Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville is reiterating that the $540 million reinvestment in student services must be accompanied by a reduction in administrative expenses for school service centres (CSS).
Quebec will not sign “a blank check” for CSS, he maintained in a press scrum late Wednesday morning in Lévis. Questioned about his promise announced two weeks earlier, the CAQ minister once again stated that the $540 million envelope “is not an open bar” for the CSS.
“The $540 million must go entirely to student services, and it must be accompanied by reductions in administrative expenses for school service centers,” declared Drainville.
To obtain money from the envelope, the CSS will have to be accountable and provide monthly proof that they have met their spending commitments, the minister explained.
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“We’re not going to give them the amount all at once,” he stated. “We’re telling them: ‘This is the money you’ll be entitled to. Now, we’re not giving you a blank check.’ There will be accountability, and the payments will be made monthly.”
He mentioned that the CSS have already been “in administrative spending review mode” for several months and have begun to identify where they can cut.
“We’ve supported them in this. And the reinvestment we’re making is accompanied by efficiency measures, then a reduction in bureaucracy, then a reduction in administrative spending,” Drainville argued.
When it unveiled its budget rules in June, the Legault government asked the CSS to reduce their spending by $570 million for the next year.
This decision sparked a public outcry. A few weeks later, Quebec reversed course, and Drainville announced a reinvestment of $540 million on social media.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
