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Stop aiding Catholic schools: rights group
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
September 28, 2007
Publication
Ottawa Citizen
Publication Date
September 24, 2007
Published Content
James Cowan
TORONTO - The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is capitalizing on the Ontario election's religious schools controversy to argue the province should stop funding Catholic schools altogether.
The national watchdog organization released a brief yesterday, arguing the Progressive Conservatives' plan to extend $400 million in public funding to Jewish, Muslim and other faith-based schools will ultimately make Ontario "a much less tolerant place."
However, the group is equally critical of the province's current situation, saying it is "inequitable and unjust" to fund Catholic schools, but not those of other religions. "There is simply no justification -- if ever there was one -- for conferring special benefits on the Catholic community at this time, and it would be unwise to extend such funding to every other group," the brief states.
The brief was sent to Liberal Education Minister Kathleen Wynne on Friday and will be distributed to the other parties.
While funding for Ontario's Catholic schools is enshrined in the British North America Act, the civil liberties group argues it is time for a constitutional amendment. In the campaign, only the Green party has taken a similar position. The Liberals and the NDP argue that the public has no interest in enduring a long and rancorous constitutional debate.
"People have not been lining up at my door for the past year saying, 'Let's have a constitutional debate,' " Ms. Wynne said yesterday. "They've been lining up asking about fixing the funding formula for special education or getting more arts teachers into the schools or getting the buildings repaired."
But Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, director of the civil liberties association's Freedom of Expression Project, said just because something is difficult does not mean it should not be done. She also noted both Quebec and Newfoundland have stopped funding religious schools in recent years.
The association also condemns the Conservative proposal to fund all religious schools. The organization argues public schools perform an "integrative role" in the community, a role that would be undermined if students attended faith-based schools instead.
My Response Letter
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has betrayed itself by suggesting that public funding to Jewish, Muslim and other faith-based schools will make Ontario "a much less tolerant place". How is this protecting Canadians' rights and freedoms (something that the association claims to do)? Instead of upholding the liberties enshrined in the Charter, the association is actively seeking to limit two fundamental freedoms: religion and association. Moreover, they are trying to do this without any evidence that faith-based education breeds intolerance. Perhaps the association is frightened that religiously educated Ontarians will balk at the association's repeated attempts to turn this province into a moral wasteland.
Jason Gennaro
Was my response published?
No