Secular charter is 2013's 'Speak White,' says Montreal school board

The Lester B. Pearson School Board says the Parti Qubcoiss proposed secular charter is the 2013 version of Speak White, a controversial Quebec poem.

The poem, written by Michle Lalonde in 1968, speaks about intolerance toward French-speaking people in Canada.

The school board on Montreals West Island filed its written brief with the national assembly and its Commission on Institutionson Dec. 19, a day shy of the deadline for submission of briefs on the proposed secular charter.

The national assembly will begin its public hearings on Bill 60 in the new year.

The brief was signed by school board chairwoman Suanne Stein Day.

In it, she wrote, We believe the proposed legislation is completely unnecessary and its basic premises unfounded. There is no identifiable problem that this legislation is looking to address.

The school board joins the English Montreal School Board,Concordia University and a number of other Quebec institutions in formally opposing the charter.

The commission hearings formally begin Jan. 14.

Read the Lester B. Pearson School Board letter to the Commission on Institutions here: