By Canadian Press

Quebec puts English school board under trusteeship, alerts anti-corruption police

Nov 6, 2019 | 4:31 PM

MONTREAL — The Quebec government has placed the province’s largest English-speaking school board under trusteeship and sent a report on the organization’s governance to the anti-corruption police.

Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said today an investigation by his department revealed irregularities within the English Montreal School Board, which is responsible for 44,000 students.

Roberge says the school board improperly awarded millions of dollars worth of public contracts and politicized its decision-making to the detriment of students, staff and parents.

But the education minister recognized he was in a sensitive situation because the school board is suing the Quebec government over Bill 21, which bans teachers and some other public sector workers from wearing religious symbols at work.

Roberge therefore placed the board in what he called partial trusteeship for a six-month period, allowing the board to continue its court case against the government.

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The minister named former federal Liberal MP Marlene Jennings as the trusteeship administrator and mandated her to produce a report detailing how the school board can improve its governance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 6, 2019.

The Canadian Press