November 5, 2020 – A year after members of the Quebec Community Groups Network resigned citing issues with the network’s leadership, the organization has elected Marlene Jennings as its new president.
The network held its annual general meeting Thursday evening, highlighting some of its priorities for the year. Read more
November 5, 2020 – It’s a busy week for Marlene Jennings. Completing her mandate as trustee of the English Montreal School Board, winning the presidency of the Quebec Community Groups Network, and on the eve of her 69th birthday next week, the former Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine MP is looking to the future of Quebec’s English speaking minority.
Jennings presented her candidacy to some 25 voting members of the Quebec Community Groups Network on Thursday and was elected, defeating incumbent president Geoffrey Chambers, who faced growing criticism over several leadership issues as far back as last year. Read more.
The Quebec Community Groups Network is heartened by an encouraging decision last week from the Court of Appeal in our community’s fight against the imposition of Bill 40.
In August, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) had obtained an injunction from Superior Court suspending application of Bill 40 for English boards until the merits of the case could be argued. The Court of Appeal has now maintained that stay. Read more.
Our community has the Constitutional right to manage and control our schools. The Coalition Avenir Québec government has taken this right away from our English-speaking community – and together we must fight to take back this fundamental right. All nine of our English school boards along with the Quebec English School Boards Association have launched a legal challenge to quash Bill 40. This controversial legislation abolishes our democratically elected school boards and transforms them into government-controlled service centres. Our legal action declares that this upheaval of our education system contravenes our linguistic minority community’s right to manage and control our school system. This foundational right, under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees education in one of Canada’s two official languages. It is an essential element of linguistic duality, a cornerstone of our national identity. It took French parents in British Columbia five years to win another case that solidified minority-language education rights. Just like our West Coast counterparts, we are in this for the long haul. This is bound to be a long and costly fight. Please consider making a contribution to the Go Fund Me campaign to support this legal action to defend the Constitutional rights of Quebec’s English-speaking community and advance the minority-language rights of all Canadians. Any donation, big or small, is appreciated – but most importantly a large number of donors will unequivocally demonstrate to our governments that we believe in our rights and we will fight to protect them. Please contribute what you can and help us get the news out by sharing this appeal extensively throughout your networks.
Rather than picking fights with our community, we urge the Legault government to alter course, work with us, and cease defining us as a problem, writes QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers in this opinion piece for The Gazette. Chambers argues that today’s English-speaking community is invested in Quebec. We have encouraged and enabled our children to develop French-language skills. We accept and celebrate the predominance of French as the linguistic and cultural norm here. We don’t see ourselves, our language, or our culture as something bad that must be suppressed. Our community’s bilingualism is an asset to be celebrated — as multilingualism is applauded in any European country. Read more
“Over the coming weeks,” Geoff Kelley, chairperson of APPELLE-Québec says, “we will be preparing our case, recruiting parents and others to participate as plaintiffs, and determining who will be intervening on behalf of the community.” The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) is part of the steering committee.
Newcomers and others deemed to not be part of the “historic English-speaking community” will see drastic cuts to services provided in English. QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers criticizes new language restrictions suggested by Simon Jolin-Barrette, Minister responsible for French language.
English Language Arts Network Executive Director Guy Rodgers explains why the organization resigned from the QCGN.
The English Language Arts Network (ELAN) becomes the latest member to quit the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). At least 11 member groups have left, The Montreal Gazette reports.
In the mist of an important internal crisis, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) accused the CAQ government Monday of leading a “clandestine” campaign in an attempt to “destabilize” it.
Read more (In French only)
The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
