Secularism in schools: Quebec education minister ‘worried’ about new report

Quebec's Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, walks through the Salon rouge before the start of Question Period at the Quebec City Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Karoline Boucher/The Canadian Press)

Education Minister Bernard Drainville has received the report on the 17 schools under investigation for potential breaches of secularism. Without revealing its content, the minister said he was not reassured.

“I’m as worried as I was,” he told a press scrum at the National Assembly on Thursday.

The report is still being analyzed and should be made public in a few weeks.

These investigations come in the wake of the controversy at Bedford School in Montreal. Last year, a report by the Ministry of Education painted a devastating picture of the school, revealing a toxic climate of fear and intimidation imposed by a clique of teachers.

Eleven teachers at Bedford have since been suspended.

The government subsequently launched investigations in 17 schools to ensure that secularism was respected, following complaints from numerous members of the public.

Drainville intends to table a bill to “reinforce secularism in schools.”

Schools under investigation

- École des Saints-Anges (Saint-Lambert)

- École Henri Beaulieu (Saint-Laurent; Montréal)

- École Saint-Pascal-Baylon (Montreal)

- École Bienville (Montreal)

- La Voie School (Montreal)

- École Saint-Justin (Montreal)

- École la Dauversière-Évangéline (Montreal)

- École Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (Montreal)

- École Mont-de-La Salle (Laval)

- École Leblanc (Laval)

- École Jean-Jacques-Rousseau (Boisbriand)

- École Sainte-Odile (Quebec City)

- École Cardinal Roy (Quebec City)

- École d'éducation internationale Filteau (Québec)

- École polyvalente de l'Érablière (Gatineau)

- École Saint-Isidore (Chicoutimi; Saguenay)

- École Saint-Denis (Chicoutimi; Saguenay)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 13, 2025.