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Some Random But Relevant Thoughts From A Retired Teacher.

Yes, it was good that Mr. Mitchell  responded to the ACDSA request regarding air quality control in our schools….

Indeed , a lot of ink has been spilled, in the past year, by reports from the English boards : LBPSB,  NFSB,  and the EMSB  and their problems….

Coincidentally, yesterday the EMSB held their Council meeting at JFK High School which was closed for about a year because of mould…

Incidentally, at the EMSB meeting, I thought I heard the revelation that the Montreal Island School Tax Committee was in debt for almost $900, 000…..This is the same committee that blew hundreds of thousands of dollars on poor investments 4-5 years ago , and then begged the government for money for cookies and milk for the poor kids….

Another coincidence : this weekend the QESBA and AAESQ are having their Spring Conference at the Manoir St. Sauveur…..a quick glance at the program shows nothing of value for the classroom…

Why aren’t they making a concerted effort  to attack the air quality problems in our schools…. They would have a lot of support from the public…

By the way, couldn’t this event be held at a large high school and save tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars ?… I’m reminded of the 15/16  LBPSB commissioners who went to the QESBA shindig last July in Quebec City …Cost :  about $ 15,000

Talking about tax dollars and the School Tax Committee, take glance at the Pearson board’s last Council meeting and hear the chairperson say ” The Gazette was wrong ” regarding Mtl Island school tax bills…

The article:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montreal%2Bschool%2Bboard%2Btaxes%2Bexpected%2Brise/8420692/story.html

Incidentally, good article in the May 29 West Island Suburban: ” LBPSB school tax bill to increase 2.29 per cent. ”  The article makes reference to the  Pearson board which agreed to send 4 commissioners, including the chairperson,  to a lobster fest at the SWLSB….

I don’t want to pay for school commissioners to eat lobster…..especially  the commissioner who is on the School Tax Committee, making hundreds of dollars to attend  45-minute meetings….(At least, the EMSB shares the gravy, so to speak, with commissioners alternating ; at LBPSB , it’s always the chair who is the primary member)

Chris Eustace

(ret’d teacher)

SWLSB Commissioner, Steve Mitchell, Responds To ACDSA request.

On March 9th, 2013, in an open editorial on air quality,  ACDSA requested from  SWLSB Commissioner Steve Mitchell some indicators that his School Board did a better job on air quality control than most of the other school boards.

This was the ACDSA challenge: 

“Commissioner Mitchell, you might claim that your school board, SWLSB,  is different and better. We say prove it. We invite you to obtain all the pertinent documents (contracts) from your school board to indicate that:

1. All schools under the SWLSB jurisdiction have had all their ventilation ductwork cleaned since 2005 by recognized specialised companies.

2. All SWLSB schools have gone through a vigorous mold audit by a recognized engineering or medical  firm dealing with mold.”

This is the SWLSB commissioners’ response.

Please note that Mr. Mitchell sent us the response by April 23rd and that the posting of his reply was delayed by ACDSA due to other circumstances. Although, we look forward to additional information specifically as it relates to HVAC inspection and cleaning as promised by Mr. Mitchell, we like to thank him for his follow up and willingness to share his information  up to this point in time.

“We do not test schools at any predetermined schedule specifically on basic “air quality”. We perform maintenance as it is required.  We change air filters in our ventilation systems every three months.

We are performing radon tests as per MELS requirements (we are in the 2nd of a 3 year program for this).  We also do soil contamination surveys and follow-ups as per MELS guidelines.

The key to our success, and I say *success* because we have had no major issue, is that our maintenance department has been extraordinarily vigilant with preventative measures.  Water infiltration is the biggest source of trouble, and dealing with this quickly and thoroughly has kept us from having mold issues.  

 Companies that we have outsourced specific contracts to for some of this testing include Naturair-Kiwatin and Gesfor as well as CLSC and CSST testing groups.

 Often times, as it is with our homes, simply opening a window and allowing for some fresh air will do everyone some good.

 This is the information that I have right now, and I have committed to keeping this high on my agenda for regular follow-up.  To be clear, I have asked for additional information specifically as relates to HVAC inspection and cleaning.”

