Language law takes a hit

The Greater Quebec Movement isn't the only organization challenging the province's language law. Citizens for Open Schools has just won Simon Miller-Vadeboncoeur of Morin Heights, Quebec, lifetime eligibility for education in English, despite his parents' having been educated in French.

Montreal attorney Brent Tyler challenged the law on the grounds that it violates Quebec's own Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms by, in effect, discriminating on the basis of parentage in excluding a child from a public service. The court rejected the broad constitutional challenge, acting instead on the basis of a technical argument Mr. Tyler invoked - that the schooling of Simon's aunts and uncles, and not just his parents, could be considered.

Tyler has similar cases pending. He promises to be in court with "one a week - until I get the government's attention." Fluent in French, Tyler is sympathetic to the policy of the primacy of the language. "The challenge is to promote French without discriminating."