Drainville investigating another Montreal school after complaints following Bedford reports

After the Bedford school incidents, Education Minister Bernard Drainville is demanding that light be shed on a potential new case of a school establishment struggling with religious behaviour on the part of teachers.

Radio station 98.5 FM reported on Wednesday that parents were afraid that a teacher at the Alphonse-Pesant school in Montreal was indoctrinating their child with religion. The teacher reportedly separated boys and girls in the rows and during class work. 

“What is being reported are actions that do not respect the values of our schools. I take this very seriously,” said Drainville after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting at the National Assembly.

“I expect the school service centre to shed light on this situation quickly. We are currently checking things out, but if we need to take further action, you can be sure that we will and that I will,” he added.

This case is in addition to Bedford, where teachers were creating a climate of terror, according to a report. Since then, 11 teachers from this school have been suspended and their certificates revoked.

Investigations are also underway in three other schools in Montreal: Saint-Pascal-Baylon, Bienville and La Voie.

Following this report, Premier François Legault mandated Drainville and the minister for secularism, Jean-François Roberge, to “examine all options” to “strengthen controls and secularism in schools.”

The Loi sur laïcité de l’État, also known as Bill 21, which was adopted in 2019 by the Legault government, prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by government employees in positions of authority such as police officers, judges, and teachers.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews