Group threatens lawsuit over education cuts

The Department of Education could be facing a legal challenge to its demand for school districts to cut their budgets, a prominent Acadian group says.

Education Minister Jody Carr has been facing resistance from the District 1 Education Council to his demand for districts to cut their budgets by two per cent. The education minister has been warned by other districts they can make the budget cut once but not in future years.

Jean-Marie Nadeau, the president of Acadian society, said Carr's decision could force the provincial government into the courtroom to defend its cuts.

Nadeau said the cuts to the school districts are unconstitutional because they violate two sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that entrench the rights of English and French linguistic communities to distinct educational and cultural institutions as a way to preserve and promote their communities.

"Every time you cut and you get out of us the means to do that, it is anti-constitutional," Nadeau said.

The order to cut school district budgets went out to every district as part of the Progressive Conservative government's plan to reduce the deficit.

When the Tories took power last fall, the provincial deficit was at roughly $749-million. Finance Minister Blaine Higgs introduced the Progressive Conservative government's first budget in March, which projected a $449-million deficit.

Every government department has been told to trim its spending by two per cent.

Nadeau said the provincial government is targeting the wrong area for when he imposes an across-the-board style budget cut.

"We shall not pay the debt on the backs of the children," Nadeau said.

Nadeau said the Acadian society is also having discussions with anglophone groups, who he said would also gain if they win their case.

He said his group is still willing to meet with the province's Education minister to avoid a court challenge over the budget cuts.