(Quebec) Bernard Drainville is accused of launching “small personal attacks” to create a “diversion” by attacking Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on the fact that he attended a private high school when he was a child, in the context where Quebec solidaire (QS) advocates withdrawing subsidies from the private network in favor of public schools.
During question period on Wednesday, the parliamentary leader of QS asked Prime Minister Legault if the government was ready to put an end to the selection of students in special educational programs offered in public schools. The opposition party wants Quebec to ensure unrestricted access to these programs for all students.
“There are the luckiest, those who come from good families or who have the best grades, and there are the less fortunate, those who have lower grades because they come from a more difficult background. They don’t have the same choices, they don’t have the same opportunities. They have the regular one. It will follow them all their lives. The lucky ones have access to special programs where they can go private. Our system gives them every chance of succeeding,” Mr. Nadeau-Dubois said in chambers.
Later, his colleague Ruba Ghazal asked the Minister of Education more questions, this time about the costs associated with remedial courses. She asked him if Quebec planned to make them free in the future in the context where it is doing so this summer, but only for courses associated with the ministerial exams of 4e and 5e secondary.
“Small comment on private schools. The head of QS who went to private school, do you have any comments to make on that? », replied Mr. Drainville, returning to the previous exchange which did not concern him.
“I was referring to the preamble to the question from the head of QS, who said earlier: “The lucky ones have access to PPP or can go to the private sector”. But he went private. This makes him stop lecturing and then cloaking himself in great virtue,” added the Minister of Education.
Drainville himself chose the private sector
In 2012, when he was a minister in the PQ government of Prime Minister Pauline Marois, the Minister of Education at the time, Pierre Duchesne, was criticized for sending his children to private school. Mme Marois had nevertheless affirmed during the electoral campaign that a Minister of Education “has the duty to be exemplary (and must) send his children to public school”. The newspapers reported that seven PQ ministers, including Bernard Drainville, had sent their children to the private sector.
Now Minister of Education in the CAQ government, Bernard Drainville refused to answer questions regarding his statements during question period on Wednesday.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
For his part, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois described the minister’s comments as “small”, he who was red with anger a few minutes earlier at the Salon bleu.
“Questioning the choices that my parents made 15 years ago to distract from a social debate which is important, that is to say that we want all the little guys and all the little girls in Quebec to have the same chances, I find that it is small and I find that it is not up to the role of [ministre de l’Éducation] “, he said.
“I’ve had chances in life. It’s true. And my responsibility, because I had these opportunities, is to work every day to ensure that all children in Quebec have the greatest possible chance of succeeding,” added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.