Yukon appeals francophone high school decision

The Yukon government is appealing a recent Yukon Supreme Court order to build a new francophone high school in Whitehorse.

In July, Justice Vital Ouellette ordered a new school built to accomodate high school students atthe K-12 school colemilie Tremblay within the next two years. The judge also ordered the government restore $1.95 million in federal funds that were designated for french education in the territory, but were instead diverted by the territorial government to other education programs.

Lawyers for the government maintain the francophone judge was biased and his rulings were legally wrong.

Yukon government lawyer Maxime Faille said the judge's order is unprecedented.

"Presumably it could potentiallygo to the Supreme Court of Canada, but one step at a time,"Faille said. "Right now our instructions are to appeal the decision and that will obviously be a fairlylengthy processbut we feel it's an important one. And we feel thatit's justified given the far reaching nature of this decision and given our view that it is wrong legally and factually."

Yukon lawyers say Ouellette has been an advocate for francophone school rights in Canada and should never have been allowed to judge the Yukon school board dispute.

Appeal claims 'errors in facts'

The 10-page notice of appeallistsdozens ofincidents that government lawyers say demonstrate Ouellete's bias. It details dozens more "errors in law" and "errors in facts" by Ouellete. None of these claims have been tested in court.

The government appeal concludes there's no legal basis on which a judge can make such an order.

"To expand a school that is operating at 60 percent capacity is unprecedented and to order the government to do that is quite unprecedented," Faille said.

Officials with Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon have argued that conditions have deteriorated at cole milie-Tremblay to the point where they can no longer retain students through the senior grades because of poor, overcrowded facilities. They have pegged costs of a new school at $30-million.

The K-12school had 184 students during the most recent academic year. Officials said the elementary grade levels have been overcrowded, leaving insufficient space for older students.

But the Yukon government said students at cole milie-Tremblay are already well-served by the existing facility.

There's no word on how soon the appeal will be heard.