‘They must reverse course’: Petition against Quebec education cuts surpasses 150,000 signatures

A petition at the National Assembly denouncing the planned $570 million cuts in Quebec’s education budget has surpassed 150,000 signatures. Opponents of the cuts say the widespread public outcry sends a clear message to François Legault’s CAQ government – just months before an election.

“There’s a lot of citizens out there that aren’t happy,” said Steven Le Sueur, the president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers.

“Sign that petition, very important. Let’s send that message to Mr. Legault, Mr. Drainville (Quebec’s education minister) to say, ‘hey, this is unacceptable.’”

The “Together, United for Schools” coalition, which consists of various parents’ and school committees across Quebec, has been a dominant voice in its opposition to the cuts.

“When you cut money from the most vulnerable, you’re really affecting people that don’t have a lot of options or choice and you’re hitting them where it hurts the most,” said Katherine Korakakis, the president of the English Parents’ Committee Association President (EPCA).

‘Special needs children will be affected’

“Parents are worried. I equated to the crises we had, two previous crises that we’ve had this many calls, concerns: COVID and Bill 96. These were two big things for our network. This is another big one.”

Korakakis says that special education technicians will be affected by these cuts which would ‘inevitably’ impact students.

Korkakis adds that from her own experience as a special needs mother, despite the tireless efforts that schools go through — students don’t always get the support they need as more cuts would detriment this further.

“Special needs children will be affected,” added Korakakis. “But so will the entire class because then the teacher’s focus shifts on one student. And then, you know what I mean? It’s not the whole class, right? So there’s a reason why we have these technicians in place.”

“You have to fight for every service, everything that your child needs. Imagine putting another layer of cuts inside. That’s where alarm bells go off.”

Joe Ortona, president of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), echoes this by believing there is a possibility programs and services like music, art, and advanced science are also at risk of being slashed.

“Schools have already been announced that they’re going to close because the service centre couldn’t afford to keep them open,” Ortona told CityNews. “This is the reality. It’s very bad. And I can only hope that the government is going to listen to the common sense of the people.”

Previously, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville asked that cuts impacting direct services to students be limited, though some say it’s impossible given the scale of cuts requested.

Quebec has denied these are “real cuts,” with the province explaining it is simply slowing the rate of growth of the education budget, which will increase by five per cent instead of seven per cent in previous years.

CityNews reached out to the education minister’s office but did not immediately hear back.

“Education is a powerful tool for children and having all the resources you need, all the support you need to move forward makes a difference,” said Korakakis.

Sending a clear message

“These cuts are going to make a big difference,” said Le Sueur. “No doubt about it. They are lying if they say it won’t affect student services. This definitely will.”

Le Sueur says that these cuts are going to be a heavy workload on their teachers which he says will lead to burnout and sick leave. This in turn will increase the presence of non qualified teachers he said. With this in mind he says the end goal is to reverse the cuts

“When the school board association, the principal’s associations, both in the French and English are, are denouncing this as well. I mean, it’s important that the government listens,” Le Sueur said.

“The people can speak out, sign the petition, call or write to your MNAs regardless of which party they represent,” Ortona added. “If they’re with the CAQ, let them know that this is unacceptable and that they must reverse course.”

The petition, which launched June 25, is available to sign on the National Assembly website until Sept. 15.