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22 Ottawa L. Rev. 77 (1990)
L'Affaire Mahe Et Les Droits Scolaires: Difficultes De Mise En Oeuvre D'un Droit Proportionnel Aux Effectifs D'Une Minorite

handle is hein.journals/ottlr22 and id is 85 raw text is: L'AFFAIRE MAHE ET LES DROITS SCOLAIRES: DIFFICULTES DE MISE EN OEUVRE D'UN DROIT PROPORTIONNEL AUX EFFECTIFS D'UNE MINORITE Yves LeBouthillier* La dicision de la Cour supreme du Ca- nada dans l'affaire Mah6 c. Alberta est sans conteste le jugement le plus impor- tant rendu d ce jour sur la portge de l'article 23 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libert6s. Elle confirme, huit ans apres l'adoption de la Charte, que l'ar- ticle 23 octroie aux minorits de langue officielle un droit de gestion et de contr6le sur l'instruction de leurs enfants et les itablissements d'enseignement de la mi- noriti. Elle precise aussi l'objet de l'ar- ticle 23, en insistant sur le lien itroit entre la langue, la culture et l'iducation, et elle reaffirme le caractre rdparateur de cet article. Si l'auteur souligne et commente la valeur de ces acquis pour les minoritis de langue frangaise au Ca- nada, il demontre par la suite les nom- breuses embfiches que prisente la mise en oeuvre des principes inoncis dans cette dicision. L'importante marge de ma- noeuvre laisse aux provinces et le fait que le degrg de services et de pouvoirs dipend des effectifs scolaires de la mi- noriti risquent de limiter le modile de gestion idgal qu'est la commission sco- laire autonome aux communautis mino- ritaires les plus importantes et de n'as- surer qu'un minimum de protection aux populations minoritaires moins nom- breuses et partant, plus menaces. En outre, le jugement n'apporte pas de rg- ponses rdelles en ce qui a trait d la The Supreme Court of Canada judgment in Mah6 v. Alberta is without a doubt a landmark decision on the meaning of sec- tion 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It confirms, eight years after the Charter was enacted, that section 23 grants official language minorities a right of control and management over education and educational facilities of the minority. The judgment also clarifies the object of section 23, emphasizing the close relationship between language, culture and education, and it reaffirms the remedial character of the section. The author points out and explains the significance of these gains for French language minorities in Canada but, also, comments on the nu- merous problems which are raised in im- plementing the principles formulated by the Court. The wide discretion given to the provinces and the fact that the level of services and management is based on the number of students of the minority may well limit the ideal form of manage- ment, i.e. the independent school board, to larger minority groups, while ensuring only minor protection to smaller, and hence more vulnerable, minority groups. More- over, the judgment gives no true answer in the grey zone of the determination of the number of students sufficient to justify a particular level of services and man- agement and the type of services and man- agement which are appropriate in a given * Professeur adjoint, facultd de droit, section de common law, Universit6 d'Ottawa. Remerciements A Joseph Elias, H61ne Laporte et Michel Morin pour la r6vision et les commentaires.

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