The Montreal Catholic School Commission (Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal, CECM) was a Roman Catholic school district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which operated both French-language and English-language schools. It was the largest school board in Quebec, and was created on June 9, 1846, at the same time as a Protestant school commission, which became the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. When Quebec's religious "confessional" school boards were replaced by linguistic ones in 1998, the French-language schools and the board's headquarters were turned over to the Commission scolaire de Montréal and its English-language schools to the English Montreal School Board. In 1847, the board had 377 pupils. By 1917, this number increased to 75,000 students. The first kindergarten was established in 1914. An alliance of Catholic teachers was founded in 1919. Primary education is established during the 1920s. During the 1930s, the MCSC began to distribute milk to students and the first school for the disabled opened.

Teachers threatened to strike in 1945. Union activist Léo Guindon was dismissed by the commission in 1948. In January 1949, a long strike paralyzed the board. The English sector of the MCSC became independent in 1963. In 1964, the Ministry of Education of Quebec was established, reducing the authority of boards and religious leaders in the school system. The school population reached a peak in 1970 with 229,000 pupils and 400 schools. The commissioners were originally appointed, but were elected for the first time in 1973. In 1981, the Levesque government of René Lévesque restricted access of the clergy to the schools. In 1982, the commissioners introduced a program of sexuality education. In 1990, the committee adopted a policy to promote the use of French.

In 1996, when the district celebrated its 150th anniversary, it had a total of 130,000 students; of them 90,000, including 80,000 in the French-language schools and 10,000 in the English-language schools, were in the public school system. The district served Montreal, Côte Saint-Luc, Hampstead, Montréal-Nord, and Westmount."Presentation of the CECM." Montreal Catholic School Commission. October 31, 1996. Retrieved on March 20, 2011.

As of 1996, the district had 229 French-language schools, including 150 elementary schools, 35 secondary schools, and 28 special schools (some operated adult education programmes, some operated vocational and technical programmes). The English-language schools included 20 elementary schools, 8 secondary schools, and five special schools. The district had 13 special schools for students with handicaps, disabilities, and behavioral problems. The district classified 40% of its enrollment as "multiethnic."

The end of the MCSC Groups such as the Committee for Neutral Schools opposed religious schools and religious school boards. In the 1990s, a secular group called the Mouvement laïque québécois began a class action lawsuit against the board, and two political parties competed for power within the MCSC: the religious Regroupement scolaire confessionnel led by Michel Pallascio (RSM) et the secular Mouvement pour une école moderne et ouverte laïciste (MEMO) headed by Diane De Courcy.

The MCSC and the other confessional school boards were abolished on July 1, 1998 by the Marois reform which secularized the public schools in Montreal and created linguistic school boards. The MCSC's last chairperson was Yves Archambault.

Most schools in the French-speaking sector went to the Commission scolaire de Montréal and those in the English-speaking sector went to the English Montreal School Board. Some schools in the eastern portion of the MCSC were transferred to the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île (CSPÎ), which had replaced the Commission scolaire Jérôme-Le Royer.Lagacé, Roger. "L’école Calixa Lavallée: depuis plus de 40 ans à Montréal-Nord." Métro (Canadian newspaper). 14 January 2015. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.

