 | E-mail this story |  | Write letter to editor |  | Order a classified ad |
| E-mail this story | | Write letter to editor | | Order a classified ad |
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
The association claims parts of the bill are incompatible with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the right to francophone instruction within the school system for the offspring of parents whose first language is French.
 Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: 1. Citizens of Canada (a) whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English or French linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside, or (b) who have received their primary school instruction in Canada in English or French and reside in a province where the language in which they received that instruction is the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of the province -- have the right to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in that language in that province. |
The association has expressed its concerns to the standing committee on health and education, which will begin public consultations on the bill this month.
The association contends that Bill 1 would be open to a constitutional challenge in the courts if it is passed in current form. The problem, say members, is that recognizing their rights, as the bill does, is not the same as guaranteeing those rights.
Director Daniel Cuerrier said association representatives and deputy minister of education Tom Rich will discuss the issue later this week.
"We went so far as to request the opinions of four different legal counsels on this issue," said Cuerrier.
"All of them came to the conclusion that Bill 1 does not fulfil the requirements of the Charter's Article 23."
Rich, however said the new Education Act will, in fact, recognize Article 23 with regards to minority language rights.
He said Section 71 of the new bill contains a strong mention of the fact francophone parents in Nunavut would have the same rights as those in the rest of Canada.
"The intent of the new Education Act is, in fact, to respect Article 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," said Rich.
"However, as in any piece of legislation, there can be different interpretations of how one writes or does that."
Rich said the proposed act addresses the francophone situation on the same level playing field as English and Inuktitut.
He said the Department of Education is working with the francophone association to address any areas which may need to be further clarified.
"Section 71 of Bill 1 says students whose parents have a right under Article 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are entitled to receive instruction in French as provided by Article 23 of the charter," Rich said.
"We want to make it very clear that we (Department of Education officials) feel Article 23 of the charter is reflected in the proposed new education act."