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NDP leadership contender reignites debate on school funding
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
August 6, 2008
Publication
Toronto Star
Publication Date
July 19, 2008
Published Content
Rob Ferguson
Queen's Park Bureau
New Democrats should rethink their support for taxpayer funding of Catholic schools, MPP Michael Prue said as he launched his bid for the party leadership.
While funding for both public and Catholic schools has long been party policy, Prue said yesterday he is open to a debate on continued funding for separate schools.
"It is time, though, I think, that we take a look at that," Prue said in response to a question at a sidewalk news conference in Regent Park, where he was raised.
The comment brought the thorny issues of religion and politics back into the spotlight just months after Ontario's Progressive Conservatives blamed their stunning fall election defeat on an ill-fated plan to fund all religious schools.
Prue's aides quickly tried to end the session as he tried to backtrack, noting party policy is set by members and insisting he's not trying to "open" the Catholic school issue.
"The NDP needs to review all of its policies," added Prue, 60, a former mayor of East York. "We will be doing that at the convention in March at the same time as the leadership and I welcome those who want to look at that to bring it forward."
New Democrats vote in Hamilton in March on a replacement for Howard Hampton, who announced last month he is stepping down after 12 years at the helm.
It wasn't long before Catholic school officials raised alarm bells about the remark from Prue, who has been MPP for Beaches-East York since a 2001 by-election.
Toronto Catholic school trustee Rob Davis accused Prue of having a "secret plan" and called it "an assault" on Catholics. "Needless to say, Catholics across the province will be watching the NDP leadership race very closely," he said.
Prue insisted "I support the publicly funded school systems."
While Conservative Leader John Tory has dropped the idea of funding faith-based schools, the issue did rekindle debate on the merits of funding a religious school system as government budgets are squeezed.
Premier Dalton McGuinty, himself a Catholic whose wife teaches in the Catholic system, opposed Tory's plan to extend full funding to all religious schools but maintained it was fair to continue public funding for Catholic schools, which has been a fixture since Confederation.
Also running for the NDP's top job is Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson. Others expected to join the race include MPPs Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth) and Andrea Horwath (Hamilton Centre).
My Response Letter
Dear Mr. Prue:
I am apprehensive after reading about your proposal to reopen debate on the New Democrat policy regarding funding for both public and Catholic schools. The article below makes it appear as if you favour eliminating all forms of religious education.
If that assessment is correct, I urge you to reconsider your position.
As a member of the NDP, a party whose constitution relates that it is "dedicated to the extension of freedom", you should view as paramount the need to provide funding for religious education. Such funding allows parents to exercise their fundamental right to act responsibly in the education of their children. To restrict that right - by the removal of funding (and by the failure to extend funding to all religions) - is a direct assault on parents, who alone can choose the best and most appropriate methods for educating their children.
Please do not follow the route of obfuscation and division that some provincial leaders have chosen to follow.
With prayers for the difficult work you do,
Jason Gennaro
Did I get a response?
No