MONTREAL -- As the approaching legislative session looms, Quebec's education minister has said he may invoke closure to pass a bill abolishing school boards before July.
"If the opposition continues to slow down and block and obstruct working on Bill 40, maybe we will have to go there," Jean-Francois Roberge said at the Coalition Avenir Quebec's caucus, in St. Sauveur, at which the party discussed its plan for the upcoming National Assembly session.
Closure would force a vote on the issue. Since the CAQ holds a majority of seats in the assembly, they could easily pass the bill if such a vote were held.
Bill 40 would see school boards abolished and replaced with service centres.
A group of protesters from a teacher's union on Thursday night unfurled a banner outside the caucus in protest of the bill.
At the caucus, Legault also promised to increase Quebec's hydroelectric exports, especially to the United States.
The promotion of French will also be a priority, Legault said.
"We have to make sure we protect French, especially in Montreal," the premier declared.
Legislators go back to work at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
