Judge rejects lawsuit seeking online class option for all Quebec children

MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled against a group of mothers who wanted to force the government to provide a remote learning option to all students during the pandemic.

Quebec requires primary and elementary school students to attend classes in person and only offers a remote learning option to students with specific medical conditions or whose parents are at risk of severe complications from COVID-19.

Justice Chantal Chatelain said in her ruling Monday that the mothers have the option to homeschool their children under rules that have existed since before the pandemic.

The judge wrote the mothers aren’t subject to any constraint from the state and that they have an option that respects both their concerns and their constitutional rights.

The applicants behind the lawsuit had said they didn’t want to impose their values on others but wanted to have the choice of whether to send their children to school during the health crisis.

Some of the mothers had said they wanted to keep their children home because they feared they would catch COVID-19 and spread it to family members. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2021

The Canadian Press