September 4, 1986 - Jacques Marchand - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

School board required to pay costs for French language dispute. The two daughters of Jacques Marchand attended French language schools in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Four primary schools served the town, but only one secondary school: L'ecole Secondaire Le Caron. Even that had been built only when the Ontario government required the Simcoe County School Board to do so in 1980. Marchand took issue with the secondary’s school absence of industrial arts and shop courses. His eldest daughter could take these subjects only if she bussed to an English school. English-speaking children, he pointed out to a court, did not have to do the same. On behalf of other French-speaking parents, Marchand felt he was asserting his rights under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In July 1986, a judge agreed; the province and school board lost to Marchand in court. The judge said French-speaking children were entitled to “a full and complete education – not a limited, partial or truncated one, which necessarily would be an inferior education, a second class one.” Flush with victory, Marchand returned to court to ask that his legal costs for the case be paid. On September 4, 1986, Judge Sirois awarded Marchand “solicitor and client” costs – higher than normal because the governments “continued to deny his constitutional rights.” According to the judge, the school board and Ontario had dragged their feet over acting on the initial decision, giving Marchand no choice but to go back to court.

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