VENTE D’UNE COLLECTION SPECTACULAIRE D’OEUVRES D’ART – LE CONSEIL DU PATRIMOINE DU QUÉBEC ENQUÊTE

Nul ne peut sous-estimer l’importance culturelle et historique de la collection d’œuvres d’art de la Fondation de l’héritage culturel de la Commission des écoles protestantes du Grand-Montréal.  Une des œuvres qui sera très prochainement vendue « A Quebec Village/Winter, St-Fidèle » d’A.Y. Jackson est considéré par la Maison Heffel comme étant « parmi les plus importants tableaux de ce membre du Groupe des Sept natif de Montréal ».

Selon le conservateur de la Fondation, « il était courant pour les anciens élèves d’une école particulière et leurs parents de remercier cette dernière en lui faisant don d’une œuvre d’art ».  Par extension, le don de ces œuvres à une institution publique, soit La commission scolaire des écoles protestantes du Grand Montréal (PSBGM) revêt donc une signification  historique et culturelle pour les Montréalais et le peuple Québécois.

En vertu  de la Loi sur le patrimoine culturel, Le conseil du patrimoine du Québec étudie présentement la vente aux enchères de cette importante collection d’œuvres d’art données ou léguées à La Commission scolaire des écoles  Protestantes du Grand Montréal, aujourd’hui La commission scolaire English-Montréal.

Note ACDSA: Ceci est l’inventaire des œuvres d’art (1980) de la PSBGM  Des oeuvres d’art (1980)

ay_jackson1

“L’oeuvre « A Quebec Village/Winter, St?Fidèle » d’A.Y. Jackson figure, estime?t?on, parmi les plus importants tableaux de ce membre du Groupe des Sept natif de Montréal à être mis aux enchères.” Source: Heffel

With the PSBGM Cultural Heritage Foundation Art Collection being described as an “exceptional group of painting” and “A.Y. Jackson’s A Quebec Village / Winter, St?Fidèle” believed to be among the most important works to ever be auctioned by this Montreal?born member of the Group of Seven” (Heffel), the historical and cultural significance of the PSBGM Cultural Heritage Foundation Art Collection cannot be under-estimated.

As stated by the foundation’s curator, “it was a common practice in Montreal in the 1930s for parents and alumni to thank and recognize individual schools with the gift of a work of art.”

By extension, these donations to the public institution, The Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal (PSBGM), embodies the very important historical and cultural connection with the people of Montréal and the province of Québec.

In accordance with the “Loi sur le patrimoine culturel“, the Conseil du patrimoine culturel du Québec is currently looking into the auction of this publicly donated art collection.

Note ACDSA: Ceci est l’inventaire des œuvres d’art (1980) de la PSBGM    Des oeuvres d’art (1980)

À Propos…….. Les Arts dans nos écoles publiques.

Le Devoir de débattre – Divergences de vue sur l’art public

Source: Le Devoir
23 avril 2013 | Isabelle ParéFaut-il remettre en valeur les oeuvres d’art public, quitte à les déplacer de leur lieu d’origine, ou les utiliser comme levier pour revitaliser des espaces publics désaffectés par les Montréalais ?

C’est à une collision entre ces deux visions qu’a donné lieu le débat organisé par Le Devoir lundi soir sur le thème « Les dilemmes de l’art public à Montréal », tenu au Centre canadien d’architecture.

Nourrie ces derniers mois par les opinions polarisées soulevées par le sort de L’homme de Calder, la discussion a repris de plus belle lors de cette soirée, révélant que le débat n’est pas près de s’éteindre. Et cela, en dépit de la motion adoptée par le conseil municipal, confiant à la Société du parc Jean-Drapeau le soin de revaloriser l’oeuvre sur son site actuel.

Ce vif échange opposait Marcel Côté, économiste, et Sarah McCutcheon Greiche, historienne de l’art, deux farouches défenseurs du déménagement du Calder au centre-ville, à François W. Croteau, maire de Rosemont -La-Petite-Patrie et instigateur de la motion de Projet Montréal, et à Marie-Claude Langevin, chercheuse, M. A. en étude des arts à l’UQAM, tous deux partisans du maintien de la sculpture monumentale in situ.

« Une oeuvre est indissociable de son lieu d’origine et du moment historique pour lequel elle a été créée. C’est l’absence de consensus sur les valeurs historiques, culturelles et identitaires qui expliquent les divergences de vues dans ce débat », fait valoir Mme Langevin.

