Petitions opposing Bill 14 posted on Lester B. Pearson School Board web site

The Lester B. Pearson school Board has posted two petitions on its website opposing Bill 14, Quebec’s new language bill.

One petition deals with the term “cultural communities” contained in Bill 14 and states that “all citizens Québec are proud to part of a unique society” but adds that the term “cultural communities in the bill erases the historic distinctiveness of the English-speaking community.”

That petition – which was posted on the National Assembly website by Laura Derry, chairperson of the LBPSB’s Central Parents’ Committee – calls for the rejection of the entire bill.

“We, the undersigned, ask the National Assembly to reject Bill 14 and ensure that no further restrictions against the rights of minorities, nor additional bureaucratic burdens be brought forth, but rather maintain the current harmonious relationship for all citizens of Québec.”

Derry said members of the Central Parents’ Committee felt they, and other Quebecers, needed to be heard.

“Not only are we parents of students, we’re also citizens of Quebec and we felt we had to voice our opinion on this matter – and give a chance for other Quebecers to do the same,” she said.

The second petition – posted by Stephen Burke of the Central Quebec School Board – deals with amendments in Bill 14 that would disallow temporary certificates of eligibility issued to children of Francophone members of the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Quebec.

The petition states that those amendments “would lead to additional and unnecessary levels of stress, uncertainty and insecurity for military families, and more particularly for their children.”

The Quebec government is scheduled to hold public hearings beginning March 12 as part of its consultation on Bill 14.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board recently submitted a brief to the Quebec government describing Bill 14 as “an outright attempt to further inhibit and ghettoize the English community and to tighten the already overly restrictive regulations governing English language schools.”

The petitions can be accessed by going to the Lester B. Pearson School Board website at: www.lbpsb.qc.ca