Thursday, May 15, 2008

Globe and Mail: Angry parents want N.B. judge to weigh in on early immersion

JILL MAHONEY
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
May 15, 2008 at 4:41 AM EDT


A group of New Brunswick parents is asking a judge to intervene in the provincial government's controversial decision to eliminate early French immersion.

Opponents filed an application in the Court of Queen's Bench yesterday seeking judicial review of the move, saying they weren't sufficiently consulted.

"We realized that we only had one option, that the government wasn't interested in a thorough and thoughtful discussion or debate on what should be done with French second-language education in the province," said Tim Jackson, a parent organizer who had registered his son in French immersion for Grade 1 in September.

"If they're not going to give the citizens of the province that opportunity, then we'll demand it."

In the legal papers, lawyer Thomas Christie contends that the government's scrapping of early French immersion, which begins in Grade 1, violates parents' rights to "natural justice and procedural fairness" and infringes on their Charter rights to have their children educated in French.

A hearing is scheduled for June 4.

Education Minister Kelly Lamrock said the group's move was "not a complete surprise."

"These days, in controversial decisions, this is one of the tools of the arsenal of groups who are unhappy with government decisions. I respect their right to take that action."

The government's elimination of early French immersion - which defies conventional wisdom that the earlier children start learning a second language, the better - has attracted fierce opposition.

Parents held protest rallies at the legislature and the province's ombudsman launched an investigation and asked the province to delay the reforms by one year.

Slightly more than two weeks passed between a provincial commission's recommendation to axe early immersion and the government's announcement, which the parents argue was not enough time for residents of Canada's only bilingual province to make their views known.

Click here to link to article

3 comments:

David Raymond Amos said...

This should prove interesting if you even post it that is

For the record I called the lawyer Christie and left voicemail and talked to the people in Ottawa.


----- Original Message -----

From: David Amos
To: bureau@acpi-cait.ca ; tclaw@nb.aibn.com
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 5:22 PM
Subject: Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file something in Federal Court instead of him?

"Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)" Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca wrote:
Subject: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file something in Federal Court instead of him?
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:39:53 -0300
From: "Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)" Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca
To: "David Amos"

Dear Sir:

I acknowledge receipt of your email message below.

As explained in the press release, a copy of which was provided to you in our earlier email, the Commissioner has recommended that people who wish to contest the proposed FSL (French Second Language) Reform should contact the Ombudsman.

Those who would wish to challenge the decision before the Courts should consult a lawyer in order to find out what remedies are available (injunction, order, etc… ) and also where the action should be filed.

The matter of whether the Attorney General can stop such a lawsuit should also be discussed with the lawyer. While in cases where people which to issue a constitutional challenge, they must formally advise the Attorney General, this does not mean that the Attorney General has the power to stop the matter.

Trusting this response will meet with your approval.

Yours truly,

Patricia Parent
Manager / Gestionnaire
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for N.B.
Bureau du Commissaire aux langues officielles du N.-B.
440 rue King Street
Tour King Tower, Pièce/Suite 646
Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H8
telephone (TTY)/téléphone (ATS) : (506) 444-4229 toll free
(TTY)/aucuns frais (ATS) : 1-888-651-6444
facsimile/télécopieur : (506) 444-4456
www.officiallanguages.nb.ca / www.languesofficielles.nb.ca

Français ou anglais..C'est votre choix!
English or French..It's your choice!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Amos
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 4:55 PM
To: Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)
Subject: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file something in Federal Court instead of him?

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowFullDoc/cs/O-3.01///en

Everybody knows that the Attorney General will stop any lawsuit that does not suit him or his political party within the Province of New Brunsick. Perhaps the Commissioner and I should have a long talk ASAP EH?

Veritas Vincit

David Raymond Amos

"Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)" Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca wrote:

Dear Sir:

I acknowledge receipt of your email message below.

Rest assured that your comments have been passed on to the Commissioner.

For your information, please find below a statement that went out on March 20th, 2008, from our office to the media all across the province. This should answer your questions regarding what the Commissioner has done and continues to do with respect to the issue of French Second Language (FSL).

It is important to note that this issue will require more than the Commissioner's position and unless parents and other members of the public openly take issue and condemn the decision, the chances that the plan will be implemented are quite high.

Thank you for your interest and for contacting our office.

Yours truly,

Patricia Parent
Manager / Gestionnaire
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for N.B.
Bureau du Commissaire aux langues officielles du N.-B.
440 rue King Street
Tour King Tower, Pièce/Suite 646
Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H8
telephone (TTY)/téléphone (ATS) : (506) 444-4229 toll free
(TTY)/aucuns frais (ATS) : 1-888-651-6444
facsimile/télécopieur : (506) 444-4456
www.officiallanguages.nb.ca / www.languesofficielles.nb.ca

Français ou anglais..C'est votre choix!
English or French..It's your choice!

*************************************************************************************************************

For immediate release

Fredericton, March 20, 2008 - The Official Languages Act of New Brunswick states that it does not apply to the Department of Education. This in fact limits the power of the Commissioner of Official Languages to investigate complaints with respect to the operation of the education system. The Act, however, does provide him with the authority and the responsibility to promote the advancement of both official languages. It is based on this part of his mandate that Commissioner Michel Carrier became involved with FSL reform in the province, beginning with his own review, the details of which were included in his 2005-2006 annual report.

The Commissioner has been speaking in favor of improving FSL for many years. He made presentations to the FSL Commissioners to this effect last fall and was instrumental in ensuring that the Federal Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, and others appeared before the FSL Review Commissioners as he believed these people had valuable information and insights to share. The Commissioner also spoke directly with the Minister prior to the launching of the department's FSL Review, following the release of the Review and prior to the announcement in the Legislature last Friday. Mr. Carrier attempted to convince the Minister that the abolition of the early Immersion program was not the right course of action. He pointed out that there are a number of expert recommendations that did not seem to have been given the proper attention during the review process.

