Montreal, April 13, 2021 – The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is pleased that Quebec’s Superior Court will begin hearing the Bill 40 court case on its merits starting Wednesday April 14th in Montreal.
QESBA and its nine-member school boards won a stay of Québec’s reform of school governance legislation last August and the subsequent appeal in September, which suspended the application of the legislation for the English minority community in Quebec. Bill 40 was adopted in the Québec National Assembly with the use of closure in February 2020. All opposition parties voted against the legislation.
“We are pleased that that Quebec’s Superior will hear the case on merits starting this week. This important Constitutional case has national implications, and Québec’s English school boards and our community partners are determined to see our Charter rights fully respected,” said QESBA President Dan Lamoureux.
“Quebec is the only province in Canada that has not exempted its minority language community from sweeping changes to the public education system. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms prescribed section 23 in matters of minority education for a specific reason. Minority communities survive on a healthy and stable education system managed and controlled by them,” 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.