Russell Copeman ready to protect English school boards as QESBA's new executive director

The Quebec English School Boards Association has a new executive director — Russell Copeman.

Copeman, a long-time municipal and provincial politician in Montreal's west end, was unanimously chosen by QESBA's board of directors, according to an announcement released by the organization Tuesday afternoon.

By Wednesday morning, Copeman was settling into his new office at QESBA and, he said, he looks forward to defending the essential role the boards play in the province's English-speaking community.

"The control and management of our boards is vital to the future of the community," said Copeman, who served as the Liberal MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce for 14 years, from 1994 until 2008.

"Good quality public education is vital to the future of the community."

As the provincial election campaign unfolds, Coalition Avenir Québec's proposal to disband school boards has caught the attention of anglophones across Quebec.

QESBA, which represents the school boards governing 100,000 English-language students in 340 schools across the province, has been increasingly active on this issue, and that effort will only increase in the days leading up to the election, said Copeman.

"We feel it is important that all the political parties understand the importance of and the role played by English school boards in the province and how significant they are to a vital and healthy English-speaking community," he said.

Local control is also important, he said, because the issues English-language schools face differ, depending on where they are in the province.

First executive director in 17 months

QESBA has been without an executive director for 17 months.

"Copeman has the experience and the knowledge to guide this association based on the goals the board of directors has established over the last year,"  says QESBA President Dan Lamoureux in announcing Copeman's appointment.

"He comes to QESBA with a vast knowledge of public policy and administration."

Copeman resigned from provincial politics in 2008, after accepting a job as a senior administrator and adjunct professor at Concordia University.

He held that academic position until he was elected borough mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in 2013, a role he played until his defeat in last November's municipal election.

Since then, he has been enjoying time with his family, but the position at QESBA was an opportunity he couldn't easily pass up, he said.

"I've been interested in public education for a very long time," said Copeman, noting he ran for a seat on the now-defunct Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal when he was in his late teens.

"I was very excited to see that the QESBA was looking for a new executive director."