4.3 Investigation report on the Centre Jules-Léger
Centre Jules-Léger
| Year | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Issue | Reports and complaints about the lack of autonomous management of the Centre by and for Francophones |
| Impact following FLSC’s intervention | The government made a commitment to pursue legislative changes to transfer the governance structure of Centre Jules-Léger to the 12 French-language school boards |
| Current status | Governance of the Centre has still not been transferred |
In 2014, unlike most French-language institutions in Ontario, the Centre Jules-Léger did not have its own board of trustees; instead, it was being managed by the Ministry of Education, to the dissatisfaction of the parents of students attending the Centre.
The fact that those parents did not have the power to make decisions about their institution triggered more than 20 complaints to the Commissioner’s Office within a few months. Consequently, the Commissioner decided to conduct an investigation.
Effectiveness of the intervention
For this investigation, the Commissioner and his team travelled to the Centre Jules-Léger, and they also met with Ministry of Education officials.
In its 2015 report, the Commissioner’s Office determined that the Centre Jules-Léger’s governance model violated section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and undermined the Centre’s integrity and mission.
The government took note and, most importantly, made a commitment following public consultation to remedy the situation so that the Centre would be managed by the French-language school boards.
On August 8, 2016, the government announced that it intended to pursue legislative changes to transfer the governance structure of Centre Jules-Léger to the 12 French-language school boards. At the time this report went to press, how that goal would be achieved had not been announced.