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Sandy Silver

Government has spent $3 million on court cases

Government has spent $3 million on court cases

By Aimee O'Connor on November 6, 2015

Yukon Liberal Leader Sandy Silver made a straightforward request in the legislature this week to have the government release cost estimates, drawings and all background information on the French-language high school the government has committed to build.

But neither the Yukon government nor the francophone school board will talk about the project.

On Aug. 26, Yukoners were informed that the government and the commission scolaire francophone du Yukon (CSFY) had formed joint settlement committees to try to settle outstanding issues raised in court.

At that time, a press release stated that both parties have asked that all proceedings for a new trial be put on hold until Nov. 18, when the next case management meeting will take place.

“November 18 is rapidly approaching, so it is an ideal time to update the public on what progress has been made on this project,” Silver said Wednesday, when debate on his motion opened.

Now just 12 days away, the government does not seem to be anywhere close to telling the public what is going on with the school proposals.

“Neither party is commenting on the progress or work of the joint settlement committee and the construction subcommittee, which includes discussions about the request and location of the French First Language high school,” Holly Fraser, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, wrote in an email Thursday.

“The CSFY is, however, pleased that we are working collaboratively with the Government of Yukon in order to find solutions to the outstanding issues that remain outside of the court process,” CSFY executive director Marc Champagne said this morning.

Because the legislature was due to adjourn at the time of the debate, Silver received little time to prompt discussion on the francophone school.

He noted Thursday it didn’t take long for Education Minister Doug Graham to heckle him from across the floor.

“There has been a lot more political-type questions asked in legislature. It’s very telling that within a five-minute debate, the five minutes we had, they weren’t happy with the question,” Silver said.

“It was obvious that they did not want this debate.”

On Tuesday, Graham quietly tabled the government’s legal costs from 2009 to May of this year while the house was in general debate for the Second Appropriation Act.

In those years, the government paid a whopping $3 million to fight against the CSFY in three court cases.

The document Graham tabled made note that in the 2011/12 year, the government had been ordered by the courts to pay $400,000 toward legal fees incurred by the CSFY.

When asked for explanation for the large numbers – more than $2 million spent between 2010 and 2012 alone – a spokesperson for the Department of Education noted that all legal costs were to an Outside law firm put under contract that was managed and negotiated by the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice did not respond to the Star’s calls before press deadline this afternoon.

As the numbers indicate, the two parties have been sparring in court since 2009.

The CSFY took the government to court, fighting for full governance over French First Language Education in the Yukon.

Although the board won the original case in 2011, the Yukon Court of Appeal later overturned that decision, citing that there had been bias by the Alberta judge who presided over the trial in 2010-2011.

The CSFY then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In May, the Supreme Court agreed with the appeal-court ruling that the school board “could not unilaterally decide whom to admit to its school” unless the territory had delegated that power.

That ruling ordered the dispute between the parties to go back to trial stage – whether this happens is expected to be decided in 12 days, on the previously stated Nov. 18 deadline.

Since the settlement committees were formed, there has been little public update on the situation.

On Oct. 15, a joint press release stated that an interim solution had been found for Académie Parhélie students, the name of the French high school program.

A portable will be moved to École Émilie-Tremblay to house an elementary classroom so that all Académie Parhélie students can be located together in a wing in the existing Émilie-Tremblay building.

In late October, when the legislative assembly commenced its fall session, the government’s supplementary budget included $75,000 earmarked for planning of the francophone high school.

“That’s not a lot of money,” Silver told the Star. He went on to wonder whether the government will be putting more money in next year’s main budget.

“None of these questions have been answered.”

In addition to the money potentially being allocated to the project, another big question mark looms.

“There has been a great deal of debate as to where the location of that new school is. To date — and the minister can correct me if I’m wrong — there has been no explicit confirmation from the Government of Yukon as to where the new school will be built.

“Now, there has been a great deal of talk about it being in Riverdale ... (but) the location remains an open question,” Silver told the legislature.

The CSFY indicated a desire to have the new school in Riverdale, close to the F.H. Collins Secondary School campus.

The Department of Education then came up with three possible locations located in the large educational reserve set aside by the government in Riverdale – the French school board selected its preferred choice, the current home of the Second Haven Skateboard Park.

At a May city council meeting, Mayor Dan Curtis took issue with a lack of public consultation during the process of selecting a new location for the skateboard park.

Since then, public talk of the skateboard park and the French school location has dissipated.

There has been no public announcement specifically stating the decided-on location for the French high school.

At the francophone school board’s annual general meeting, board president Champagne presented hypothetical plans for the high school to the meeting attendees – one feature being a 250-seat theatre.

“We’re at a situation now where the francophone school board is giving more information than the government,” Silver said, pointing to the public dialogue and potential design plans.

“On the one side, the francophone community and association is saying, ‘Yes, the school is going foward,’ and yet we haven’t heard anything on the government side at all.”

This, in essence, is what prompted the motion to get all sides talking in the legislature.

The CSFY president maintains that the design plans from the annual general meeting were more of a “wish list” and less of a concrete plan.

“The plans were merely rough drawings developed solely for the purpose of assessing potential sites on the Riverdale Educational Reserve,” Champagne told the Star Thursday.

“They do not represent an actual design for the school.”

Comments (7)

Up 17 Down 3

Premier does not have a clue on Nov 9, 2015 at 1:05 pm

on how to political manage the Yukon.

Up 18 Down 2

Waste of public money on Nov 9, 2015 at 1:04 pm

because the planning process was set wrong and failed. The Yukon Government does not have the people to set up processes like this so they can reach a positive result.
Look at the talk and actions of the Premier on the First Nations file total failure.

Up 43 Down 1

steve on Nov 9, 2015 at 12:26 pm

I don't like the YP but, allowing the French community to use up $3 million dollars of tax payers money to get a high school that they can't hope to populate is absolutely asinine!!! Put all the grades in one school and be done with it. You don't need a new school for that.

Up 26 Down 3

Bobby Bitman on Nov 8, 2015 at 3:54 pm

If the alternative is to simply agree to ridiculous demands by certain people in the Francophone community (or any other group), then I do support going to court. However, it seems that in the end the court has ruled mainly for the Francophone position, and against the Yukon Party.

I wonder very much about the instincts and knowledge base of the Yukon Party. They do not seem to know that they are going to lose over and over.
Seek clarity where it is needed, but the Yukon Party seems to need 'clarity' far too often, and does not appear to have much understanding of the issues before them.

Up 32 Down 9

Curious Yukoner on Nov 7, 2015 at 10:33 am

3 million is a drop in the bucket if you consider both sides of this arguement. How much would we taxpayers shell out over the next 50 years if the Govt just said fine to every demand by the French community..... lines that we can all live with have to be drawn, and sometimes that requires court decisions.

Up 67 Down 11

Lost in the Yukon on Nov 6, 2015 at 4:10 pm

Another example of the Yukon Party cynically trying to buy off voting blocks they have offended and in the process bankrupting the Yukon. These guys will do anything to try and get re-elected

Up 84 Down 10

June Jackson on Nov 6, 2015 at 3:54 pm

3 Million dollars - to argue. 2 million to one outside law firm? This government is seriously flawed.

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