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 decisive victory that saw members of his team sweep each of the commissioner positions that were up for grabs.

According to a release from the EMSB, Ortona racked up 13,289 votes, defeating Katherine Korakakis who received 4,674 votes.

These were the first English school board elections since the Quebec government passed Bill 40 in 2020. The law abolished school boards across the province and replaced them with school service centres.

English school boards are still standing, however.

Shortly after the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government passed Bill 40, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) challenged the law and has since scored a victory in Superior Court, with a judge ruling that Bill 40 violates the constitutional rights of the province's English-speaking minority.

The EMSB is also currently embroiled in legal battles with the CAQ government, challenging parts of Bill 96, the province's French-language law as well as its secularism law.

To many people in the province's English-speaking community, Sunday's vote was a way to highlight the importance of English school boards. 

The voter turnout for the EMSB — the largest English board in Quebec — was 22 per cent.

The EMSB was the only board that had candidates for the chair and each commissioner position. The board published the results for each of its wards.

Ortona took over as board chair in 2020 after previous chair Angela Mancini stepped down.

Elections for other commissioner spots

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB), which also operates on the island of Montreal, had elections for three of its 12 commissioner positions.

Frank Di Bello, Alaina Charzan and Maureen Baron won those spots. Judy Kelley did not have an opponent was re-elected as the LBPSB chair. 

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School board (SWLSB), which covers Laval, the Lanaudière and the Laurentians, has a new chair.

James Di Sano won the board's top spot, defeating Adam Mark Gordon. 

Di Sano takes over from Paolo Galati. Galati, who is also a Laval city councillor, decided against running for re-election following allegations of improper use of public funds.

Desiree Ramacieri and Heather Appleby were also elected as commissioners for the SWLSB.

According to Élections Québec's website, the Eastern Townships School Board, the Riverside School Board and the New Frontiers School Board are among those that had all their positions filled by acclamation.