tseliqcgn

Montreal, August 10, 2020 – The Quebec Community Groups Network applauded a Quebec Superior
Court decision to suspend the application of Quebec government reforms to the governance of English
school boards while the courts review the constitutionality of Bill 40: An Act to amend mainly the
Education Act with regard to school organization and governance.
The Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA) and a slew of other applicants are challenging the
government’s new governance model maintaining that it does not respect Section 23 of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms to manage and control our minority language educational institutions.
They petitioned the courts to suspend the application of Bill 40 to English school boards until hearings
on the merits of the case which could take many months. Read more.

Montréal, August 10, 2020 – The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is very pleased with the Québec Superior Court judgment in our favour on a stay of Bill 40: An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance rendered by Justice Lussier today. 

QESBA and its co-applicants filed for an interlocutory injunction or a stay in May of this year to suspend the application of Bill 40 to English school boards, arguing that the new governance model does not respect section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to manage and control our minority language educational institutions. The Québec Superior Court found that the applicants had raised “very serious questions” pertaining to the Bill’s constitutionality. Moreover, it found that the disappearance of English-language school boards (and their transformation into English-language school service centres) constituted irreparable harm. Read more.

Montréal, le 10 août 2020 – La Cour supérieure du Québec accorde un sursis aux commissions scolaires anglophones avant l’application de la loi 40, qui prévoit leur abolition pour les remplacer par des centres de services scolaires. La Cour supérieure a rendu cette décision lundi, en attendant de se prononcer sur le fond. Déjà, Québec entend porter la décision en appel. Lire la suite.

Montréal, le 10 août 2020 – Les commissions scolaires anglophones ont remporté lundi une première manche dans leur bataille juridique contre le gouvernement Legault pour faire invalider sa réforme de la gouvernance scolaire.

La Cour supérieure du Québec en suspend temporairement pour les districts anglophones, le temps de se pencher sur le fond de la question, c’est-à-dire, la constitutionnalité de la loi. C’est ce qu’on apprend à la lecture d’une décision rendue lundi par le juge Sylvain Lussier. Lire la suite.

Our community has the Constitutional right to manage and control our schools. The Coalition Avenir Québec government has taken this right away from our English-speaking community – and together we must fight to take back this fundamental right. All nine of our English school boards along with the Quebec English School Boards Association have launched a legal challenge to quash Bill 40. This controversial legislation abolishes our democratically elected school boards and transforms them into government-controlled service centres. Our legal action declares that this upheaval of our education system contravenes our linguistic minority community’s right to manage and control our school system. This foundational right, under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees education in one of Canada’s two official languages. It is an essential element of linguistic duality, a cornerstone of our national identity. It took French parents in British Columbia five years to win another case that solidified minority-language education rights. Just like our West Coast counterparts, we are in this for the long haul. This is bound to be a long and costly fight. Please consider making a contribution to the Go Fund Me campaign to support this legal action to defend the Constitutional rights of Quebec’s English-speaking community and advance the minority-language rights of all Canadians. Any donation, big or small, is appreciated – but most importantly a large number of donors will unequivocally demonstrate to our governments that we believe in our rights and we will fight to protect them. Please contribute what you can and help us get the news out by sharing this appeal extensively throughout your networks.  

https://ca.gofundme.com/f/quebec-bill-40-court-challenge