Ontario Conservatives' Error Gives Advantage to Liberals

Conservatives Retreat on Educational Funding Plank

There’s nothing like a poor showing in the polls to get a political party to make an about turn in its platform.
John Tory announced earlier this week that the provincial Conservative party would no longer support ‘faith based’ educational funding in Ontario.

Unfortunately, Tory’s about face on educational funding will likely cost him the election, and the uproar has already caused the Liberals to inch towards a majority according to the polls. I think we can conclude that voters have seen the Conservative madness for what it is, and in many cases have turned their support over to the Liberals.

The irony of the ill-thought out John Tory position on educational funding, is that the Conservatives would be repeating an error that was made in the early 80’s, when outgoing leader Bill Davis extended public funding to Catholic high schools, and by doing so saddled all future provincial governments to continue this duplication of educational spending.

So, regardless of the religion of taxpayers, we are compelled to subsidize the education and religious instruction of Catholics in their spanking new, state-of- the- art high schools, thereby eliminating the principle of the separation of religion and state. Other religious groups have to pay twice: education taxes and additional tuition (in the $1,000’s) if their children attended parochial schools.

By speaking out against this ongoing discrimination, John Tory sought to extend ‘public’ funds to ALL religious schools probably until his backroom boys did some number crunching and realized that they would bankrupt the province by using taxpayer money in such a frivolous manner. The existing educational system is already in dire financial straits.

Let’s put it in simple terms. Are taxpayers required to subsidize Catholic churches so people can attend church on Sunday? No. Then, why must taxpayers pay for the religious instruction that Catholic children are receiving in the Catholic schools across Ontario?

The provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland have eliminated religious funding for schools and it’s time that we did the same thing.

People are finally coming to their senses and realizing the unfairness of funding Catholic schools with public funds, especially given that a sizeable number of families cite “other” reasons for sending their children there. It could be a new building, the proximity of the school, friends attending the school, etc. It’s no secret that Catholic dioceses are struggling for their survival in Ontario, but that shouldn’t mean that taxpayers have to prop up religious teaching in the so-called “public” schools.

We have to get back to the basic definition of what a “public school” means. I think it means that we have one strong public system open to all, a system without costly duplication and empire building, and, most important of all, a specific religion not be a part of that system.

If parents want a religious education for their children, then they should be prepared to pay tuition for it, just like Muslim, Jewish, and Christian families are paying for it now.

The Ontario Conservatives opened a can of worms and after seeing no viable solution, have retreated to the trenches.