Joe Ortona, QESBA President

Joe Ortona is the President of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) and chair of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB). He graduated in Civil Law, followed by Common Law, and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Ottawa. He passed the bar in 2011 and has been working as a lawyer since. He started his governance role with the EMSB in 2014, when he ran for election as school board commissioner for Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP) and won. He held that position for six years, and in 2018 became vice-chair. He has been involved in legislative matters over the years, particularly in the matter of school board governance. He has strongly advocated against Quebec’s Bill 40 (“An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance”) and Quebec’s Bill 21 (“An Act respecting the laicity of the State”), which bans religious symbols.