamoureux added, that despite the burden, QESBA will continue to lead the charge.
“We are prepared to continue the fight to ensure that our rights are maintained for our community and the students we serve.”
Constitutional rights lawyer Julius Grey wouldn’t criticize the government’s right to appeal but he did have strong words for the Legault government.
“There is very serious criticism to be made of this government and it’s their authoritarianism, their desire to make everything the same, everybody the same,” he said.
“The decision on Bill 40 is obviously one that accepts that there can be differences that there can be different systems for different people.”
Grey was also critical of the law itself, saying the intention behind it was “unfortunate and not fully democratic.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Department of Education confirmed in a written statement that the government would appeal the decision, citing interpretation issues.
The department said there would be no further comment on the matter due to the ongoing judicial process.
The statement, however, mentions that Education Minister Bernard Drainville remains open to discussions with QESBA and hopes to continue dialogue with English-language schools.
— With files From Global News’ Franca Mignacca and The Canadian Press