February 8, 2013
Mme Louisette Cameron
Édifice Pamphile-Le May
cce@assnat.qc.ca
Mme Cameron,
Please accept this summary of our brief on behalf of the Lester B. Pearson School Board along with its submission to the Committee Culture and Education.
To summarize, Lester B. Pearson School Board is, as was the case when Bill 103 and Bill 104 were proposed, opposed to all the provisions of Bill 14. We believe the proposed legislation is completely unnecessary and its basic premises unfounded. We find the education sections and regulations of the proposed legislation to be overbearingly bureaucratic, unacceptably subjective, unfairly restrictive, and detrimental to the growth and development of the constitutionally-guaranteed English school sector.
The proposals contained in Bill 14 indicates to us the present government views the English-speaking community and its institutions as non-cooperative and non-collaborative sectors of the Quebec population as it pertains to the instruction of French in our schools and the use of French in the private sector. This could not be further from the truth. The facts contained in our brief attest to our collective will and enterprise to enhance the French language and culture. We state here with a firm and unequivocal voice that the English school system is part of the solution, and is not the problem.
The repealing of Article 3 of the Regulation respecting the exemption from the application of the first paragraph of section 72 of the Charter of the French language, that may be granted to children of the Canadian Armed Forces members staying in Québec temporarily is an abomination. It may literally cripple one of our school boards while adding very little to the French language school board and as a result add no value to the experience of either.
Equally troubling to the proposed changes to the Charter of the French language are the proposed changes to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bill 14 proposes to change the status of individuals from “ethnic minorities” to “cultural communities” under both Charters as a matter of remaining consistent or for concordance with other Quebec laws. We find this assertion rather disingenuous on the part of the government, as it knows very well minorities have rights and cultural communities do not.
We believe that Bill 14 is an outright attempt to further inhibit and ghettoize the English community and to tighten the already overly restrictive regulations governing English language schools. We call on the leadership of Quebec, to have the courage to stand up and say that ALL Quebecers are equal and deserve the support, protection, and encouragement of its government, regardless of their language or ethnicity.
The English community, and more specifically the Lester B. Pearson School Board, will continue to do its part and more to ensure that all students who graduate our schools are able to work, live, play, and stay in a French Quebec. We need the government to work with us not against us, and allow us the chance to grow and flourish in Quebec. In return we reaffirm our continued commitment to ensure our students are bilingual upon graduation and more than able to be good and productive citizens of Quebec
On behalf of the Lester B. Pearson School Board and its Council of Commissioners, we would be pleased to attend the public hearings relating to this consultation and answer any questions you may have.
Yours truly
Suanne Stein Day
Chairman
cc. Chairmen, English School Boards
Quebec English School Board Association
Lucie Charlebois, MNA, Soulanges
Yvon Marcoux, MNA, Vaudreuil
Geoffrey Kelley, MNA, Jacques Cartier
Yolande James, MNA, Nelligan
Pierre Marsan, MNA, Robert-Baldwin
Francois Ouimet, MNA, Marquette
Robert Poeti, MNA, Marguerite Bourgeoys
Henri-Francois Gautrin, MNA, Verdun
FYI – this letter as well as the brief on Bill 14 can be found on the Lester B. Pearson website: www.lbpsb.qc.ca