By Dan Laxer
The Suburban
The English Montreal School Board voted unanimously to join the Quebec English School Boards Association’s legal challenge to the CAQ government’s budget constraints.
From last fall to late last spring the Quebec government slashed a combined $570 million from education. Then, in July, they announced $540 million in “investments” in education. But those investments came with conditions that EMSB Chair Joe Ortona says are not only not feasible, but put education in Quebec in jeopardy.
Ortona recalled the government-imposed measure to cut $10.6 million from the 2025-26 budget, along with a measure threatening $10.4 million in penalties “if we cannot meet an unrealistic staffing cap.” He added that schools are “barred from accessing $7.8 million of our accumulated surplus, funds that could protect vital programs.”
“The resolution before us mandates our board to join the QESBA’s legal challenge, led by (law firm) Power Law, to contest the Quebec government’s 2025-2026 budgetary rules and seek a stay of their application.”
The EMSB is inviting other boards, including French school service centres, to join the litigation, “despite Bill 40 constraints.”
“This fight extends beyond our board,” Ortona said. “French school service centres face similar barriers, and through the “Ensemble, unis pour l’école” coalition, we stand united.”
When asked why the board decided to join the QESBA’s lawsuit, Ortona said there was no other choice. Without a stay of application, he said, “we would have to make harmful cuts that would have a detrimental impact on the future of the students.”
The cuts that boards could be forced to make would affect any number of services and staffing. “I think of support services for special needs students. I think of music programs, arts programs, sports concentration programs, extracurricular activities, breakfast programs. All of these things,” Ortona emphasized, “are in jeopardy all throughout the province.” Families whose children would be affected by these cuts “are outraged,” Ortona told reporters, “and they have every right to be.”
He fully expects the government to fight back, which Ortona says would be shameful. “What the government should have done is just reverse the cuts that they tried to implement before.” n