Quebec appointed, Wednesday, 17 regional protectors of the student, who will assist their national counterpart, Jean-François Bernier.
The Ministry of Education announced in a press release that the individuals selected “will deal with all complaints made by students and parents, including those relating to bullying, violence and sexual violence at school. place of pupils attending an educational establishment »
“With the National Student Ombudsman and the regional protectors, our government has taken an important step to better protect all students in Quebec, both in the public and private networks,” said Minister of Education Bernard Drainville, in the press release. “This change will ensure a uniform complaint handling process across Quebec and, by the same token, more transparency, independence and efficiency in handling them. I am convinced that this will directly benefit the students. »
The student protectors will begin their activities at the start of the 2023 fall school year. These new positions were created with the adoption of Bill 9 on May 31, 2022.
The applications were first sorted by a selection committee, which then submitted a shortlist of candidates to the minister.
The Government of Quebec describes the National Student Ombudsman as an “educational ombudsman”, responsible for defending the “rights of some 1.3 million students and their parents” in the province.
The 17 new regional protectors are Chloé Corneau, Geneviève Buist, Isabelle Mathieu, Louis Charbonneau, Caroline Audette, Johanne Vallières, Éric Bouchard, Esthel Née, Caroline Gervais, Marc-Antoine Joseph, Sarah-Beth Trudeau, Marie-Ève Dorion, Maia Aziz , Karina Brassard, Catherine Cloutier, Kim Vaillancourt and Claude Provencher.