While the Commissioner does not take issue with the Minister's right to bring about needed changes in the education system, and while he recognizes the fact that the Minister has been available to meet with him on this subject, he cannot support the decision to remove the Early Immersion program from the FSL curriculum. "There is no doubt that the system is in need of reform", adds the Commissioner. "However, like many others who have come forward, I am not convinced that this is the way to go. Indeed, experts in the field have confirmed that there are many options that could have been considered other than slashing the early immersion program."

As his mandate does not allow him to investigate complaints related to the ongoing FSL controversy, the Commissioner is encouraging New Brunswickers who are unhappy with the government's decision to contact the Office of the Ombudsman. While policy issues and decisions are generally in the domain of the legislators, the suggestion that the immersion changes are more administrative than legislative and, moreover, that the Commissioners' work was flawed, brings about questions of due process, an issue that falls squarely within the Ombudsman's purview. As well, the Ombudsman's role as Child and Youth Advocate mandates him to examine the impact of the changes on New Brunswick's children.

"It is now essential that New Brunswickers share their concerns with their government," Mr. Carrier said. "In addition to letters to the editor, MLA's and the Minister, they can also contact the Office of the Ombudsman. For my part, I intend to continue exerting whatever influence I have to convince the provincial government of the need to re-think its decision."

-- 30 --


________________________________

From: David Amos
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 4:51 PM
To: complaints@officiallanguages.nb.ca;commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca
Cc: Colford, Krista (OAG/CPG); Doyle Landry, Heather (OAG/CPG); Gould, William (OAG/CPG); Laflamme, Marcel (OAG/CPG); Volpé, Jeannot (LEG); MacDonald, Kirk (LEG); Fitch, Bruce (LEG); Betts, John W. (LEG)
Subject: No need of a legal team to study the French question the Commissioner should read the Charter He is a lawyer Correct?


Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 17:41:43 -0300
From: "David Amos"
To: nbombud@gnb.ca , kelly.lamrock@gnb.ca , wally.stiles@gnb.ca , Ed.Doherty@gnb.ca , T.J.Burke@gnb.ca , roly.macintyre@gnb.ca , John.Foran@gnb.ca , aleblanc.mla@nb.aibn.com , oldmaison@yahoo.com , jonesr@cbc.ca , eugene.mcginley2@gnb.ca , christian.whalen@gnb.ca , Thibault.L@parl.gc.ca , Casey.B@parl.gc.ca , Barry.MacKnight@fredericton.ca , Danny.Copp@fredericton.ca , Premier@gnb.ca , Hermenegilde.Chiasson@gnb.ca , Dion.S@parl.gc.ca , scotta@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Attn Kelly Lamrock and Bernie Richard and folks concerned about French Immersion and the Charter
CC: carl.urquhart@gnb.ca , mike.olscamp@gnb.ca , bruce.northrup@gnb.ca , info@pco-bcp.gc.ca , bill.corby@gnb.ca , ken.cook@fredericton.ca , brad.green@gnb.ca , bev.harrison@gnb.ca , Wayne.STEEVES@gnb.ca , bruce.noble@fredericton.ca , Jody.CARR@gnb.ca , Keith.ASHFIELD@gnb.ca , David.ALWARD@gnb.ca , warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca , lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca , Comuzzi.J@parl.gc.ca , Arthur.A@parl.gc.ca , Kathy.Alchorn@fredericton.ca , Kim.Quartermain@fredericton.ca , police@fredericton.ca , Harper.S@parl.gc.ca , info@gg.ca

First things first. The Charter clearly states the following.

23. (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,

(2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the same language

(3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of a province

a) applies wherever in the province the number of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them out of public funds of minority language instruction; and

b) includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right to have them receive that instruction in minority language educational facilities provided out of public funds.

Get it?

I quoted it out of the gate before my following rant that I doubt anybody but Kelly Lamrock will read. I did so so that the honest Maritimes amongst us can take the words of the Charter and run with to bitch to the lawyer Bernie Richard about the lawyer Kelly Lamrock's antics. Somebody should explain the meaning of those words. It ain't my job to do so.

Read on if you are bored or just happen to care about the sad state of our Democracy today and what another pigheaded Maritimer is up to today in order to try to defend it and his protect his own dumb arse at the same time. The joke is on us if you don't. After all we always get the governments we deserve. Correct?

You can find the rest of the email here. Just go to the link and read the last comment if you wish.
FYI I made reference to you Bob Bernier but I did not name you in my rant because I am not certain that you are the same dude who just quit the liberals in Kings East. If you are that fella you certainly know who I am Correct?

Veritas Vincit
David Raymond Amos

Marlene Hull said...

The proceedings regarding this case were very interesting. The judge was fair and thoughtful in receiving the arguments. However I take exception to one comment he made. He said he would find it very difficult to order a court injunction for the sake of two six year olds; that arresting the change that is in progress could not be justified for the sake of two kindergarten children. I do not follow that line of reasoning. Is justice a matter of age or numbers? If a person murders, assaults or robs another, is there not a pursuit of justice? Is it denied because the offence was not mass murder, or repeated assaults and robberies of a large number of people? Is justice denied because the crime was against a child, not an adult? Of course not. I hope justice will be served in this case and that the injunction will be ordered.

David Raymond Amos said...

rupitzWhat of the Charter? Nobody should have to speak up at all if the judge truly understood the law.

It was just delay process to make Kelly Baby appear ethical. Tis all