Legault calls EMSB 'radical group' for denying Quebec nationhood; board chair pays political price
Quebec’s premier suggested Tuesday that the English Montreal School Board has become a “radical group,” condemning a board document that came to light denying Quebec’s nationhood.
However, the board’s chair, who is also running to be a city councillor, paid a more personal price in the political firestorm.
Chair Joe Ortona was kicked off the slate of municipal party Ensemble Montreal over the document, which calls for the withdrawal of the latest provincial language law while making some more controversial statements in the process.
The details of the document were first published by the Journal de Montreal, including a citation from a McGill professor that declares, in the professor’s words, that “Quebec is not a ‘nation.’ It never has been.”
The EMSB later released the full written document—a resolution from a board meeting on Sept. 1—and confirmed its bigger intention to ask Ottawa to challenge Bill 96, this year’s update to language law Bill 101, before the Supreme Court.
The pushback, especially to the words around nationhood, was swift, though Ortona agreed with the critics on Tuesday that that quote should have been omitted.
'A RADICAL GROUP'
Mayoral candidate Denis Coderre dropped Ortona as a candidate representing Ensemble Montreal, for whom he been running in Loyola. He said Ortona’s position is unacceptable and goes against the party’s values.
Premier François Legault went even further when asked about the issue during a daily COVID-19 press conference.
“Listen, I think that these words are completely disconnected from reality… even the federal government recognizes that Quebec is a nation,” said Legault.
“I was happy to see Denis Coderre show the door to his candidate that came from the English Montreal School Board, but I think that they are disconnected,” the premier said.
“It's almost as if that particular group had become a radical group.”
The English Montreal School Board, which oversees more than 44,000 students, is the biggest of Quebec’s nine English-language school boards.
The problematic words on nationhood, two paragraphs of the document, were attributed to retired McGill education professor Jon G. Bradley.
“Calling oneself something does not make it so and Quebec's intelligentsia is deliberately misusing the word "nation" so as to imply a reality that exists only in their self-mirage,” the quote said.
“The only precise word to use regarding Quebec's reality is ‘province,’” Bradley said, before going on to question the entire idea of collective rights in a political sense, as opposed to in labour bargaining.
POLITICIANS UNITE AGAINST EMSB
Other politicians chimed in, with Parti Québécois leader Pierre St-Paul Plamondon slamming that passage.
“It's just so disrespectful,” he said. “It's not even a conversation about ‘How do you balance the proportion of Francophones and Anglophones, what measures should be appropriate.’”
The PQ is “open to discussion,” he said, “but that's not a conversation, that's contempt, pure contempt.”
The Bloc Québécois, on the election trail, changed its strategy Tuesday around the news, with leader Yves-François Blanchet speaking from the steps of the Supreme Court in Ottawa and calling the EMSB’s document an “insult.”
Federally speaking, the motion recognizing Quebec as a nation is not controversial, Blanchet said. The EMSB "is attacking a motion supported by 281 out of 338 MPs," he said.
He also asked Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau and Conservative candidate Erin O'Toole to formally commit not to challenge Bill 96 if either of them form the next federal government.
BILL 96 NEEDS CHALLENGING, BOARD MAINTAINS
Ortona said Tuesday that the board shouldn’t have included those statements in its motion to challenge Bill 96 and he’ll recommend they be deleted.
“While we have concerns about the proposed constitutional amendment, we erred in bringing into question that Quebec is a nation,” he wrote in a statement.
However, “while we do not argue with the concept” of Quebec being a nation, he wrote, “we do want to ensure that English-speaking Quebecers are considered integral to the nation.”
The idea also was never integral, in any case, to the nuts and bolts of what the EMSB wants to challenge in court, Ortona wrote. He takes issue with both Bill 96 and Bill 21, the religious symbols bill, which he said don’t allow for the kind of diversity the EMSB wants in its schools.
Bill 96 would further limit access to English schools for families temporarily working in Quebec, restrict English in the legal system, would allow more language-related search and seizures without warrants, and would restrict access to Quebec’s colleges, he wrote.
ORTONA MAY CONTINUE TO RUN AS INDEPENDENT
The board will continue to oppose the bill, Ortona wrote. Personally speaking, he said he’s not sure if he’ll continue to run in Loyola as an independent.
“I am disappointed by the reaction of some to the resolution… and by the decision of Ensemble Montreal to not allow me to be a candidate under its banner in the upcoming municipal election,” Ortona wrote.
He said he’s supported the promotion of French at the EMSB and is “proud” to help train its graduates to live and work in French, adding that “our French immersion program is second to none.”
“As for my candidacy in the Loyola district, it was not by accident that I chose to run there,” he said.
“My reputation as a defender of English rights was well known by Ensemble Montréal. Many supporters want me to stay in the race as an independent and I am now in reflection where that is concerned.”
Quebec Liberal leader Dominique Anglade said on Tuesday she does recognize Quebec as a nation but that she’s gearing up for Bill 96 hearings this fall and will keep English-speakers in mind.
“One thing that is clear for us is… making sure that we respect the access to services to the English community,” she said.
“This is the principle that's going to be guiding us when we go through the study of the bill.”
--With files from CTV's Matt Grillo and from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.