Lester B. Pearson School Board joins legal challenge against Quebec’s proposed education budget cuts

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) has added its name to the list of boards challenging Quebec’s proposed education budget cuts and funding rules.

After voting last Thursday at a special board meeting, the LBPSB is now part of the Quebec English School Board (QESBA) legal challenge, which the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) is also part of.

In June, when unveiling his budget rules, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville asked the province’s school service centres to reduce their expenses by $570 million for the next year.

At the time, Lester B.’s Council of Commissioners had also adopted a resolution calling on Quebec to reverse cuts.

Then in July, after weeks of mounting pressure and a petition, he announced an additional $540 million in investments in education with conditions including that the funding must go towards student services and must be accompanied by a reduction in the administrative expenses.

The school board says the cuts are preventing them from presenting balanced budgets and restricts management and control of resources guaranteed by section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“There have been significant disturbances to our budget building process and ability to present a balanced budget, necessary by law, ever since the Ministry of Education imposed unreasonable and unworkable budgetary rules upon the entire education system in Quebec in June,” said Judith Kelley, Chairperson of LBPSB’s Council of Commissioners.

“As minority language school boards in Canada, English school boards are entitled to specific rights — including the authority to manage and allocate resources in ways that best serve our communities,” Kelley added.

Kelley also said that the board remains “optimistic that the Quebec courts will recognize the strength of our case and issue a timely decision that safeguards the future of our students.”