Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ)-Education Policy
Repeal and rescind Bill 40. Reinstate school boards in French-speaking areas and maintain school boards in English-speaking areas. Prepare school boards, parents and teachers to do their job by:
Provide training for school board members to support effective action. These trainings would include aspects on political engagement, good governance and public communication. These trainings would be provided to help members in their roles, rather than limit their abilities.
● Link school elections to municipal elections. This means having a fixed date for school board elections in both language groups.
● In addition to elected members (school trustees), ensure the presence of positions in which the voices of other members of the community can be heard.
● Provide greater flexibility in how school boards choose to use resources to improve education services and meet community needs. A decentralized education system allows school boards to tailor their policies to meet the needs of their community. Although the Department of Education may provide general instructional goals, giving school boards flexibility in how to achieve these goals is associated with greater success.
● Facilitate relations between school boards and municipal administrations in order to optimize access to school board resources. While Bill 40 forces municipalities to accommodate schools as the Minister sees fit, providing opportunities for school boards to build relationships with municipal governments would help improve community relations while allowing one and the other to make optimal use of community resources (eg spaces such as libraries and arenas). This optimization would also help improve profitability.
2. Improve the condition of school buildings in Quebec; solve ventilation problems.
● The general state of school buildings in Quebec is appalling and the CaPQ echoes the concerns of the Independent Federation of Education (FAE) in last February on the lack of transparency in CO2 monitoring and data collection by the Ministry of Education.
● The Canadian Party of Quebec demands total transparency re. The deployment of CO2 monitors in schools, their correct installation and use, and full transparency regarding the data collection methodology.
● The Party recommends a classroom air quality strategy that closely matches that of the Province of Ontario and other jurisdictions, i.e. HEPA filters in every classroom and children’s center in Quebec, as well as recalibrated HVAC systems to increase fresh air flow where possible.
This policy should be accompanied by a much-needed renovation plan for aging schools that will improve their energy efficiency and make buildings healthier and, therefore, students and teachers healthier.
All funding comes from the Ministry of Education; the allocation of funds for First Nations students must be proportionate.
3. Provincially chartered bilingual university. Laval main campus; Québec satellite campus
Quebec City Region
● Inspired by the University of Ottawa, but aiming higher.
● Laval, a region of more than 440,000 inhabitants deserves a first-rate university.
● Law, medicine, engineering, liberal arts.
● First batch of students: Liberal Arts in Fall 2027; vocational schools: fall 2029.
4. Revival of the public secondary school of Montreal.
● Downtown or Westmount location to accommodate the growing population of young English speakers.
● Lobbying a few years ago failed, but the need exists.
5. Freedom of educational choice for all residents of Quebec (Party Principle #4).
Follow the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government of Canada is one of the 196 signatories to this convention. The Party asks the Government of Quebec to respect all the agreements signed by the Government of Canada re. Early Childhood Education.
13% of children eligible for English school currently attend French schools. What’s wrong if 3% to 5% of French-speaking children in Quebec attend English-language public schools? No more segregation of the two major linguistic groups in Quebec! Bring the English public school to life.
6. Immediately repeal the article of the three French courses of the Liberal Party of Quebec in Bill 96 for English Cégeps.
● The Quebec Liberal youth wing’s resolution was not binding. The still official PLQ language policies according to its official document, Because French is our language, our strength and our future, published in April 2021 – several weeks before the tabling of Bill 96:
https://fr.notrelangue.quebec/
The Canadian Party of Quebec will release its full platform, including its educational platform, during the election campaign – likely in the second or third week of September.