NOTE: This story was spiked from the print edition when we received a call from the CQSB stating that there would be no elections because all the candidates had been acclaimed.
Register by Oct. 15 to vote in school board elections: CQSB
Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) and the Central Québec School Board (CQSB) are encouraging members of the English-speaking community to make sure they are registered to vote ahead of school board elections this fall.
Voters will choose a chairperson and 11 local commissioners for the CQSB Council of Commissioners at elections on Nov. 3. Early voting will take place Oct. 27. Voting can only be done in person – there are no mail-in or online ballots.
“The people who get elected [as school commissioners] are the ones that set boardwide policies for the school board and local schools,” QESBA president Joe Ortona told the QCT. “They have an impact on kids’ education, on how schools are funded, on policies, approaches to social issues and things like bullying and rules.
“Registration is automatic for parents with a child who is enrolled in an English public school or who has voted before,” Ortona explained. Other voters may not be automatically registered.
Ortona encouraged younger English public school alumni to register to vote even if they didn’t have school-age children. “You may have children someday, and you want to make sure that there’s a vibrant and healthy school system,” he said. “Current parents are not the only people with an interest in our system. Schools are community hubs, and they are the only community institutions we have that are managed by us, the only governance level that is exclusive to the English-speaking community … and if we don’t exercise these rights, they will erode away.”
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government abolished elected school boards in February 2020. QESBA challenged the ruling on the basis that it violated the federal constitutional right of official language minority communities to manage their schools in partnership with provincial educational authorities. After a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled in QESBA’s favour in 2023, the government chose to appeal. Ortona said he expects a ruling in the appeal sometime in 2025. “We’re very optimistic that the Court of Appeal will uphold the lower court’s decision,” Ortona said.
“Voting is crucial for the continuity of school boards,” said Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). “School boards are representative of the parents and we do not want to lose parental input. … We have a system supported by the community and we want to retain it.” Low turnout rates and the expense of organizing elections were cited as reasons to abolish school board elections, she pointed out. Turnout rates at elections for French boards hovered around four per cent in the years before they were abolished; English turnout rates regularly hit double figures.
Ortona said mail-in ballots, online voting, better promotion, more polling places and holding school board elections in tandem with municipal elections could potentially boost turnout even further. “There are people in the regions who are really dedicated, who are driving an hour and a half to vote, but that [distance] doesn’t encourage people to vote. In spite of that, turnout is going up.”
The list of eligible voters will be finalized by Oct. 15, and registered voters should receive a notice of registration, with the address of their polling place, on or around Oct. 5. CQSB chief returning officer Vincent Laliberté encouraged people who are not sure whether they are registered to contact the CQSB or fill out a form on the CQSB website to double-check their registration status before the registration deadline. “Don’t be shy, call us or email us if you have questions,” Laliberté said. “It’s important that people who want to vote can vote, and that they have the right information.”