Students debate right to English education

Under guidance from members of the Canadian Bar Association who volunteered their time, students in Grade 11 held a Moot Supreme Court hearing on Thursday on "The right to send your child to an English school" in the school library.

With less than two weeks to prepare the students came to the table with in-depth arguments, citing various subsections of the Charter.

A student argued in support of Bill 101 stating that before its creation in Quebec, 80% of immigrants were opting to learn in English. "If Spain and Germany started allowing immigrants to choose their language of instruction, they would lose their culture. We are a French speaking population …our culture is being noticed around the world, and I'm proud of that."

"If you'd like to learn in English, there are 12 other provinces to choose from," said another team member.

A student arguing against the Bill fired back: "In some countries they have one official language. Here we have two."

The hearing is one of several going on this month at Laurier Senior High and Laval Liberty High as part of an initiative by the Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board to teach students about the Charter. "It's important that they understand how the Charter affects them as Canadians," said Joan Wasserman, an educational consultant with the school board who was also present.

Students were animated throughout and clearly enjoyed the spirit of debate.

They enacted courtroom formalities, addressing each other as "honorable colleague." The appellants and respondents faced one another, complete with the presence of Chief Justice Jean Pierre Archambault - and let's not forget the student acting as bailiff to announce his honor's arrival and demand that "all rise."

Wasserman praised them for their ability to respect and listen to one another during the hearing, to open their mind and argue for perspectives that might not necessarily be their own.

After the hearing, the students who had argued against Bill 101 revealed they were indeed voicing their own beliefs.

"I could never be a lawyer because I can only argue for what I believe in," said Amir Essaati.

"We're for bilingualism, but we're also for choice," said Jacklyn Di Genova, "In a perfect world every school would be bilingual."

"Unfortunately the Quebec government is too cheap," added Essaati.

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(Photos: Martin Alarie)

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(Photos: Martin Alarie)