Ombudsman questioning Immersion move
Telegraph-Journal
Who was consulted?
Ombudsman Richard to decide next week whether to probe province's French immersion plan
N.B. Ombudsman Bernard Richard
Daniel McHardie
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday March 21st, 2008
Appeared on page A1
FREDERICTON - Ombudsman Bernard Richard is stepping into the fight over eliminating early French immersion as complaints are pouring in over the Liberal government's contentious decision.
Richard's office was thrust into the immersion battle when Michel Carrier, the official languages commissioner, issued a statement saying he did not have jurisdiction over education policies and directed frustrated parents to the ombudsman.
Richard will sit with Education Minister Kelly Lamrock on March 25, a pivotal meeting that could spur on an investigation into whether the province properly the consulted the public before jumping into the drastic reform.
"If the minister says to me, 'Come hell or high water nothing is going to change.' That is one element that I will have to consider," Richard said. "I don't have a lot of resources to commit to a process that is futile, an investigation that is futile because there is absolutely no hope for any kind of impact."
The ombudsman can only recommend options to the provincial government, he could not force the Liberal government to abandon its decision. While the official languages officer does not have the authority to perform his own report into the controversy, Carrier said he will exert "Whatever influence I have to convince the provincial government of the need to re-think its decision."
The Lamrock plan destined to begin in September will cancel all early French immersion programs that start in Grade 1 and launch a province-wide intensive program in Grade 5. When kids enter Grade 6, they can opt for a French immersion program or they can choose to enter a new Core French program.
Jim Croll and Patricia Lee, the two commissioners behind the French second language education report, cited high attrition rates of immersion students, dismal results from the Core French system and the impact of immersion on classroom composition among the reasons for reform.
Lamrock isn't backing down and he reiterated on Thursday how the new plan will give universal access to learning both official languages instead of just the few who opt for immersion courses.
"Educationally I'm very happy about that, I'm very comfortable with it. If there are process questions then we will answer process questions," Lamrock said. "Understand that it is very common when people don't feel they've gotten their point across on the political question that they then try and throw everything procedural we can at it. It's normal. It's part of the process too."
What is not as normal is having two independent officers of the legislature expressing reservations about the government's handling of a file.
Carrier called the commission's report "flawed" and said it raised the question of whether due process was followed. He then issued a very blunt assessment of the government's decision.
"There is no doubt that the system is in need of reform," Carrier's statement said. "However, like many others who have come forward, I am not convinced that this is the way to go. Indeed, experts in the field have confirmed that there are many options that could have been considered other than slashing the early immersion program."
And Richard, who has acted as an international elections observer, questioned the legitimacy of a decision when citizens feel disenfranchised.
"When they complain about the lack of transparency, the lack of credibility in a process, the fact that they have not been able to be heard and the decisions are based on simply wrong information, wrong analysis, that I think should concern anyone in any democracy," he said.