Supreme Court strikes down legal limits on English-language education

The Supreme Court of Canada struck down a 2002 law by the Quebec government that limits access to English-language schools for students of the province in a ruling today, calling Bill 104 "excessive."

"The limits on the [students'] constitutional rights was not justified under […] the Canadian Charter," wrote Judge Louis Lebel in the court's verdict.

Up to seven years ago, a loophole in Quebec's Bill 101 allowed parents to send their children to English-language public schools so long as they had completed a year of studies at a private English school.

A Parti Québecois government in 2002 created Bill 104 to close the loophole, but a series of appeals and counter-appeals between the Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS) and a group of 25 families challenging that decision has since then been fought in court, with the Supreme Court striking down in favour of the families today.

Still, advocates of the families are calling the ruling a "partial victory." That is how attorney Brent Tyler characterized it to media, focusing on the fact the court's judgement is still giving the government a year to change the wording in Bill 104.

For Marcus Tabachnick chairperson of the Lester B. Pearson school board, which oversees all West Island English public schools, that section of the ruling is bad news. "This ruling tells the Quebec government it's OK to come up with news ways to limit access to English education," he told The Chronicle in an interview.

Tabachnick conceded the loophole that Bill 104 closed has not been applicable to West Island private high schools anyway. "We've never had this arrangement before," he said.

Still, Pearson and other English-language school boards insist that Bill 104 has been hurting enrolment at their schools.

The court's judgement, with its one-year leeway, gives the government too much room to change the law, Tabachnick said. "The fact that this law is (deemed) unconstitutional is what we expected," he said.

He added the most pressing need now for LBPSB and other English-language school boards in Quebec is to find ways to meet the government and find common legal ground that will satisfy everyone.

That may be easier said than done, with the tone at the National Assembly in the provincial capital today being completely negative. "We would be surprised had the government celebrated the decision," Tabachnick said.

Quebec Culture Minister Christine St. Pierre said she was "shocked and disappointed" to reporters today.

And the opposition Parti Québecois has already questioned why Premier Jean Charest's government had not drawn up provisions in advance of the ruling.

More as it breaks.