QESBA files legal action on Bill 40

QESBA along with co-applicants Adam Gordon, Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board
Parent Committee Chairman and the Lester B. Pearson School Board filed for an
interlocutory injunction and judicial review in Quebec Superior Court on May 15,
2020.
“We recognize that the filing of this legal action is not ideal under the current
circumstances. This should not come as a surprise as we publicly announced our
intention to file this action accompanied by all of our education and community
partners last February. It has, however, become a pressing matter due to the
looming November school elections and the deadlines surrounding the legal
requirements and logistics of these elections,” said QESBA President Dan
Lamoureux.
“Furthermore, we are collectively facing an on-going pandemic which is making
the planning for and potentially the holding of these elections complicated for
School Boards.”
“QESBA along with our education partners requested in writing to the Minister of
Education and the Minister of Justice a postponement of these elections in light of
the current situation in Québec and we were told that they would move ahead and
hold the November elections regardless. We, therefore, felt that we had no choice
but to move forward at this time based on our minority community’s rights to
manage and control our institutions as prescribed in Section 23 of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” concluded the President.
QESBA is the voice of English public education in Québec and represents 100,000
students in 340 elementary, high schools, and adult and vocational centres across
Québec.