"...In other words, the existence of healthy and stable English public
schools in Quebec is, in many ways, the very positive manifestation of
the compromise discussed above. These schools are, quite definitely,
contributing to the stability and vitality of French Quebec. Still,
Canada's government will send its lawyers to court to echo that
increasingly tired tune that few French Quebecers are playing anymore,
the one that chants that the sky is falling on French Quebec - and that
it's English-speaking Quebec's fault.
"If Bill 104 is overturned by the Supreme Court, as it should be, a
pool of 400 to 500 additional students might then be permitted to
register for English public schools across Quebec. That would be an
important source of replenishment for an English public school system
that has gone from a quarter-million students to 110,000 in a single
generation. And the consequent impact on French schooling in Quebec
would be in the order of minus 0.5 per cent each year. That sounds like
fair compromise.
"While the facts in this case address most directly the
English-speaking communities of Quebec, they have echoes for
francophone minority-language communities across the country. Make no
mistake that other provincial and territorial governments will be
paying close attention ..."
