Joe Ortona's team sweeps English Montreal School Board election

Joe Ortona has been re-elected as chair of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) in a sweeping victory, with his team winning all commissioner seats contested.

The EMSB announced that Ortona received 13,289 votes, defeating Katherine Korakakis, who garnered 4,674 votes.

These elections were the first for English school boards since Quebec’s Bill 40 was passed in 2020, a law that abolished French school boards, replacing them with school service centers. However, English school boards remain active.

Following the Coalition Avenir Québec’s (CAQ) passing of Bill 40, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) legally challenged it and secured a Superior Court ruling that found Bill 40 infringes on the constitutional rights of Quebec's English-speaking minority.

The EMSB is also involved in legal disputes with the CAQ government over aspects of Bill 96, the province’s French language law, as well as the secularism law.

Sunday’s election was seen by many in the English-speaking community as a chance to affirm the significance of English school boards. Voter turnout for the EMSB, Quebec’s largest English school board, was 22 percent. The EMSB was the only board with contested positions for both chair and commissioner, and the results for each ward were published by the board.

Ortona initially took over as EMSB chair in 2020, following the resignation of Angela Mancini.

Commissioner Elections for Other Boards

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) in Montreal held elections for three of its 12 commissioner seats, with Frank diBello, Alaina Charzan, and Maureen Baron winning those positions. Judy Kelley was re-elected as LBPSB chair unopposed.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB), which serves Laval, Lanaudière, and the Laurentians, will have a new chair soon. Current chair Paolo Galati, also a Laval city councillor, chose not to run again amid allegations of misuse of public funds. James Di Sano and Adam Mark Gordon are competing for the chair position, and elections were held for two additional seats.

Élections Québec's website indicates that all seats were filled by acclamation at the Eastern Townships School Board, the Riverside School Board, and the New Frontiers School Board.