that the court upheld S.73 yet provided for flexibility in matters dealing with English-speaking Canadians and immigrants from other countries. Bill 104 In August 2007, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that a section of the province's language legislation is unlawful. The judgment stated that Bill 104, an amendment to the Charter passed in 2002 that stopped children of francophone and newcomers from using the English educational system, was contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The amendment was passed to thwart entry to English schools by pupils who had gone to at least one year of an unsubsidized private institution. It had been passed unanimously (by all parties) in the provincial legislature. The Appeal Court verdict disallowed a segment of Bill 104, suggesting that students can be present English public establishments if they have been at an English private academy for a minimum of one year or have been permitted a special dispensation. The Quebec government immediately announced it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, which it did. A judgment was given that delays use of that conclusion until the Supreme Court of Canada judges on a provincial administration request. The challenge to Bill 104 will continue but with funding from the English school boards affected, as the federal Court Challenges Program established for such minority language rights was cut by the Conservative minority government. There is a precedent for having the government pay the fees of the challenging side, or appointing an amicus curiae. A representative of the Quebec Association of Independent Schools proclaimed its goal to strike the delay, and Brent Tyler, the advocate for the 26 families in the case, declared he would pull together an appeal. The Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA) suspected the volume of probable English system learners who might be affected by this result to be 500 annually, the majority of whom would enroll in Montreal schools. It said such a loss to the French school enrollment of almost 1 million would be unimportant. It asked that the decision be respected until it can be referred to the Supreme Court. About half of all enrollment decline in the EMSB since 2002 has resulted from Bill 104, a low fertility rate and urban sprawl being other reasons, said a spokesman. A union of trusts zealous to watch over French is supporting the Quebec government in its venture