When the Constitution Act of 1867 was enacted, section 93 guaranteed certain educational rights to Catholics and Protestants in Quebec, but not to any others. Over the course of the next century, the Jewish community in Montreal carved out an often tenuous arrangement for public schooling as “honorary Protestants,” based on complex negotiations with the Protestant and Catholic school boards, the provincial government, and individual municipalities. In the face of the constitution’s exclusionary language, all parties gave their compromise a legal form which was frankly unconstitutional, but unavoidable if Jewish children were to have access to public schools. Bargaining in the shadow of the law, they made their own constitution long before the formal constitutional amendment of 1997 finally put an end to the issue.

In Honorary Protestants, David Fraser presents the first legal history of the Jewish school question in Montreal. Based on extensive archival research, it highlights the complex evolution of concepts of rights, citizenship, and identity, negotiated outside the strict legal boundaries of the constitution.

David Fraser is a professor in the School of Law at the University of Nottingham.

David Fraser's profile page

The Osgoode Society's profile page

‘With the appearance of Fraser’s Honorary Protestants, I can refer to a full legal history of the topic that is exhaustive in its attention to detail. The book is extensively researched and forcefully argued.’

Canadian Jewish Studies vol 24:2016

‘Honorary Protestants is an impeccably researched history of the tensions, contexts, and meanings of the struggles to delineate how, in what manner, and with which accommodations Jewish children were schooled in the Montreal public school system.’

University of Toronto Quarterly vol 86:03:2017

"Honorary Protestants is a valuable new contribution to educational history that should appeal to all historians in Canada interested in understanding the intricate links between law, policy, and the social realities of public schooling. Fraser’s study is a welcome addition to educational history, and has set new standards for research into the legal underpinnings of mass schooling. It will serve students and senior scholars well in the years to come."

History of Intellectual Culture, vol 11 1