Dénature-t-on une oeuvre dès lors qu’on l’arrache de son contexte historique ? À cet argument, Marcel Côté et Sarah McCutcheon ont affirmé que plusieurs grands stabiles de Calder avaient été déménagés au cours des dernières années. Et certains, à plus d’une occasion. « Une trentaine ont été déplacés et sept plusieurs fois », de rétorquer Mme McCutcheon, qui a rappelé que L’homme, appartenant à une série de stabiles similaires, n’avait pas été créé uniquement pour l’Expo 67. « L’intention de l’artiste était qu’il occupe une place publique…, pas un endroit inaccessible, caché par les arbres », a-t-elle insisté.

À quoi bon sert une oeuvre d’art public, si elle n’est pas vue et admirée par le plus grand nombre ? a renchéri Marcel Côté. « Le Calder a besoin d’un lieu pour être mis en valeur ; si on se l’approprie, ça deviendrait un des symboles de Montréal, comme c’est le cas pour une autre oeuvre de Calder à Grand Rapids. »

Même si tous concèdent que le déplacement de La joute de Riopelle s’est avéré un succès, il n’y a pas de consensus sur le rôle que doit jouer l’art public dans la ville. Pour Marcel Côté et Sarah McCutcheon, Montréal doit se doter d’« oeuvres d’envergure internationale » et leur donner un « maximum de visibilité » en les plaçant au centre-ville. Le Calder est « abandonné au bout d’une autoroute », invoque M. Côté. « On possède l’une des oeuvres majeures du XXe siècle, il faut lui accorder un certain respect », a-t-il déploré.

Une vision que réfute François Croteau, maire de Rosemont qui estime que « l’art public doit devenir systématique dans les projets, dans les quartiers et au coeur de la vie des citoyens. On veut de la beauté dans les quartiers pas juste au centre-ville. On ne s’est jamais demandé si la statue de la Liberté était trop inaccessible aux citoyens. » Le maintien du fameux stabile permettra au contraire de redonner vie au deuxième parc des Montréalais en superficie.

Avec 225 oeuvres d’art public recensées à Montréal, contre plus de 1500 à Chicago par exemple, tous se sont entendus pour dire qu’il reste beaucoup à faire pour revaloriser l’art public, l’administration municipale peinant déjà à maintenir en bon état les oeuvres actuelles.

Patrimoine Des œuvres d’art méconnues dans les écoles

Agnès Chapsal / Agence QMI

Publié le:

Patrimoine    

Photo Agnès Chapsal / Agence QMI

Les écoles montréalaises abritent des œuvres d’art souvent méconnues de leurs propres locataires.

Lors de la conférence sur le patrimoine scolaire, jeudi, à Montréal, dans le cadre de la Journée internationale des monuments et des sites, Dinu Bumbaru, directeur des politiques d’Héritage Montréal et Claudine Déom, professeure agrégée à l’École d’architecture de l’Université de Montréal ont souligné l’importance de l’identification et de la conservation des œuvres d’art du parc immobilier de la Commission scolaire de Montréal.

Elles «passent inaperçues pour ceux qui fréquentent les écoles, a expliqué Claudine Déom. Mais du moment qu’on alerte les gens, ils s’enthousiasment pour la conservation de ces œuvres».

Elle a estimé que «la qualité des écoles résidait dans les détails ornementaux. Si des interventions malheureuses sont faites, elles perdent de leur richesse», a-t-elle poursuivi.

«Quand la chaîne des traditions orales se perd, il faut identifier les œuvres» et mettre le personnel de ces écoles au fait de leur existence, a renchéri Dinu Bumbaru.

Depuis 1981, la politique d’intégration des arts à l’architecture a permis à l’art de se démocratiser et a donné à l’artistique un rôle social plus soutenu, selon la chercheuse.

L’école Saint-Bernardin (8e avenue) par exemple possède une murale en brique de Gordon Webber. Plus connu pour ses peintures murales dans les stations de métro (Viau, Peel, Honoré-Beaugrand et Square-Vicoria), le peintre québécois Jean-Paul Mousseau a aussi réalisé une mosaïque dans le collège Notre-Dame

Commissions scolaires Coupes de 500 M$ en 3 ans

La course au déficit zéro nécessite de nouvelles coupes de 65 millions

CA_RégysCaron

Régys Caron

Journal de Québec, Publié le: | Mise à jour:

Josée Bouchard    

La présidente de la Fédération des commissions scolaires, Josée Bouchard, a affirmé qu’avec les nouvelles coupes, ce n’est pas moins d’un demi-millard $ que    le réseau a dû absorber en trois ans.

