The Halton Catholic District School Board is set to consider feedback from hundreds of community members as they prepare to decide the future of a controversial policy that bans its schools from donating to charities that it says don’t align with Catholic values.

The feedback is contained in a report hundreds of pages long that will be considered at a meeting in Burlington Tuesday evening. Of the more than 900 responses, 74 per cent of people were against the motion.

“Our Catholic Board must distinguish itself by following Catholic teaching,” one proponent of the policy wrote. “All activities, events, and values should reflect who the Church truly is. This resolution is an obvious and necessary step toward honouring our Catholic faith.”

“Jesus said to ‘love thy neighbor’ and to ‘treat others as you would like to be treated’ so why are we going against his word and refusing to aid those in need?” wrote one opponent.

The board is revisiting a motion it approved in February that bans “any financial donations to any charities or non-profits that publicly support, either directly or indirectly, abortion, contraception, sterilization, euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research.”

The move had sparked an outcry from students and community members. After months of controversy — including rejecting Ontario’s then-minister of education’s request to suspend the policy — the board, on May 1, opted to put the motion on hold until “the completion of community consultations.”

Feedback was compiled through email and an online form, a Catholic School Council form, the May 2018 Catholic Council of Chairs meeting and delegations at regular board meetings.

The 21 per cent of people in support of the policy repeatedly mentioned the motion would uphold Catholic values and suggested those against the policy could donate where they wished on their own time, according to the report.

One parent wrote they “strongly” supported the motion, saying the board should promote the values of the Catholic faith.

“The amendments made reflect who we are as children of God,” the parent wrote. “The (school board) should not support any institution or charity that promotes attacks on human life and human rights. Human life is Sacred.”

A Halton Catholic ratepayer wrote that as Catholic educators, the board has “a moral responsibility to teach the students (and parents) that fall under your justification what it means to be Catholic in its fullest sense.

The 671 people against the policy repeatedly said they wanted freedom to donate to organizations that benefited others and suggested the proposed changes would go against Catholic values to love and help without discriminating, according to the report.

One parent wrote that the policy “goes against everything that is the basis of our faith.” The parent added that they “do believe in the sanctity of life, but I don’t agree on how this policy is attacking organizations that are working tirelessly to prolong life and helping those nearing the end of life.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I was a student in the Catholic education system, and I believed putting my daughter in the Catholic education system would allow her to grow up in a community surrounded by faith, love, understanding, and compassion for others,” another parent wrote. “After reading this proposed policy, I believe I may have been wrong.”

A petition from Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School students, in opposition to the motion, had 250 signatures.