Montreal, February 20, 2020 – In collaboration with English-speaking Community partner organizations, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) will challenge the constitutionality of Bill 40 which abolishes school boards and creates school service centres, before the courts.
The government of Quebec forced Bill 40 through the National Assembly in the early morning of February 8, through closure, despite unanimous opposition to the legislation and in complete disregard for the English-speaking community’s right to manage and control its minority language educational institutions.
“Over the last year, QESBA has done everything we could to sit and discuss with the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge to ensure that our Section 23 control and management rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were respected,” said QESBA President Dan Lamoureux.
Today, we announce that our Board of Directors has unanimously given us a mandate to fight this law in the courts alongside our community partners,” concluded the President.
In order to avoid prejudicing our legal preparations, the QESBA will not be commenting further at this time.
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.