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Quebec Crackdown

July 11, 2011 permalink

Quebec is cracking down on homeschoolers, as shown by this letter from Paul Faris of the Home School Legal Defence Association.

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Alert: Homeschooling children ordered to attend school

We have received a shocking decision where a Québec family has been ordered to cease homeschooling and place their children in the local public school. Even more concerning, they have been ordered to place their younger children, who are not yet of compulsory school age, into daycare.

This saga began late 2009 when this family was reported to Youth Protection Services, likely by their school board. They were first taken to court early in 2010. In a subsequent court appearance, their children were ordered to attend the local public school as a “temporary protection measure”. There followed multiple legal procedures and four days of trial, followed by a four-month wait for the judge’s decision, all of which took their toll on this family.

After refusing to hear our expert witness, as well as evidence on the value of homeschooling versus public school, the court ordered that the children attend the local public school. They went on to order that the younger children attend daycare, even though they are not yet of compulsory school age. In giving reasons, the court placed great weight on the Youth Protection experts who testified that, given the hearing impairments of one child, the public school was necessary for him to overcome his limitations and maximize his potential. The court also found that given the parents’ desire to protect their children from an outside environment they perceived as bad, they had deprived their children of an adequate education.

The values expressed by the court are a slap in the face for homeschooling families everywhere.

THIS CASE NEEDS TO BE APPEALED!

HSLDA is committed to appealing this case but we need your help.

This is not the only family we have had to defend in Québec this past year, and each case required a number of court appearances. Just in Quebec last year, HSLDA spent over $50,000 on legal fees. In 2010, HSLDA spent more money defending homeschooling families than in any other year of our history. We were a strong voice and left our mark for homeschooling freedom in 2010, but we need your help to continue. Financial resources are necessary, not only to appeal this case, but also to fight other oppressive decisions and government policies.

The more members we have, the greater our resources to battle these key cases. Also, when extraordinary challenges like these arise, we need donations over and above membership fees so we can vigorously oppose government oppression of homeschooling.

Please donate to help support these cases and keep homeschooling legal in Québec, and across the country. Click here to submit your tax deductible donation.

Sincerely,
Paul Faris
President
HSLDA Canada

Please contact us by email info@hslda.ca or telephone 519-913-0318 if you have any questions about this posting or about donating to CCHE.

Source: Home School Legal Defence Association

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