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To the editor:

It was a pleasure to read the commentary "Flawed report, flawed conclusion" by Diana Hamilton and Matthew Litvak. They effectively challenged every argument Education Minister Kelly Lamrock used in defence of his decision to eliminate all French instruction for Anglophone students until Grade 5. I sincerely hope that the decision makers in our province will take the time to read this effective rebuttal of this terrible decision.

The report on which Lamrock based his decision to deprive all Anglophone students of French instruction until Grade 5 is the Croll/Lee report, which has been discredited by all FSL experts in the country. Most of the data analysis has been found to be wrong by a variety of academics, including 21 math professors from UNB.

This error-ridden report cost the taxpayers of the province $180,000. We paid approximately $1,800 per page for their efforts. This $180,000 could have been used to purchase books for school libraries, hire tutors for struggling students or buy SmartBoards for classrooms. I am sure teachers could come up with many other ways this money could have been used to improve the classroom situation for countless students. $180,000 of taxpayers' money should not be squandered. Governments must always realize how difficult it is for the ordinary taxpayer to earn such a sum of money and must be accountable when they spend it so freely.

The spending of $180,000 is even harder to understand when we learn that there was another FSL report (Rehorick Report) commissioned and paid for by the government less than two years before the Croll /Lee report was commissioned. (The Rehorick report was not released by the government and only made public because of Right to Information legislation.)

One can only wonder why Croll and Lee were hired to do this study. They have admitted they are not FSL experts. Their countless errors in the report call into question their analytical skills. Their lack of consultation with FSL experts and the obvious biases revealed through wording in the report make us wonder whether the outcome was predetermined, in which case the wasting of $180,000 is all the more outrageous.

The question remains, why were these two individuals hired? It is time for Liberal party executives, the Liberal associations of New Brunswick, the Liberal MLAs and most importantly, the Premier to put this question to the Minister of Education. It is time that the whole flawed process used to eliminate EFI is questioned by these same people. It is time the citizens of New Brunswick get straight answers from their government.

Bob Bernier

Millbrook