When the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie‑Britannique creating ten new schools, there were other parties involved in the case: seven provinces and territories that opposed section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Those provinces and territories supported British Columbia's position that creating those francophone schools costs too much and that it is appropriate in a free and democratic society, under section 1 of the Charter, to violate section 23 of the Charter and not build the schools that francophones are entitled to under the Constitution.
The truly sad thing is that section 23 and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in general are supposed to be important elements of Canadian identity. The fact that so many provinces and territories support violating section 23 is truly striking. Imagine the hue and cry it would set off if section 1 were cited in Quebec to close English schools because there are more than necessary.
So this is a truly deplorable situation and that was my reason for saying that immersion should not be included in the federal protocol. Federal money should be used to counter the anglophone provinces' underfunding of education in French for their francophone minorities.