Constitutional Argument to Oppose Bill 40The Quebec English School Boards Association is launching a legal challenge to Bill 40. The bill dictates how parents will be selected to sit on the boards of the service centres. According to the Association, this directive contravenes the right of the English-speaking community to manage and control the minority language educational institutions. This right is contained in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Federation of Quebec School Boards maintains that Bill 40 by eliminating universal suffrage only for French-language school boards contravenes Section 22 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which states: "Every person legally capable and qualified has the right to be a candidate and to vote at an election." The Federation also points out that since school taxes will henceforth be collected by service centers where no one is elected by universal suffrage, this contravenes the principle of "no taxation without representation" guaranteed by Section 53 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and applicable in Quebec through its Section 90. Presidents of the school boards of Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine in a letter to the Minister of Education dated February 7, stress that through Bill 40: "Only the Minister can develop policies, which constitutes the greatest centralization in the history of the Ministry of Education. Regions, schools, small schools: all will lose decision-making power with this bill. The Gaspé and Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac are far from Quebec when the time comes to make decisions! Imagine a policy of maintaining or closing a school decided in Quebec! The realities of the regions are very far from the offices of officials of the Quebec Ministry of Education in Quebec." (Sources: Quebec English School Boards Association, Brief of the Federation of Quebec School Boards, Le Soir)
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