One day before the provincial budget comes down, debate is brewing in New Brunswick over whether anglophone and francophone students should be riding school buses together.
Interim PC Leader Bruce Fitch issued a statement on Monday, after two of the party’s MLAs raised questions on Friday about the province’s two separate school bus systems.
“There can be no doubt that the Constitution of Canada, through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees the equality of distinct education systems in New Brunswick,” Fitch’s statement read.
“We are not questioning this.”
Meanwhile, debate is brewing as the provincial New Democrats wonder aloud if education duality under the charter extends to school buses.
But some New Brunswick residents don’t see what all the fuss is about.
“I was in French immersion for years and I found working on the same bus with multiple people with French immersion helped me quite a bit with my French studies over the years,” said Fredericton resident Drew Lyons.
Others, though, argue that a single school bus system might diminish the use of a mother tongue.
New Brunswick Education Minister Serge Rousselle said he’s aware of some francophone and anglophone students in the province who are currently travelling on the same school buses.
“It amounts to 92 students, overall,” Rousselle said Monday.
He said he’s trying to change that.
It’s very clear by the Supreme Court decision that we have to have distinct buses,” Rouselle said.
The Liberal government’s first budget, which is being delivered on Tuesday, is expected to impact every department, including education, as the province seeks ways to cut costs and grow revenues.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore
