From: steven@spxtech.qc.ca (Steven C. Potter)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Schooling in Quebec ( was Re: Bla, bla )
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:46:23 GMT
Organization: Securiplex Technologies Inc., Montreal, Canada
X-Bytes: 3184

From article <23JUL92.13904111.0071@VM1.MCGILL.CA>, by CZ94
 <CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA> (Tom Box?) writes:-

> In article <mede.711843101@cunews> mede@alfred.carleton.ca (Meghan Ede) writes:
>>RE: Schooling in Quebec
>>
>>I think that fundamentally, the Quebec government does not care
>>whether Steve Potter sends his kids to a French school or to a
>>English one with French Immersion, so long as he continues to send
>>his tax dollars to the french board.
>>
> I'm not convinced of this.  First of all, in Montreal there are
> not English and French boards, but Catholic and Protestant boards.
> These are majority-French and majority-English, respectively, but
> both have substantial numbers of schools of the "other" language.
> Nothing prevents Steve from sending his children to a French
> Protestant school.
> 

  Please, let no one be fooled into thinking that the Protestant School
  Board of Greater Montreal is an "English" school Board - it isn't!

  The board is now at least 40% French and a significant percentage is
  "allophone"!

  The P.S.B.G.M. has refused to take a public stand on issues of major
  concern to the English community. The "Access" question for example.

  My son is now attending a French Protestant school and doing very well.

  I will have the right to place him in an English school for entry into
  school year '94/'95 or I, like many others in a similar position, will
  leave this racist province!

> One of the early battles in this language of schools question was
> in St. Leonard in 1968, between Italo-Canadian parents who wanted
> to send their children to English Catholic schools, and a board
> which wanted them to attend French Catholic schools.  Only a single
> school board was involved.  It was not a battle between English and
> French school boards, as I understand it.

 Have you got that right?

 I may be mistaken, (please quote reference if I am wrong) but I thought
 that, traditionally, the French Catholic schools would not accept non-
 Francophone students. That is one of the reasons that the French community
 actually thought that "all the immigrants choose English school".

 Indeed, it was the Italian community leaders that were largely to blame
 for the restrictions now in Bill 101.

 They said something along the lines of "If you are going to restrict
 English school to anybody - then you must restrict English school to
 everybody!"

 Instead of taking a strong stand and denouncing any attempt to restrict
 access to publicly funded schooling - they effectively supported it!

 I personally hold the Italian community leaders of the late 70's largely
 responsible for the mess that the English school system is in now. That is
 not a racist statement - it is an observation from events as I have seen
 them reported. I have nothing against the Italian, or any other race.
 (My wife is Sicilian :-) )

-- 
  ///==================================================================\\\
  ||| Steve Potter:         steven%spxtech@CAM.ORG                     |||
  ||| Expertise/Experience: Computer Systems Engineering / Real Ale /  |||
  |||                       Politics in Education in Quebec            |||