Historic verdict on French education in B.C. expected today

The future of French education in this province will be determined Monday morning when a B.C. Supreme Court judge delivers an historic verdict in a multi-million dollar case that has been playing out for six years.

The French School Board and the Federation of Francophone Parents of B.C. are asking the court to force the province to finance the construction of 22 new schools and a new central office.

The two groups are arguing the province is violating the rights of Francophone students as a minority group by not offering them the same quality of service as Anglophone students.

"Without a larger number of schools, without better buildings, it will be very difficult to reverse the trend in terms of assimilation here," said Mark Power, the lawyer representing the complainants.

Power said the judgement is crucial for the future of the French language and Francophone culture in the province.

Assimilation argument

The case has taken a total of 239 days in court over the course of more than two years. Dozens of experts and parents have testified and thousands of documents have been submitted.

In addition to the arguments regarding the quality of service and buildings, the French school board also claims school bus service is under-financed — because there are so few French-language schools, most parents pay to bus their children.

The consequence of all these shortcomings, they argued in court, is that Francophone parents choose to place their children in English-speaking or French immersion schools, which leads to assimilation.

It's the third time the Federation of Francophone parents of B.C. has taken the province to court since the organization was created in 1979.

"Our children deserve a quality education, equivalent to that of Anglophones," said FFPCB president Marie-Pierre Lavoie.

The province maintains it adequately funds the FSB.

Warren Milman, the lawyer representing the provincial government, argued in his opening statement it's the school board that hasn't adequately planned or managed its finances, and that the case is not a violation of Article 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Costly trial that could bring in millions

Since the start of the proceedings, the French school board has spent almost $17 million on the case. But according to the FSB, if the judge rules in its favour, it will bring in about $415 million to build the schools.

The board says conditions in the schools have worsened each year. It says only one school, L'École des Pionniers, will see any improvements with the construction of a new school in 2018.

All other schools have seen more students, with no increase in space.

For example, the parents at École Anne-Hébert in Vancouver testified in court in December 2013 there wasn't enough space to accommodate its students.

The school was designed for 348 students, and at the time there were 376 students enrolled and six portables to accommodate the extra students.

Since then, the situation at the school has gotten worse, with 435 students and 10 portables.

This case is separate from a similar one argued by the parents at École Rose-des-Vents on Vancouver's West Side. The parents there based their case on the same argument.

In April 2015, they won their case against the province and the French School Board — but they're still waiting for the new school to be built.