CSL passes Bill 104 resolution
By Joel Goldenberg
Côte St. Luc council made a rare venture beyond its
municipal bounds, passing a resolution Monday night calling on Quebec to respect
the Supreme Court’s judgment regarding the province’s English school access law
and not further limit access to English public education.
In recent days, Quebec nationalists have protested the Supreme Court’s 2009
ruling against Bill 104, the law which prevents parents from using the private
English school route as a means to access the public English system. While
ruling against the law, the court gave Quebec a year to come up with new
legislation, thus postponing the effect of the judgment — that government
response is expected in the very near future. Nationalists have even called for
further restrictions on English school access.
“We’re doing this because, even though it is not a municipal issue, it
impacts upon families living in the city of Côte St. Luc,” Mayor Anthony
Housefather said. “It impacts upon many immigrant families that have come here,
including from English-speaking countries such as the United States who are
unable to send their children to English schools, it impacts upon people who are
not immigrants who were sent to French schools and don’t have a certificate of
eligibility to send their children to English school and would choose to do so
in the private and public sector. It also negatively impacts on the
English-speaking community and its institutions at large, because our schools
are a cornerstone of the English-speaking community. “It’s important that the
government hears from those not picketing in the street.”
The resolution, introduced by councillor Ruth Kovac, asks the National
Assembly to “carefully consider the historic rights and contributions of the
English speaking communities of Quebec as it re-drafts its legislation; not
amend the Language Charter to limit access to unsubsidized private schools in
Quebec; ensures that its revisions to the Language Charter in response to the
court’s judgment respect the Canadian Charter and requests that the Legislature
not invoke the notwithstanding clause when amending the Language Charter;” and
that it “restore the situation which existed before” Bill 104 was enacted in
2002.
Councillor Mike Cohen, who is also communications director for the English
Montreal School Board, said his board’s numbers have gone down from 27,000 in
the youth sector to 22,000 “since Bill 104 was enacted. “Bill 104 is the chief
reason why we’ve lost those students and the numbers are going to continue to
fall. It’s important that we take a stance.” Other council members also spoke in
favour of the resolution and it was passed
unanimously. | 
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