November 5, 2020 – It’s a busy week for Marlene Jennings. Completing her mandate as trustee of the English Montreal School Board, winning the presidency of the Quebec Community Groups Network, and on the eve of her 69th birthday next week, the former Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine MP is looking to the future of Quebec’s English speaking minority. … Read more
By Geoffrey Chambers The focus of most Quebecers remains the pandemic, a safe return of our children to school and the reopening of our economy. However, our government appears to have shifted its focus to language. And as it does so, it is once again minimizing the importance of the contributions to this province by … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network applauded a Quebec Superior Court decision to suspend the application of Quebec government reforms to the governance of English school boards while the courts review the constitutionality of Bill 40: An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance. Read more
QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers, who worked for the No camp during the 1980 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, said the English community was fairly united on the No side, but in other communities “there were families in which you couldn’t talk about it.” Read more
Anxiety levels surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic vary based not just on where people live in Quebec, but also on their mother tongue, a web survey conducted by Léger Marketing has found. Allophone and anglophone respondents are much more likely to fear that they or somebody in their immediate family will catch the disease than francophones are, the … Read more
by Geoffrey Chambers, President of the Quebec Community Groups Network The Government of Quebec determined it was a public health imperative that a detailed 24-page guide providing Quebecers with critical information on best practices in dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency be delivered to every household. This was done, at substantial cost, because every … Read more
By Geoffrey Chambers, President of the Quebec Community Groups Network The government of Quebec determined it was a public health imperative that a detailed 24-page guide providing Quebecers with critical information on best practices in dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency be delivered to every household. This was done, at substantial cost, because … Read more
The phone has been ringing quite a bit at the Family Resource Centre in Pierrefonds “Over this week, I’m sure we’ve received easily over 100 calls,” said Ron Swan, executive director of the Family Resource Centre, which helps families and children dealing with behavioural issues. Read more
QUEBEC — It is one of those ironies of politics that a leader can look at his or her best when things are at their worst. As the COVID-19 crisis rocks the planet, Premier François Legault finds himself in just that position. Suddenly even anglophones who did not vote for the Coalition Avenir Québec in the 2018 … Read more
Montreal, March 10, 2020 – The Quebec Community Groups Network welcomes the injection of an additional $18.8 million into the Secretariat for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers over the next five years. This commitment promises to assist a sizeable number of English-speaking Quebecers, but other community needs remain unanswered. In particular, the QCGN applauds new measures to sustain existing … Read more
By Geoffrey Chambers and Gerald Cutting, QCGN Last fall, the government of Premier François Legault conducted a round of consultations with English-speaking Quebecers. A range of voices from across the English-speaking community laid out specific and very reasonable actions we need from his government. The process proved positive to the extent that it opened a … Read more
With the Quebec Community Groups Network, the Quebec English School Board Association, and the English Montreal School Board and others preparing to challenge the constitutionality of Bill 40, Education Minister Jean-François Roberge should have considered taking a more tender approach to abolishing school boards, says an op-ed in The Suburban. Read more
The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) has announced Thursday that it will challenge Bill 40 in court even if the school elections are not abolished for the English school board, as is the case for Francophones. Read more (In French)
“Over the coming weeks,” Geoff Kelley, chairperson of APPELLE-Québec says, “we will be preparing our case, recruiting parents and others to participate as plaintiffs, and determining who will be intervening on behalf of the community.” The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) is part of the steering committee. Read more
The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) notes that the Quebec government forced Bill 40 through the National Assembly using closure – “despite unanimous opposition to the legislation and in complete disregard for the English-speaking community’s right to manage and control its minority language educational institutions.” Read more
“We believe minority rights are important in our society,” Geoffrey Kelley, chair of APPELE-Québec, tells Alessia Simona Maratta of Global News. “And this government does not have a very good track record in terms of respecting [those rights].” Read more
Geoffrey Kelley, chair of APPELE-Québec and former member of the National Assembly, says Quebec could have easily exempted English school boards from Bill 40. Now, he adds, his group is concerned that the election process proposed is too complex and, as currently structured, makes it difficult for people within the English-speaking community to run for … Read more
The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), along with several English-speaking groups, will challenge the elimination of school boards in court. Read more (In French)
English school boards have confirmed that they will challenge the constitutionality of Bill 40, a law that would transform school boards into Service centers. Read more (In French)
“It’s very improper for the ministry to implement policies and laws that compromise the community’s constitutional rights and for them to impede the community in verifying whether those constitutional rights have in fact been compromised,” said Geoffrey Chambers, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network. “It’s possible we have a disagreement among good faith parties … Read more
APPELE-Quebec announced last week that the community will be taking the Quebec government to court to challenge Bill 40. Quebec Community Groups Network President Geoffrey Chambers said the Bill cannot withstand serious constitutional scrutiny. Read More
An alliance of organizations which represents English-speaking parents and educators question the constitutionality of Bill 40 on school governance. It asks that the bill be sent back to appellate court, or else the organizations could undertake legal procedure themselves. Read more (In French)
Anglophone opponents of Bill 40 say they are ready for a “costly and prolonged court battle” against the Quebec government’s plan to abolish school boards that oversee elementary and high schools. Read more
The Alliance for the Promotion of Public English-Language Education in Quebec (APPELE-Québec), is urging the Quebec government to seek guidance from the Quebec Court of Appeal over the constitutionality of Bill 40. Read more
MONTREAL — A court should consider whether Bill 40 is constitutional before the National Assembly votes on it, a group of English community leaders argued on Monday. The group, the Alliance for the Promotion of Public English-language Education in Québec (APPELE), opposes Bill 40. If passed, the bill would abolish school boards in Quebec, replacing … Read more