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EQUALITY PARTY FILES FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH UNITED NATIONS BODY

I am writing to lodge a formal complaint against Canada for violation of human rights in the fields of education and culture.

UNESCO's Recommendation Against Discrimination in Education, adopted in 1960, forbids the establishment or maintenance of "separate educational systems or institutions for persons or groups of persons" unless "participation in such systems or attendance at such institutions is optional."

In Quebec, Canada has permitted the establishment and maintenance of two separate educational systems, one English, the other French. However, under the educational-access provisions of Quebec's Charter of the French Language, participation in the English system or attendance at English institutions is not optional, but requires possession of an eligibility certificate issued by the Quebec government. Issuance of such certificates depends upon criteria that establish distinctions, exclusions and limitations based upon national origin and birth, in violation of Section 1.1 of the recommendation.

The effect is to deprive various groups of persons in Quebec of access to publicly funded education in English, in contravention of Article 1.1(a) of the recommendation. It is also to prohibit Canada's national linguistic minority French Canadians residing in Quebec "from understanding the language and culture of the community as a whole," in contravention of Articles 5.C(i) and (iii). For the purposes of international law, the UN Human Rights Committee has already determined (in the 1993 case Ballantyne, Davidson & McIntyre vs. Canada) that French Canadians constitute Canada's only official-language minority.

It should be noted that in successive questionnaires on implementation of the recommendation, Canada and Quebec have lied to UNESCO about the existence of discriminatory access to English school legislation in Quebec. In its April 1, 1988, response, the Quebec Ministry of Education simply refused to answer question 4.2 of the 1988 fifth questionnaire, "L'adhésion à ces systèmes ou la fréquentation de ces établissements est-elle facultative?" The question asked Canada if there is freedom of choice in Quebec. In its October 1997 response to the sixth questionnaire on implementation (Appendix III, Reply of the Quebec Ministry of Education), the Quebec minister of education stated: "There are no legislative or regulatory provisions in Quebec that could be discriminatory within the meaning of Article 1 of the recommendation against Discrimination in Education." These responses are misleading and false.

The Equality Party would also like to bring to UNESCO's attention Canada's violation of the education sections of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Canada signed the convention on May 28, 1990, and ratified it on December 23, 1991. The government of Quebec declared itself bound to comply with the convention and to respect and guarantee the rights provided for therein.

Article 2 of the convention prohibit any form of discrimination against children, "irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language…national, ethnic or social origin…birth or other status." Quebec's Charter of the French Language school-access provisions discriminate against certain parents and children by denying access to English publicly funded schools to some while granting it to others solely on the basis of national origin and birth.

In addition, Article 3 of the convention states; "In all actions concerning children…undertaken by….administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." Quebec's Charter of the French Language school-access provisions give primary consideration to the French language, not to the interests of the child.

Article 4 of the convention states; "States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present convention." Canada has not complied with this obligation, as noted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its most recent report on Canada (1995).

The constitutional question at the heart of the matter is whether or not the federal government has the power to implement the obligations it take on when it signs an international treaty or convention. The UN Committee on he Rights of the Child addressed this issue in its report. It made it quite clear that Canada cannot use its federal nature as an excuse for failing to implement its obligations under the convention.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is not fully respected in Quebec, because Quebec's Charter of the French Language school-access provisions give primary consideration to the French language and the collective rights of the French-speaking community of Quebec, not to the best interests of the child or to his rights as an individual..

UNESCO's Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs should be aware that in the matter of domestic recourse, a case against the school access provisions of Quebec's Charter of the French Language is pending in Quebec Superior Court. The procedure has been filed by Montreal lawyer Brent Tyler, but not heard.

Nevertheless, the Equality Party would argue that Canadian domestic constitutional impediments to unrestricted access to English schools in Quebec mean this case, like similar cases in the past dealing with the commercial-signage provisions of the Charter of the French Language, will take as much as a decade or more to be decided, likely in the Supreme Court of Canada. In the meantime, the children whose rights to attend English school have been violated will be too old to attend, should the case be settled in their favour. To these parents and children, domestic remedies are, therefore, effectively closed.