EMSB challenges 'absurd' requirement for English boards to communicate in French

The English Montreal School Board says it plans to file a motion Wednesday in Quebec Superior Court about its right to communicate in English.

The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) says it plans to file a motion Wednesday in Quebec Superior Court about its right to communicate in English.

This comes after EMSB Chair Joe Ortona says the school board received "communications" from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) with what he considers to be a "very strict interpretation of Bill 96," Quebec's controversial language law.

"[It] would require us to communicate in French, even internally, and that makes absolutely no sense," he told CTV News. "Everybody within our school system agrees with that. So, we don't see any other option here than to launch this challenge."

Ortona laments that English-language school boards were told they could communicate with their communities in English solely for pedagogical matters.

"The OQLF is giving a very strict interpretation of what constitutes pedagogical matters," he said. "If you are emailing parents, for example, because of an issue that occurred in the school with the child, even if it's during class time, that's not a pedagogical matter because we're not dealing strictly with matters of curriculum."

The EMSB is Quebec's largest English-language school board with more than 44,000 students.

It says it plans to ask the courts to issue a stay on the language rules until the various constitutional challenges to Bill 96 are concluded.