 TORONTO - Caught between a desire to protect Catholic education rights and the necessity of staying out of the political arena during an election campaign, Ontario’s bishops have restated their 1989 position in favour of parental choice in education.
“Our commitment to the best education for all students impels us to respect and support the wishes of parents in other faith communities for religious education in the public school system,” said a Sept. 7 press release from Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops, quoting its 1989 letter on education, This Moment of Promise.
That position is really just a reflection of long-standing Catholic teaching, and not a political position in favour of either the Progressive Conservatives, who are promising to extend funding to non-Catholic religious schools, or the Liberals, who are campaigning against the Conservative proposal.
“The principle is there in Gravissimum Educationis,” said St. Catharines Bishop James Wingle, president of the OCCB. He was referring to the 1965 Declaration on Catholic Education proclaimed by Pope Paul VI.
The magisterium of the church states that parents have a duty to educate their children and the state’s role is to assist parents in their task as primary educators of their children, said Wingle.
Meanwhile, a Sept. 10 Ipsos Reid poll published by the National Post shows a majority of Ontario voters favour achieving fairness in education funding by eliminating publicly funded Catholic schools. Only 23 per cent of respondents to the poll favour maintaining the status quo in education funding, while 53 per cent would choose a single public system. Twenty-one per cent would extend funding to non-Catholic religious schools.
The bishops won’t be drawn into a political fight over how to fairly fund faith based education, said Wingle.
“I have no competence personally in matters political,” he said. “I’m not a politician. I don’t pretend to be one. Those are political questions, and they really should be resolved by both administrative and political persons.”
“I’m really appreciative of this statement,” said Stuart Lewis of the Ontario Association of Jewish Day Schools, one of several groups campaigning hard in favour of the Conservative proposal. “It’s very fair. It’s very principled. And it’s exactly what I would expect of this community.”
If Catholics want to keep their funding they should back extended religious education funding, said Lewis.
“I don’t think this is just about the 53,000 kids who want to come into the system. I think this is about the 650,000 (Catholic) kids who want to stay in the system,” he said.
Given popular opinion, the status quo is unlikely to endure, said Lewis. “Everyone has to recognize the undercurrent of growing public support to pull all faith based funding from Ontario. I think we all see that. We see it in letters to the editor and editorials,” he said. “When you talk about fairness, I think it is infinitely unfair to take anything away from a citizen of this province.”
Wingle said the best argument in favour of Catholic school funding is the quality of the schools, and the contribution their graduates make to Canada.
“The living proof of the vitality of Catholic education in the province of Ontario is its robust, vigourous existence,” he said. “We’re proud, we’re justly proud. I’m proud of our Catholic schools. I see wonderful things happening in them. If you look across society, virtually every sector of our society has splendid people who are graduates of our Catholic schools serving in every capacity one could think of.”
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