Quebecers get ready to vote in English school board elections

Voters prepare for English school board elections School board elections are just days away but the fight to keep them is ongoing.

School board elections are just days away but the fight to keep them is ongoing.

Former MNA Geoff Kelley fought Bill 40, which would have scrapped all school boards. Last summer, English boards were granted a stay under charter rights for minority languages. The government appealed, and Kelley learned last week that those hearings are coming up.

“It’s very frustrating because this is money that could be spent in the classroom. It’s being spent in the courtroom,” said Kelley.

Joe Ortona is running to be chair of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) and is the head of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), which brought the initial case against Bill 40.

“It is strange to hold the elections during this period of uncertainty,” he said.

According to QESBA, the turnout for advanced polling this year was around 5 per cent. Ortona worries that low turnout will be used in Quebec’s favour in court.

“I think the government has used this as an argument throughout the entire process that the turnout is low. That that somehow means that people don't care about the, about the school system,” said Ortona.

He says unlike provincial or municipal races, which have ad campaigns to encourage voting, Elections Quebec hasn't done any promotion.

A group of mothers in Little Burgundy says even getting to the nearest polling station is a challenge because there are none nearby.

Patricia Glover says she has to get on the bus with five children, which comes up to about $20 for a round trip. So some mothers are organizing carpools and childcare to get the vote out.

“We fought very hard to keep the English school boards alive. And so now it's super important that I think we exercise that right,” said Shauna Joyce pf Tyndale-St. Georges Community Centre.

Ortona says accessibility is crucial in any election.

“In order for the turn out to be higher, you need to make the elections more accessible. They're making it hard for you to get on the voters list. They're making it hard for you, to get to a polling station,” he said.

School board elections are this Sunday, but their future is still up in the air. The boards and government are back in court in January.