Schools

Elections for school trustees 1973 Electoral DistrictPositionTotal valid votesCandidates Mouvement scolaire confessionnel Les parents solidaires Mouvement pour la démocratisation scolaire Comité des parents responsables Independents District One Trustee 7,711Benoît Hubert (combined endorsement)2,318 (30.06%) Donat J. Taddeo3,052 (39.58%)Robert Lajeunesse1,509 (19.57%)Anita Bourget548 (7.11%)Carlo Gatti284 (3.68%) District Two Trustee 5,008Rollande Pelletier (combined endorsement)2,337 (46.67%) Francis Calabretta701 (14.00%) Réjean Dugas148 (2.96%) Frank Hanley1,512 (30.19%)Cléophas Saint-Aubin310 (6.19%) District Three Trustee 7,538 Michael J. McDonald (incumbent)5,432 (72.06%) Pierre Gauthier418 (5.55%) Gérard Nolot1,036 (13.74%)André Forget652 (8.65%) District Four Trustee 5,910Gerald J. Long (combined endorsement)2,090 (35.36%) Pierre Carignan2,432 (41.15%) Jacqueline Clermont457 (7.73%) Stella Ohan582 (9.85%)Gérard Raymond349 (5.91%) District Five Trustee 4,087 J-Réjean Charron900 (22.02%) Denis Brisebois1,151 (28.16%) Bernard Stockli522 (12.77%) Damase Leclerc589 (14.41%)Guy Primeau517 (12.65%)Denis Tremblay258 (6.31%)Edgar Frechette84 (2.06%)Manuel Teixeira66 (1.61%) District Six Trustee 4,745 Louisia Poirier1,385 (29.19%) Gaston Michaud1,409 (29.69%) Joseph L. Page (incumbent)1,198 (25.25%)Jean-Baptiste Landry500 (10.54%)Jean-Paul Gill167 (3.52%)Aldéo Forest86 (1.81%) District Seven Trustee 6,491 Norbert Lacoste2,902 (44.71%) Gaston Teasdale1,138 (17.53%) Adrien Simard1,949 (30.03%) Raymond Gosselin502 (7.73%) District Eight Trustee 5,332 Luc Larivée1,916 (35.93%) André Lorange1,735 (32.54%) Fernand Daoust (incumbent)1,431 (26.84%) Léonard Chevalier124 (2.33%)Edner Berlus78 (1.46%)Gérard Cabana48 (0.90%) District Nine Trustee 5,130Paul-Émile Riverin (combined endorsement)1,025 (19.98%) Pierre Legare2,224 (43.35%)Yolande Millette-Roux1,644 (32.05%)Rolland Roy237 (4.62%) District Ten Trustee 6,196 Pauline Morissette524 (8.46%) Robert Masse1,435 (23.16%) Lucien Boily1,750 (28.24%)Pierrette Brunet1,200 (19.37%)Gaëtan Lavoie515 (8.31%)Lucien Deschamps450 (7.26%)Ernest Cyr192 (3.10%)Zotique Duchaine130 (2.10%) District Eleven Trustee 7,211 André Bailey1,356 (18.80%) Gilbert Cinq-Mars1,058 (14.57%) Jean-Paul Cloutier813 (11.27%) Pierre Des Ruisseaux3,018 (41.85%)Jean Jodoin966 (13.40%) District Twelve Trustee 6,468 Léo Aubry1,386 (21.43%) André Milot736 (11.38%) Cécile Poissant2,662 (41.16%)Jean Bonetto872 (13.48%)Robert Patenaude466 (7.20%)Isidore Robichaud346 (5.35%) District Thirteen Trustee 7,977 Antoinette Paris704 (8.83%) Lise Sarrazin3,088 (38.71%) Aline Brun176 (2.21%) Oscar Damiani1,849 (23.18%)Philippe Lafortune1,396 (17.50%)Agostino Gaudelli764 (9.58%) District Fourteen Trustee 5,962 Gilles Plante1,294 (21.70%) Thérèse Lavoie-Roux (incumbent)3,186 (53.44%)Umberto di Genova706 (11.84%)Roger Gauthier484 (8.12%)Henri Paquet292 (4.90%) District Fifteen Trustee 7,384 Claudette Sauvé1,469 (19.89%) Louis Bouchard2,064 (27.95%)Clément Lemelin1,982 (26.84%)Gilles Desjardins1,390 (18.82%)Evasio Vellone479 (6.49%) District Sixteen Trustee 7,604Thérèse Killens (combined endorsement)3,358 (44.16%) Raymond Marcotte575 (7.56%) Aline St-Onge565 (7.43%) Norma Legault1,627 (21.40%)Tarcisio Donnini1,479 (19.45%) District Seventeen Trustee 11,404 André Morais1,171 (10.27%) Colette Biche6,627 (58.11%) Jude-Alexandre Dumas70 (0.61%) Hugues Poulin1,510 (13.24%)Jean-Marc Chevrier879 (7.71%)André Steenhaut619 (5.43%)Pierre Corbeil353 (3.10%)Nicole Aubry93 (0.82%)Victor Beauchemin82 (0.72%) District Eighteen Trustee 9,282 Joseph Savard2,638 (28.42%) Guy Messier2,139 (23.04%) Paul-Félix Baillargeon254 (2.74%) Patrice Laplante3,188 (34.35%)Giuseppe G. Delvasto769 (8.28%)Sid A. Zitouni294 (3.17%) District Nineteen Trustee 7,365Marcel Parent (combined endorsement)1,937 (26.30%) Paul Daigneault3,829 (51.99%)Gilles St-Onge1,109 (15.06%)J-Léopold Gagnier490 (6.65%)Sources: Le Devoir, 19 June 1973, p. 6; Le Devoir, 20 June 1973, p. 6 [District Ten].

PartyElected membersIndependent9Mouvement scolaire confessionnel3Les parents solidaires3Mouvement scolaire confessionnel–Les parents solidaires2Mouvement pour la démocratisation scolaire2 1977 Electoral DistrictPositionTotal valid votesCandidates Mouvement scolaire confessionnel Regroupement scolaire progressiste Independents District One Trustee Benoît Hubert (elected) Lucille Morel District Two Trustee Rollande Pelletier (incumbent; elected) Viviane Caron District Three Trustee 7,947 Donat Taddeo (incumbent)7,227 (90.94%) Jacques Desjardins720 (9.06%) District Four Trustee Robert Sauvé (elected) Pierre Normandeau District Five Trustee J.-Réjean Charron Yves Archambault Denise Brizard (elected) District Six Trustee Jimmy di Genova (elected) Gaston Michaud (incumbent) Raymond Gosselin District Seven Trustee Norbert Lacoste (incumbent; elected) Irène Poupart J-Albert RouleauMarcel Thibault District Eight Trustee Luc Larivée (incumbent; elected) André LeBlanc Robert Aubin District Nine Trustee Rodrigue Tourville (elected) Pierre Legare (incumbent) André Laquinte District Ten Trustee Jean-Guy Deschamps (elected) André CôtéJohn Galipeau District Eleven Trustee Pierre Des Ruisseaux (incumbent; elected) Yolande Paquette Auguste Mollica District Twelve Trustee Madeleine Neron (elected) Cécile Poissant (incumbent) Alain Paquette District Thirteen Trustee Angelo Montini (elected) Lise Sarrazin (incumbent) Daniel Rizard District Fourteen Trustee Jeannette Milot (elected) Umberto di GenovaGilbert Rouleau District Fifteen Trustee Louis Bouchard (incumbent; elected) Clément Lemelin Robert DesrochersEvasio Vellone District Sixteen Trustee Thérèse Killens (incumbent; elected) Norma Legault District Seventeen Trustee Colette Biche (incumbent; elected) Hélène Savard-Jacob District Eighteen Trustee Éric Renaud (elected) Jacqueline Arcand-Beauchemin (incumbent) Guy-Maurice Lalonde District Nineteen Trustee André Corbeil (elected) Jacques Bergeron Thérèse DesrochesSources: Le Devoir, 7 June 1977, p. 3 (party affiliations); Montreal Star, 14 June 1977, A10.

PartyElected membersMouvement scolaire confessionnel18Independent1 1980