Après avoir soustrait 150 millions $ aux commissions scolaires en début d’année, Québec en enlève une autre couche de 65 millions $.

En trois ans, les coupes imposées par le gouvernement au réseau scolaire dépassent le demi-milliard $, a confirmé la présidente de la Fédération des commissions scolaires, Josée Bouchard. Consciente que les hausses de taxes scolaires pourraient ne pas suffire pour absorber le choc, la ministre de l’Éducation, Marie Malavoy, autorise les commissions scolaires à puiser jusqu’à 32 % de leurs surplus accumulés, ce qu’elle refusait de faire il y a encore une semaine.

La ministre estime que 36 commissions scolaires disposent des provisions suffisantes pouvant leur permettre d’éviter les hausses de taxes, 19 peuvent le faire partiellement et 15 n’ont pas de surplus. Les réductions de dépenses sont aussi une solution, a-t-elle signalé. Les commissions scolaires qui se retrouveront dans un cul-de-sac financier pourront toujours demander l’autorisation de faire un déficit, a suggéré la ministre, auquel cas un plan de retour à l’équilibre budgétaire sera requis.

Avant d’être informées des nouvelles règles budgétaires, des commissions scolaires avaient confié être à la recherche de solutions autres que des hausses de taxes. «Nos travaux consistent à regarder tout ce qui peut être réaménagé au sein des services administratifs», a dit une porte-parole de la Commission scolaire des Navigateurs, Mme?Louise Boisvert.

Augmentation de taxes

«On nous répète depuis trois ans de couper dans l’administration. On n’a plus de marge de manœuvre. On a pensé fermer quatre écoles de village», a dit le directeur général de la Commission scolaire de L’Estuaire, Alain Ouellet. Des partenariats conclus avec des municipalités pourraient permettre de sauvegarder ces écoles qui, dans certains cas, n’accueillent seulement que 15 élèves.

Des hausses de taxes de 29 % sont inévitables à la Commission scolaire des Phares, dans la région de Rimouski, qui prévoit déclarer un déficit de 2,9 millions $. «Le seul choix que nous ayons, c’est d’aller chercher 3 millions $ en taxes», a déclaré le président, Raymond Tudeau. Ailleurs, les commissions scolaires les plus riches — les sept situées sur l’île de Montréal, plus les Découvreurs à Québec — ne prévoient pas augmenter les taxes.

Coupes dans les services

Pour les autres, les coupes annoncées hier se traduiront par des réductions de services et des hausses de taxes, entrevoit Josée Bouchard. «Inévitablement, les taxes augmenteront à certains endroits. Des services de transport du midi seront coupés», prévient la présidente.

School taxes likely to rise as province cuts budgets

But taxes are not expected to rise on Montreal Island

By Janet Bagnall, GAZETTE education reporter  April 12, 2013

MONTREAL — In what could come as an unpleasant surprise to many of them, taxpayers across the province may soon be called on to fill a $200-million gap in school board budgets. School tax bills could climb quite sharply, depending on where taxpayers live and how big a shortfall their local board is facing.

School boards know Quebecers feel squeezed nearly to death by increased taxes but fear that the effect of the funding gap on schools could go beyond unpleasant to potentially disastrous, said David D’Aoust, president of the Quebec English School Boards Association.

Last fall, Education Minister Marie Malavoy gave the school boards two pieces of bad news: First, they must make budget cuts of at least $200 million, without cutting into student services, and second, a system of equalization payments, in place since 2006, would be scrapped as of 2013-14.

Seven of Quebec’s nine English-language school boards are dependent on equalization payments, said D’Aoust, also chairperson of the New Frontiers School Board. These payments are government grants to school boards that do not bring in enough money through taxation to balance their budgets, D’Aoust explained. The boards have almost no room for manoeuvre, he said. The English boards have been ordered to make cuts of $20 million. They are facing a $9-million shortfall for 2013-14, he said.

In Quebec, the maximum tax a school board can levy is $0.35 per $100 property valuation. French boards historically have tended to charge less than English boards, with the unfortunate result, from the English boards’ perspective, that some anglophones have been choosing to pay taxes to French boards in their district.

