Joe Ortona has been elected for a second term as chair of the English Montreal school board. His team has swept the election, with his representatives being elected in all ten wards. Ortona received 13,289 votes, defeating his opponent Katherine Korakakis, who received 4,674 votes.
The EMSB is embroiled in multiple legal battles with the province over autonomy and language rights. They are fighting the province on Bill 40, which seeks to abolish the board, Bill 21, which prevents schools from hiring teachers and staff who choose to wear religious symbols, and the controversial French language law, Bill 96, which would prevent them from communicating internally in English.
In an interview with CJLO, Ortona vowed to continue these legal battles, and to dispel the “myth that private education is better” than public.
