Quebec orders audits at 17 schools over alleged behaviour ‘contrary to Quebec values’

MONTREAL — Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville says his department will investigate complaints involving 17 schools across the province where it is alleged that state secularism is not being respected.

“Complaints and reports have been brought to the attention of the (Education Department) regarding issues related to non-compliance with secular obligations,” the Education Department said in a statement. “Many citizens responded to the call to inform the government of any situation where behaviour contrary to the values of Quebec society is observed.”

Questions around religious neutrality in schools have been swirling since the publication last month of an Education Department report on a school in Montreal, where media reports had exposed questionable religious practices and a toxic climate. A government investigation found that a “dominant clan” at Bedford school imposed strict, autocratic rule over students.

The investigation revealed that the teachers, who were allegedly influenced by the local mosque, subjected children to physical and psychological abuse. There were incidents of prayers in the classroom and some teachers allegedly refused to teach — or paid little attention to — the science and sex education curriculum.

Eleven teachers — a mix of men and women — were described as being part of a “dominant clan” at the school. They have been suspended with pay and their teaching licences were suspended pending a full investigation.

Of the schools named Thursday, three in Montreal were already the subject of audits announced last month. The 17 schools are all in the French system, with 11 in and around Montreal, three in Quebec City, one in Gatineau and two in the Saguenay region north of the capital.

The Education Department said information it has received about the 17 institutions involve alleged breaches to the four principles of the province’s secularism law, known as Bill 21.

Those principles include separation of church and state, state religious neutrality, equality of all citizens and freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The release does not mention specific allegations for any of the schools.

Drainville said in a statement that the 17 audits to be conducted by his department should be completed by Jan. 17, 2025. He also told Radio-Canada that other schools not mentioned in the list, primarily in Montreal, will also be audited.

“We cannot allow people who behave in unacceptable ways or whose motivations are driven by ideologies or personal beliefs to interfere in our schools,” Drainville said in a statement.

“In light of the information we will receive, all solutions will be on the table to strengthen the place of secularism and to ensure that the education transmitted to our children respects the Quebec pedagogical system and Quebec values.”

Following the Bedford school controversy, Premier François Legault ordered Drainville and Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge to come up with solutions to prevent religion from creeping into classrooms. In the meantime, the government has written to all school service centres in Quebec — which in 2020 replaced French school boards in the province — to remind them of the obligations they have in terms of secularism and respect for religious neutrality.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press