Taxes are not expected to rise on Montreal Island, where school boards tend not to charge the maximum, because a large industrial, commercial and residential base means the big island boards don’t have trouble raising enough money to balance their budgets, D’Aoust said. But 15 years of eroding provincial support has meant the big boards have had to cut into surpluses, to continue to meet special needs, such as those involved with providing inner-city schools additional specialists, he said. “They haven’t gotten off scot-free,” D’Aoust said.

Although the province has said the boards have $1-billion in surpluses, D’Aoust said about $500 million is in real estate and buildings. “You can’t sell off a school to raise money if you still need that school,” he said. Much of the so-called surplus is not available to school boards anyway, D’Aoust said. The province has imposed strict guidelines, such as not being able to spend more than 10 per cent in any given year, he said.

“If our enrolments were growing, we might be able to deal with the budget cuts,” said D’Aoust, “but they’re not. We can’t rely on bake sales. We’re talking millions of dollars. These budget cuts threaten the very existence of these institutions that school boards are there to manage for the English-speaking community.”

jbagnall@montrealgazette.com

New Frontiers School Board grapples with $1.1M in budget cuts

New Frontiers School BoardNew Frontiers School Board is facing deep budget cuts.

Source: CTV Montreal

Government-imposed cuts to elementary and high-school education are forcing  an English school board that serves the Chateauguay Valley to make tough  decisions, likely to have a direct impact on children.

The New Frontiers School Board is inviting parents to participate in  decisions on where to cutback $1.1 million as changes begin to take shape.

“In order to cut, you have to have fringe, or fat. There is no fat in  schools. It’s all bare essentials. I have no idea where they’re going to propose  cuts,” said Anita Montreuil, whose children attend Heritage School, located in  Huntingdon and serving several local communities.

The Parti Quebecois announced $200 million in cuts in education in the fall,  in both English and French systems, to balance its budget.
Running on a  $40-million budget, finding $1.1 million in cuts isn’t simple, said David  Daoust, chairman of the board.

“We only control 15 per cent of that budget. The rest is held in fixed costs  for things like energy, repairs, teachers’ salary, board staff, administrative  salaries.” He explained.

The situation is more problematic in rural towns, where the options are  usually limited to closing the smaller schools.

“I hope that when people make that decision, they’ll think of pedagogical  reasons to close the schools,” said Daoust. “By that I mean by regrouping  schools to offer sufficient services or even more services.”

Parent commissioner Raymond Ledoux said he wonders if the board shouldn’t  look at other alternatives, because higher school taxes are out of the  question.

“We’re already contributing to lunch-hour supervision and all kinds of stuff.  Parents are down to the bones too. We’re not multimillionaires, we’re just  working folks,” he said.

The board says it will invite parents to public hearings later this month so  everyone can have a say on how and where these cuts will take  place.
Montreuil said she fears that closing any rural school  could kill small English communities like hers.

“There are activities that go on. It’s a pillar of our community,” she  said.

The consultation process is set to begin. The board has mailed a letter to  parents of all 4000 students attending their schools.
Those parents and  all those concerned are invited to attend two public meetings in the coming  weeks:

  • April 23rd at 6 p.m. at Howick Elementary School in Howick
  • May 14 at the Howard S. Billings Regional High School in  Chateauguay

Those who can’t attend may submit their ideas in writing directly to the  school board.

 

Are we hearing any nervous shuffling on the decks?

Countries rattled by tax-haven data leak

Countries rattled by tax-haven data leak
cbc.ca                         
Politicians, business people and celebrities are seeing their offshore accounts laid bare following the massive leak of financial records that came to light in the past week. Here’s a sampling of some of the global reaction.
The massive leak of offshore financial records that came to light in the past week has pierced what was once an opaque domain. Politicians, business people and celebrities are seeing their dealings in tax havens laid bare. Here’s a sampling of some of the global reaction.

Britain

Pressure has ratcheted up on Prime Minister David Cameron to overhaul the half-dozen tax havens under British dominion. Some of the world’s biggest offshore locales — the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Bermuda — are either U.K. territories or Crown dependencies. The cascade of revelations this week about shady dealings in the BVI in particular has elicited calls for action.

- Read more: David Cameron urged to act over British Virgin Islands (The Guardian)

Colombia

Former president Alvaro Uribe went on the defensive after it was reported that his two sons incorporated a company in the British Virgin Islands while he was still in office. The company was formed as part of a handicrafts business that “they’ve been involved in since they were children,” Uribe said. “They are not tax evaders.”

