Media Briefing: Minority-Language Communities and Charter Rights

media briefing: We now hope that the provincial governments will step up further in areas that are their exclusive jurisdictions, like education and certain services for minority-language communities, Trudeau said Friday at his daily media briefing, according to CTV. One legal analyst said the ruling broke new ground on liability that could open the door to compensation when government policies violate other charter rights. The high court sided with British Columbia's francophone school board, at least in part, in a dispute over French-language education in the province, saying lower courts interpreted constitutional protections too narrowly. The court case began a decade ago when the board, Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, and the parents of students alleged the province had breached a Charter of Rights and Freedoms provision guaranteeing minority-language education. After a long trial, the school board and parents won a partial victory, including an award for charter damages arising from unpaid student transportation costs. They sought orders requiring the province to change how it funds French-language education, fix problems with inadequate facilities in a number of communities and offer compensation for its failure to provide proper funding. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.