Brad Woodside defends language tweet amid criticism

Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside is once again defending contentious statements that he's made on social media about language policy in New Brunswick.

The Fredericton mayor caused the language controversy last Friday evening with his only tweet of the day.

He questioned the cost of having separate school bus systems for anglophone and francophone students in New Brunswick.

Woodside reinforced his criticism of New Brunswick policy of a dual bus system for children in the anglophone and francophone schools on Wednesday. 

"This one just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. Segregation no matter how you look at it is segregation as well," he said on Information Morning Fredericton.

"This is the sort of thing that we teach the kids in school is not good and on the same hand we implement something that actually encourages it. I think kids belong together when they are playing and when they are riding on a school bus."

The Fredericton mayor said parents in Kent County embraced bilingual buses. He said that model should be used elsewhere. 

Woodside also said it would save money for the cash-strapped province.

But the municipal politician did not say how much it would save or how the provincial government would implement it or how many children across New Brunswick would be affected.

The original tweet caught Michel Doucet, a law professor at the University of Moncton, by surprise.

"I found it unfortunate that he's coming back with that issue," said Doucet.

"I know he had raised that earlier in the spring. I thought that the matter had been put aside. I was kind of surprised to see that he's coming back with that at this time.

"I don't know what really provoked him to raise the issue again at this point."

Rosella Melanson, the former executive director of the now-disbanded New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women, was on Twitter looking for reaction from other Fredericton councillors to Woodside's social media post.

On Wednesday, Woodside said he was only repeating what others have said to him.

The Fredericton mayor said he doesn't believe these comments will hurt him with Fredericton's francophone population.

He said he's made efforts to speak French at Acadian Day festivals.

"Really, all the things that I've done to bring the communities together and to show that I'm trying as mayor of the city really shouldn't unravel because I've made a comment based on busing school kids and the segregation of those kids," he said.

"It's a totally different story."

Previous social media controversy

This isn't the first time that Woodside has become embroiled in a social media furor about language policy in New Brunswick.

The tweet on Friday was reminiscent of one posted by Woodside in February about linguistic duality.

The February tweet set off a firestorm of opposition, with the New Brunswick Association of Francophone Municipalities issuing a statement to denounce Woodside's comments and demand a retraction.

Woodside subsequently issued a written statement clarifying that his comments about duality of services did "not reflect in any way the position of FCM."

Woodside's one-year term as the president of the national federation expired on June 7 when Raymond Louie was acclaimed president of the organization.

The francophone community and the provincial government say having dual French and English school bus systems is protected under the Charter of Rights section that gives a minority official language group in Canada the right to control their school system.

The francophone community says the separate school buses are needed to ensure the safety of unilingual French students in cases where the bus driver doesn't speak French and to guard against assimilation.

Education Minister Serge Rousselle issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon following Woodside's latest foray into language issues.

"As you know, busing of students based on school districts has been standard for years in New Brunswick," Rousselle's statement said.

"There has been recent debate over the practice. As a result, the government of New Brunswick is sending a reference question to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal. The government won't comment until the matter has been ruled on."

NDP also challenges separate buses

NDP Leader Dominic Cardy also challenged the need for separate school bus systems in February.

Education Minister Serge Rouselle has asked the New Brunswick Court of Appeal for its opinion on the issue through a reference case.

"There's kind of an obligation to give a better explanation than just tweeting, `I think that I've been convinced the issue should be raised again," Doucet said.

The law professor said Woodside has a responsibility as the mayor of the capital of a bilingual province to deal with language issues "more responsibly."

"There must be a reason why he's doing it at this time and I believe that he has an obligation to explain to the citizens of Fredericton, but also to the citizens of the province, why he wants to raise that issue at this time," he said.

Woodside said he agrees with Doucet that his profile as Fredericton's mayor offers him a platform to talk on important issues. He said that's why he opted to speak out on the busing system.

"I think a tweet in the right place from the right person can enable debate to take place and I think that is extremely important because there are certain things that are taboo, certain things that you don't want to touch," he said.