Bedford school saga: Drainville looking into another Montreal school after complaints

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

Radio station 98.5 FM reported Wednesday that parents were worried that a teacher at Alphonse-Pesant school in Montreal was indoctrinating their children 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 in the process of checking, but if we need to take more action, you can be sure that we will and that I will," he added.

This case is in addition to the one at Bedford school, where teachers were creating a climate of terror, according to a shocking report. Since then, 11 teachers have been suspended and their licences revoked.

In the wake of this report, Premier François Legault mandated Bernard Drainville and the minister for secularism, Jean-François Roberge, to "examine all options" for "strengthening 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 The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 23, 2024.