- Read more (in Spanish): ‘My sons don’t even know the word front man’ (Semana)

Germany

The country’s Finance Ministry called on media outlets that are sharing the millions of leaked files to release the records to national tax agencies. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he is “pleased” with the revelations about offshore accounts, but a spokesman said tax agencies around the world want to “start their investigations” to potentially recoup the sums they might be owed.

Read more:

- Germany urges data on offshore tax accounts to be surrendered (Bloomberg)

- Why media group won’t hand over files to government agencies (ICIJ)

Mongolia

The country’s deputy parliamentary Speaker, who served as finance minister until last summer, says he’s considering resigning following revelations about his secret offshore company and its Swiss bank account. Sangajav Bayartsogt acknowledged “I should not have opened that account,” and disclosed that it held $1 million at one point.

- Read more: Disclosure of offshore documents may force top Mongolian lawmaker to resign (ICIJ)

Philippines

A national commission charged with recouping the ill-gotten riches of the country’s former dictator, the late Ferdinand Marcos, says it will investigate Marcos’s daughter following divulgences about her offshore dealings. Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, known as Imee Marcos, is the governor of a northern Philippine province. She failed to report that she’s the beneficiary of an offshore trust on her annual disclosure statements.

Read more:

- Ferdinand Marcos’s daughter tied to offshore trust in the Caribbean (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism)

- Philippines to probe ‘secret’ Marcos offshore trust (Agence France-Presse)

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

A shocking lack of urgency about school mould

Editorial:  The Gazette April 2, 2013

MONTREAL – When children in this province complain that they are sick of school, parents shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that their offspring are complaining about the curriculum.

Chances are that the aging buildings in which they attend classes are literally making them ill, because they are breathing air contaminated by festering mould that has been found in an alarming number of Quebec schools of late.

Over the past two years, no fewer than six schools under the aegis of the province’s largest school board, the Commission scolaire de Montréal, have had to be closed because mould contamination had reached a point where they were insupportably unhealthy environments.

More shocking yet, as reported by Gazette education reporter Janet Bagnall, not all of these were on a list of 29 “priority schools” listed by the board as being in the most urgent need of decontamination. This suggests that health hazards lurk in schools not yet identified as being infected, a suspicion reinforced by a board study released last year that found only 5 per cent of its buildings to be in optimal shape.

Mould spores are ubiquitous in nature and common in household and workplace dust. They constitute a health hazard when they accumulate in large quantities, something that has apparently been occurring in too many of our schools, which are vulnerable because they are old and poorly maintained, a common problem with so much of Quebec infrastructure.

Health Canada as well as the World Health Organization have identified mould as a health hazard, particularly for children and the elderly. Even healthy adults are susceptible to mould-related symptoms, as confirmed by complaints recorded by both teachers as well as students at mould-infected schools.

Complaints include persistent headaches, nose bleeds, dizziness, sore throats, eye irritation, bronchitis, pneumonia, listlessness, chronic pain and sinus infections. The upshot is that teachers are unable to impart lessons as well as they should, and students are unable to absorb knowledge as well as they might in a healthy environment. No direct correlation has been drawn between the mould problem in Quebec schools and high secondary-school dropout rates, but some teachers suggest it is surely a contributing factor.

Quebec’s acting auditor-general, Michel Samson, looked into the problem last year and generally criticized school boards for inadequate inspection of their buildings, poor ventilation and dirty floors in four out of five classrooms. He deplored inadequate oversight of school buildings and the government’s failure to impose air-quality standards.

These problems cannot be blamed on any particular government, as they have clearly been festering for decades. However, it is shocking that the current government does not appear to consider the rampant mould problem sufficiently serious to initiate sweeping action to deal with it.

Though conditions in some schools are what one might expect in a Third World country, Education Minister Marie Malavoy’s reaction to Samson’s report was just short of dismissive. She has rejected calls from a coalition of parents and educators for a sharp increase in school funding for a long-term renovation project to eradicate mould from schools province-wide. At best she came up with $10 million toward the $16 million necessary for rebuilding one school so infested that it has to be demolished. For the rest, she callously suggests that boards raise school taxes.

This is in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm Malavoy has shown for purging francophone schools of the contamination of instruction in what she calls the “foreign language” of English, and introducing promotion of Quebec separation from Canada in history courses.

It would appear that this is what we can expect from the “sovereignist governance” that the current Parti Québécois government is bent on pursuing.

Editorial:  The Gazette April 2, 2013