Toronto –A candidate for leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party has said he is willing to re-visit the issue of funding religious schools that enabled Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty to crush the opposition parties in the October election.
Michael Prue, the party’s spokesman on finance and community and social affairs, stressed he is not advocating a single school system that would withdraw funds already given Roman Catholic schools, but it is time for a debate on which schools the province funds.
The Liberals won comfortably after Progressive Conservative leader John Tory proposed the province fund schools of other religious groups, including Muslims, Hindus and Jews, in addition to those of Roman Catholics, and the New Democrats were swept away by the tide.
The October election provided no real debate on whether the province should continue funding Catholic schools. McGuinty claimed Tory’s proposal to fund the other religious schools would divide the community and hinder the integration of children who come from all parts of the world, and voters overwhelmingly accepted this.
The United Nations, with which most Ontarians normally are in tune, is among those who have said Ontario discriminates by funding schools of Catholics and not others.
The respected Canadian Civil Liberties Association says funding more religious schools would make Ontario less tolerant and the province should discontinue funding Catholic schools, because it is inequitable and unjust.
Defending funding Catholic schools is becoming more difficult. McGuinty has not explained why he supports funding Catholic schools except that it is required by the Constitution. A real debate on religious school funding would be forced to explain how schools for the religions refused would divide the community more than Catholic schools do.
It also would have to explain why Catholic schools are more worthy of funding. This writer’s five children were educated in Catholic schools and, if it is not conceited, have high standards in morals, ethics and humanity, but it could be argued they owe this as much to examples set by their mother as to their schools.
Prue is little known to the public, because opposition backbenchers rarely are mentioned by news media, but is a substantial candidate for the leadership being vacated by Howard Hampton. He is articulate, if somewhat ponderous in delivery, picks issues that matter and pursues them tenaciously.
He was a federal immigration adjudicator noted for enlightened judgments and later mayor of a Toronto-area municipality so respected all parties wanted him to run for the legislature for them, but he chose the NDP, which shows him more committed to principles than power.
Prue probably has hurt his chances of becoming leader, because the NDP will be wary of choosing someone who may appear even inadvertently to favour ending funding for Catholic schools and the Liberals and Conservatives will try to pin this label on him, but he has started a debate the province needs.
Eric Dowd is a veteren member of the Queen’s Park press gallery.
