The York Catholic District School Board’s trustees voted six-to-four last week to reject a motion calling on them to hoist a version of the iconic rainbow flag – the Progress Pride Flag – at its Aurora, Ont. headquarters during Pride month in June. Education Minister Steven Lecce expressed “disappointment” at the board’s decision saying, “Every child in a publicly-funded school should be supported, should be affirmed and should feel safe.” He refused, however, to order the YCDSB to fly the flag.
The decision to not fly the flag during Pride month has caused a resurgence in conversations about whether there should be a publicly-funded Catholic school system in Ontario.
Section 93 of Canada’s constitution guarantees the right of Catholic education in a handful of provinces across the country. The system is a historical throwback, born from a very different time and a very different country. The constitutional provision protecting Catholic denominational rights was enacted at a time when the dominant school system favoured Protestantism. Catholicism in English Canada was considered a vulnerable minority.
As Michael Coren pointed out in The Walrus last year in his case against funding the separate system, “The origins of the funding system were largely noble. There were historical divisions between Catholics and Protestants, with people from both faiths raised in largely denominational communities … because Protestants were the majority in Canada from Confederation until the 1950s, protection of Catholic rights was vital.”
Opponents of the Catholic School system argue that as the province becomes more diverse and more secular, the demographic and political imperatives that required a separate system no longer exist. Rather, the system continues because of a powerful lobby, entrenched interests, and political inertia. Public opinion, however, seems to be on the side of change, with 56 percent of Ontarians surveyed by Ipsos in 2018 saying that they would support a merger of the Catholic and public school systems, creating a single school system.
Although the constitution sets a very high bar to some systems change, the process to merge the Catholic and public school systems is relatively straightforward. The 1982 Constitution Act, which created the constitution’s amendment procedure, only requires the provincial assembly and federal Parliament to agree to an amendment for provisions that only apply to certain provinces, such as section 93. In fact, both Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador ditched their separate school systems in the 1990s.
Despite the relatively simple procedure, as well as favourable public support, there has been little political will to amend the constitutional provision and dissolve the catholic school system in Ontario. This lack of political enthusiasm is informed by a history of negative outcomes for politicians looking to wade into the conversation surrounding publicly funded religious education in Ontario.
Progressive Conservative premier Bill Davis’s decision to extend full funding to Catholic schools in 1985 was received poorly and is generally cited as one of the reasons why the Tories were reduced to a minority government that year. The PCs were subsequently defeated in the 1987 election, ending over 40 years of conservative dominance in Ontario politics.
In 2007, then PC leader John Tory decided to take another approach: he promised to extend public funding to other faith-based schools, arguing it was a matter of “fairness.” Tory’s proposal was also poorly received, with the Tories losing badly and Tory himself failing to win a seat during the Ontario election.
The actions of Catholic school trustees in various parts of the province around flying the pride flag could change the political tide. The provincial Liberal leadership race is starting to heat up with candidates trying to stake out new policy ground. Advocating for a consolidation of publicly-funded schools in Ontario would certainly set them apart.