Burke Vows to Protect English Rights in Quebec

0:00Canada's new official languages commissioner, Kelly Burke, is sounding the alarm on Quebec's push to ditch elected English school boards. She says it would hit Anglophone education rights hard under section 23 of the charter, which guarantees minority communities control over. They're schools. Burke, who started March 30, vows to protect English speakers in Quebec and French minorities elsewhere. Burke, a Frankl-Ontarian lawyer and ex-teacher, steps in after Raymond Thaibers, who slammed Quebec policies on tuition, health care, and bill. 21. Her predecessor backed challenges to laws, banning religious symbols for teachers, and urged fights against the school board overhaul. Now, with Quebec appealing a lower court win for English boards to the Supreme Court, Burke plans to keep that legal push going. Not everyone's on board though. The Anglophone rights group, TALQ, criticized her appointment, saying it should have gone to someone who's lived as an English speaker in Quebec. They also called her out for dodging questions at her hearing about backing a Supreme Court

1:03case on Bill 40. Burke admits she's still catching up on files, but signals she's ready to challenge any provincial laws clashing with charter rights. She stresses linguistic minorities must keep pushing back, especially since Quebec hosts the country's biggest French population and largest English. Minority. Balancing at all, Burke notes Quebec Anglophone support French protections too, but not at the cost of their own rights. Her job's clear, defend both sides without one trampling the other, keeping the language peace intact. I'm Corey with the story, and you've been listening to Canada News today, AI-powered local news.