Back-to-school marked by ‘uncertainty’ in Quebec: CSQ union

The CSQ reports that its members—teachers, professionals, support staff, and parents—are still in limbo regarding the services that students will actually receive, just days before the start of the school year.

This uncertainty was caused by the announcement of $570 million in budget cuts in June, followed by an announcement of $540 million in reinvestment in mid-July. This last-minute reversal comes on top of a hiring freeze that was imposed last November.

So how many speech therapists, special education assistants, and special education technicians will there actually be? And how many hours will those who work part-time have?

During a press conference on Monday, CSQ President Éric Gingras said he found it ironic that the government had constantly referred to the need for predictability in staffing levels during the last collective agreement negotiations, wanting to hold staff assignment meetings a few months earlier in the school year, when today we find ourselves in the opposite situation because of government decisions.

“If everyone wants to do the best job that they Want to do, instability in the school network will never help,” Gingras said.

“The catastrophic cuts scenario is put aside for now, but it doesn’t change the fact that the network needs predictability. Yes, the government invested in education, but not at the level needed in light of the increase of young people in our schools and centres, and of the needs related to students in difficulty. If education really was a priority, these various factors would be taken into account and it’s not the case,” said Gingras.

“The government broke the social contract in education. Not all students are equal right now, and not all of them, by the Minister of Education’s own admission, have access to the services they are entitled to.”

Gingras says that the province is using unions as a scapegoat for “the number of strikes and conflicts, Québec’s financial rating downgrade,” among other things. “We are not responsible for the government’s bad political choices,” Gingras explained.

“Originally, school boards planned to have over 360 professionals positions for these school years,” explained FPPE-CSQ President Carolane Desmarais. “[But] now they expect to cut more than 430 of them, that’s about 4 per cent of our members.”

For the 2024-25 school year, 11 per cent of professional positions remained vacant which officials say affected thousands of students. They also reminded that the first to feel the effects of these cuts are special technicians.

“The thing is, you can take special-ed, you can take a technician and say, you know — your contract is terminated, and that’s the problem right now,” Gingras said. “After all, it’s always the kids that really need some help that won’t have it and that’s the thing that worries us.”

They also stressed concerns for the increased presence of burnout, worrying teachers might drop due to lack of services

The CSQ believes that the government cuts will have an impact on students. Richard Bergevin, president of the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE-CSQ), explained that teachers will face added stress.

“The shortage situation will increase pressure on teachers who will have to support and help people starting in the profession with insufficient training,” said Bergevin in a statement. “The government will need to support its teachers and stop attacking them with constraints and new obligations that overload and devalue them.”

The CSQ also feels that the social contract in education needs to be repaired; however, for that to happen, a clear path forward needs to be detailed. This was also agreed upon by 70 per cent of Quebecers polled in a Léger survey.

“We know that the population backs the education personnel; it’s more the lack of support, the structures, and the infrastructures that are the issue. And the political choices of the government only widen the breach of trust. And at the CSQ, that’s what we want to work on. And offer solutions that come from the community. Besides, it’s what the members want: suggest, contribute, act,” said the CSQ in a statement.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews