The Drainville reform is piloted by a “politburo” and the minister’s consultations on his bill had the air of a “dinner for idiots”, the opposition denounced on Monday, in the wake of revelations about a confidential education committee.
“I can’t believe that in Quebec, we have to learn through a request for access to information that there is a committee of eight people looking into the education of 1.3 million children” , launched Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy.
She was reacting to a text from Duty, which revealed on Saturday that the Ministry of Education has mandated eight experts in 2021 to provide “ad hoc and confidential opinions” on the education network, some of which are at the heart of the Drainville reform.
Above all, Mme Rizqy finds it difficult to explain why certain members of this committee came to speak in a parliamentary committee on the subject of reform, without mentioning their past membership of a committee whose certain conclusions were included in the bill.
“I have the impression that we have been invited to a dinner for idiots,” she lamented. “They come to the parliamentary committee and show intellectual dishonesty because they could have denounced the fact that they sat on the committee and said: “we are certainly for [la réforme]we are on the committee that [l’]suggested. »
The members of the Committee on Scientific Results and the School Environment (CRSMS) were remunerated to the tune of $18,000 per year, with the exception of two of them, who refused to be financially compensated for their work . Knowing this, “all the more reason, they should have simply denounced their appearance of conflict of interest or their bias”, believes Mme Rizqy.
Lack of transparency
The liberal elected official clarified that the lack of transparency of certain researchers “takes nothing away” from the quality of their research, but “takes away a lot from [leur] credibility” about the reform. “I have the impression that they tried to pass us a little quickly,” she slipped. “At whose request is it so opaque? Is it at the request of the minister? »
In the Parti Québécois, MP Pascal Bérubé attacked the methods of Bernard Drainville. “We now know what the Minister of Education means by evidence: the opinion of a few professors and officials hand-picked in order to support his own opinions. Bill 23 provides a good example of confirmation bias. It was the minister’s politburo that piloted the Drainville reform,” he said.
In a conversation preceding the publication of the text of Duty, Mr. Bérubé denounced the choice of speakers received in parliament during the four study periods of Bill 23. “Minister Drainville claims to rely on data and science to get his reform project approved. In fact, as we saw during the consultations, the idea he has of educational research is that of a small panel of experts to whom he is close,” he declared.
In their interviews with The duty, members of the CRSMS minimized the influence of the committee on the Drainville reform. They notably highlighted the fact that the National Institute of Excellence in Education project has been at the heart of the discussions of several Ministers of Education over the years and has received the support of various researchers.
The ministry was asked about the committee last Wednesday, but had still not responded to our questions five days later. Minister Drainville’s office was also unable to answer questions from Duty Monday.