A lawyer for francophone parents in B.C. who have been lobbying for better schools for their kids is hailing a court ruling released Monday as a “partial victory.”
An association of parents and the French School Board went to court alleging that the B.C. government had failed to provide the province’s francophone linguistic minority with the resources and facilities mandated by the Charter of Rights.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Loryl Russell noted in her 1,600-page ruling — which she said may be the biggest ever ruling released in the province — that most of her decision dealt with the parents’s demand for new or improved schools in 17 communities and a claim for a new school board office.
The judge concluded after 238 days of trial time that in four of the communities — Abbotsford, Penticton, Sechelt and the west side of Vancouver — the French minority did not have adequate facilities, the provincial government was responsible and the Charter breach was not justified.
The judge found, however, that in Nelson, Richmond, southeast Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Chilliwack and Whistler, francophone elementary students had adequate facilities.
Mark Power, a lawyer for the plaintiff Federation of Francophone Parents of B.C. and the French School Board, said while focusing on schools in particular was important, what’s just as important is what he called the “systemic change” the judge addressed.
“The judge said today that [the province] either needs to amend the School Act or develop completely new policies. That’s groundbreaking.”
The Education Ministry sent an email saying the ruling was under review. The two sides have 30 days in which to decide whether they wish to launch an appeal.— Vancouver Sun
