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The trial judge had found, based on current enrolment of s. 23 children aged 6 to 11, as well as demographic projections for children up to 5 years of age in the area, that the relevant number of children who could potentially take advantage of French language education was 306. This was a projection covering a ten-year period. In this case, the appropriate estimate of the potential number of students who might attend the facility in any given year is 155, the uncontested number projected by the expert witness, Ms. Angéline Martel. Therefore, according to the approach advocated in Mahe, the relevant number would be between 49 and 155. The trial judge also attached some importance to the experience of parents in Charlottetown where projected numbers were surpassed once the educational facility was in place. He compared the population of each locality and inferred that the same response could be expected. This was not an unreasonable inference. We agree with the appellants that there was sufficient evidence to support this inference, especially because no evidence was presented to rebut it.
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