{"id":15954,"date":"2014-10-11T07:39:52","date_gmt":"2014-10-11T11:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=15954"},"modified":"2014-10-11T21:46:08","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T01:46:08","slug":"french-election-primer-english-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/french-election-primer-english-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"French election primer for English-speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least 22,366 English-speaking families will have the right and obligation to vote for commissioners at one of Montreal\u2019s three French School Boards on November 2.<\/p>\n

They come from English-speaking homes attended French public schools in 2012-2013. Anyone else who didn\u2019t make arrangements to transfer to an English school board by October 14 will join them by default.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll all be choosing from an incredible array of choices. There are 122 candidates running for the three French school boards in 36 different divisions on the Island. Figuring out who to vote for is tricky, and the school boards don\u2019t make it easy.<\/p>\n

Those who\u00a0don\u2019t know someone in the race will have to wade through school-board bureaucracy just to figure out the names of potential candidates.<\/p>\n

Incumbents have a clear advantage in such a race. Parents who know the system are more likely to vote, and they only know the names of people already serving.<\/p>\n

Newcomers have to use three different systems to figure out which school board serves their area. They can begin searching the http:\/\/www.electionsquebec.qc.ca\/<\/a> website or calling 1 888 ELECTION (1 888 353-2846). Everything is available in English and voters can simply plug in or tell an agent their postal code to learn which school boards serve their area.<\/p>\n

After that, clarity breaks down.<\/p>\n

Voters are directed from the DGEQ to school boards directly to find out which of 13, 12 or 11 divisions (circonscriptions <\/em>in French) they reside within.<\/p>\n

English speakers have a tougher job because the three Montreal school boards offer no English services.<\/p>\n

Marguerite-Bourgeoys\u2019 website does offer a large colourful button that\u2019s clearly labelled Vote 2014. Users can click see links to district maps. Each map is clearly labelled with boroughs or parts of boroughs too. Using that site is relatively painless.<\/p>\n

Pointe-du-L\u2019Ile has a clear button, but voters have to wade through 11 different maps to find out where their division might be. Montreal has a single map, but the button to find it is tiny and the map is too full of information to be clear for this particular purpose.<\/p>\n

Once voters identify their divisions, they can refer to a website that went live Monday, http:\/\/monvote.qc.ca\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The site shows how individual candidates are trying to make voter choices simple by joining together into unofficial parties. Voters can choose between \u201cperseverance\u201d and \u201csuccess.\u201d They can vote for \u201ca modern and open school,\u201d \u201cpriorities: schools\u201d or the \u201cMontreal school renewal coalition.\u201d The Marguerite-Bourgeoys teams are simply running under potential chair names.<\/p>\n

Most divisions have an independent or two for people who don\u2019t like parties, as well.<\/p>\n

Some candidates probably have strong positions on big political issues facing school boards across the province, including school board existence, school board financing and transparency. \u00a0To discover that however, voters will have to attend rallies and speeches\u2014most of those will be in French.<\/p>\n

Marguerite-Bourgeoys basics<\/h2>\n