Bill 101 affecting businesses, English education in Montreal, Mass teacher protests

Stories by: Hadassah Alencar and Luca Caruso-Moro

Reporter: Shanellie Marie


 

QUEBEC

Bill 101 will now affect small and medium sized businesses.

That’s after the CAQ voted in favour with the Parti Quebecois to expand the bill’s coverage, which requires businesses to provide services in French.

The provincial Liberals voted against the motion, which is expected to roll out in the summer.

 

EDUCATION

English community groups  organized under “The Alliance for the Promotion of Public English-language Education in Quebec '' are taking the Legault government to court challenging the constitutionality of Bill 40, saying it infringes on the English-speaking community’s right to manage its schools.

Bill 40 was enacted earlier this month by the Quebec government, which claimed the intention was to decentralize power in the Quebec school system by changing schools boards into service centers and abolishing elections in the French-language boards.

The chair of Alliance Committee Geoffrey Kelley says the group opposes the amount of government intervention in managing the new student center.

Kelley says the transfer of power challenges the independence Section 23 of the Canadian constitution guarantees. This law has supported the right of minority French-speaking groups outside of Quebec, and the Alliance hopes it will apply to the minority English-speaking community here.

The Quebec Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge released a statement saying Bill 40 does respect the rights of the English community school board, and that the Ministry has made compromises like allowing elections in the new English service centers.

The ministry also claimed the money for the lawsuit against Bill 40 could be put to better use funding student services. For now, English school board commissioners are allowed to remain as a council until November before electing the English service centres.

 

In other education news,

Mass teacher protests on Friday as four unions picketed outside the Ontario legislature. 

Spokespeople told CBC News they expect 30,000 protestors to gather across the province.

The movement is in response to larger class sizes and reduced funding for schools from the provincial government.