Four years already. Sad memory. On the night of February 7 to 8, 2020, the CAQ government muzzled opposition and school democracy with the adoption of Bill 40. Before this adoption, the people defending this local parity democratic level had taken care to name all the elements of vigilance linked to this outrage on citizenship: the centralization of decisions, the abolition of checks and balances, citizen disengagement with regard to one’s school as well as the standardization of management practices and expectations of results.
After its adoption, what was expressed in vigilance became obvious: everyone is waiting for the minister’s decision to act, all schools are displayed in blue, the boards of directors now only have an influence reduced to its simpler expression, and the Federation of Quebec School Boards, formerly the watchdog of public schools, was transformed into a government communications agency. In other words, the government no longer has a stone in its shoe. The public school advertises itself as “Your government” and the Minister of Education himself decides the color of the toilet door in Abitibi.
Last fall, the English-speaking school community invited me to share some thoughts on the repercussions of Bill 40 on the French-speaking community since the abolition of school boards. Struggling with the Coalition Avenir Québec, which is in a hurry to put an end to the last civic educational barrier, Anglophones are fighting tooth and nail to preserve the right to manage their institutions. The first paragraph of this text gives you the gist of my point, and it was a real pleasure to remind them of their power to exercise their budgetary flexibility and install air purifiers in classes if the councils of commissioners do so. deem necessary, without waiting for permission from the Minister. Their freedom to choose according to local needs constitutes the heart of their demands.
But beyond the defense of their right recognized in the Canadian Constitution, the subject of a legal tug of war between the English-speaking community and the CAQ government, it seemed necessary to me to underline the extent of this resistance and its impact on Quebec society. This tenacity demonstrated by our English-speaking fellow citizens is articulated in a series of founding beliefs of a better Quebec.
The English-speaking community believes in the power of a politicized society, whose collective interest exceeds personal gain. She believes that a politicized society will be more likely to vote to defend values, ideas, issues rather than being charmed by the famous “mirage of change”, a universal slogan of electoral campaigns.
The English-speaking community believes in the contribution of as many citizens as possible. For her, this contribution is obtained only through social mobilization. For example, in English school boards, there are Méritas awards for community involvement. We certainly do not promote citizen mobilization by abolishing their right to govern their schools, by seeking to disengage them. It is an attack on its deep social values.
For the English-speaking community, the plurality and diversity of voices guarantee rich debates and meetings of ideas. The local democratic level promotes the emergence of crossroads of healthy confrontations and creative solutions, influenced by the necessary sensitivity to the specificity of the community. The English-speaking community values this social wealth.
The English-speaking community also believes that giving a voice locally allows relevant local choices and that through this encouragement of the expression of diverse ideas, we encourage members of the community to care about each other and take active part. . Here we could talk about developing the “empowerment” of citizens as a driving force for social development.
But ultimately, through this fight for its constitutional rights, the English-speaking community is shouting loud and clear that education is not reduced to an insensitive and uniform management system, but is becoming a vehicle for the founding values of a Quebec society. politicized. A society in which the citizen voice can be expressed, where local mobilization is encouraged and the confrontation of ideas desired. And this is probably why the anglophones of Quebec are continuing their fight: because the education system should reflect a strong society to which we all aspire.
Please don’t give up, I have confidence.