If there’s one thing Joe Ortona and Katherine Korakakis agree on, it’s that voter turnout in the EMSB election is key — especially with the CAQ in power.
Joe Ortona and Katherine Korakakis are running for chair in the upcoming English Montreal School Board (EMSB) elections.
In this latest episode of The Corner Booth, the candidates share their visions for the future of English-language schools in the city.
“There’s always several challenges. One of them is, how are we going to continue the high success rate that we have?” said Joe Ortona, sitting EMSB chair since 2020. “We surpassed the private sector last year, and that’s not something that comes very easily.”
“The other challenge is, how are we going to preserve the rights of the English-speaking minority? Preserving the right for school boards to continue to manage and control their system, preserve our right to hire teachers that we want without arbitrary restrictions, and preserve our language with Bill 96 and all the court challenges,” he continued.
Meanwhile, from Korakakis, president of the English Parents Committee Association of Quebec: “There’s challenges that have stemmed from the pandemic regarding mental health […] and that impacts their success rate, their motivation, so for me that’s a big push.”
She added: “What I’d like to do is focus more on subject-matter mastery, especially with regards to French. I think that, we live in Quebec, and we have to do more to equip our children to stay here and thrive here, and be able to be competitive here.”
But there’s one thing both candidates agree on: voting is critical, especially in the current context.
“They want the turnout to be low,” said Ortona, referring to the Quebec government. “They think that a low turnout sort of helps their case for wanting to abolish school boards.”
Election day is Nov. 3, 2024.