If taxpayers are funding Catholic schools, why not fund Druids and Scientologists? It's only fair

David Robinson, March 5, 2018

In the wake of recent revelations that a Greater Toronto Area Catholic School Board has banned charitable donations to organizations that do not share the values of the Catholic Church, Dr. David Robinson, nominated candidate for the Green Party of Ontario for the Sudbury riding, is calling for reform of Ontario’s schools systems.

“As an economist, it’s been clear to me for a long time that funding four school boards that deliver essentially the same services within overlapping areas is fiscally wasteful – in fact, it’s downright stupid,” says Robinson. “But beyond the economic arguments, there’s a fundamental question of fairness that really angers Ontarians. If we fund a Catholic school system, we have to fund the Druids and the Scientologists. Religious discrimination in favour of any group is wrong.”

The Toronto Star reported that the publicly-funded Halton Catholic District School Board has directed only organizations that share the values of the Catholic Church can receive charitable funding. The prohibition could lead to charitable organizations like the Red Cross and the United Way being put on a blacklist by the Board.

“What the Halton Catholic Board is doing is outrageous,” says Robinson. “We are talking about publicly funded discrimination. They can do this because the other parties are absolutely terrified of this issue. A publicly-funded institution that actively works against a woman’s right to make safe, fully informed choices regarding her health shouldn’t keep getting public funds.”

It may have made sense in 1867 to establish funding for separate schools – Catholic and Protestant – but times have changed in the ensuing 151 years. Funding Catholic school boards to the exclusion of all other religions is unacceptable in Ontario’s diverse society today.

“Other provinces have done away with this wasteful duplication by merging publicly-funded school boards. They are fairer, better places for it. Ontario can do the same,” says the Green candidate.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has twice censored Ontario for discrimination in the province’s education system. It is not fair, equitable or responsible to fund one religious school board to the exclusion of all others. The Green Party of Ontario has long called for reforming the wasteful spending of $1 billion annually on duplicating services between various school boards.

“Supporting four separate bureaucracies is not the smart way to promote curriculum reform,” Robinson adds.

“There’s an election coming up on June 7th, “ says Robinson. “I want to make sure that we have a discussion about this. I want to know if Sudbury’s other nominated candidates will continue to support religious discrimination. I want to know if they support bureaucratic waste. And I think that the voters want to know, too.”

“The other parties all favour the status quo, even though it’s unfair, even though the United Nations has condemned Ontario, and even though it’s disgustingly wasteful. They’ve got to answer to voters in Sudbury and throughout Ontario about why they continue to support this archaic, costly and discriminatory approach to educating our children.”

