Quebec premier ‘shocked’ and wants to take measures to prevent other cases like at Bedford School

“Shocked” by the news in recent days about the behaviour of teachers at Montreal's Bedford School, Premier François Legault said his government would consider “all options” to prevent such cases from happening again.

A few days ago, an Education Ministry report painted a devastating picture of the Montreal school, describing a toxic climate of fear and intimidation imposed by a clique of teachers.

According to the report, soccer was banned for girls and certain subjects, including ethics and religious culture and sex education, were not taught or were barely taught.

Since then, 11 teachers have been suspended at this school and other investigations are underway in other Montreal schools.

According to the premier, it was the right thing to do to correct the situation, but he stressed the need to go further to avoid other situations of this type.

He said he asked Education Minister Bernard Drainville along with the minister responsible for secularism, Jean-François Roberge, to think about ways to “strengthen controls and secularism in schools and to ensure that we prevent these situations.”

“We must take the time to examine all the options,” he said in a letter released Tuesday morning.

The premier also denounced an “attempt by a group of teachers to introduce Islamist religious concepts into a public school.”

“In Quebec, we decided a long time ago to remove religion from public schools. We will never accept going back,” he said.

On Monday, at a news conference, the Parti Québécois also banged the drum about secularism, criticizing the “religious and ideological infiltration” in schools.

The ministry's report indicates that the dominant camp of teachers in question was “mostly composed of people of Maghrebi origin.”

However, it qualified the statement adding that, “although the majority clan is mainly composed of people of Maghrebi origin, people of other origins are also associated with it. Also, the minority clan is also partly composed of individuals of Maghrebi origin, including some of the strongest opposition to the majority clan.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 22, 2024.