A Unified, Secular, Public School System in Ontario

The debate over the creation of such a system has heated up, at least in the blogosphere. Tomorrow's Trust, a Catholic education site, has added Uncorrected Proofs views on this issue to its main site, as well as some of the hate mail he has recieved from the 'religious right'. The creation of a unified, secular, public school system is something that we should all strive for. As a former student of the separate school board, I feel it is archaic and outdated, and thus needs to be modernized. They way to modernize Ontario's education system is to create this unified, secular, public education system.

Let me begin by stating that this in no way prevents the continuation of Catholic education; they will still be free to run their own religious education system, as every other religion currently is. The difference, however, is that Catholic education will no longer be funded by the government and tax payer. The separation of church and state has been a longstanding political tradition, and it's about time that Ontario's school system be reflective of this. Quebec and Newfoundland have already made similar changes.

One would be correct to point out that minority education (Catholic/Protestant) is guaranteed in Canada's constitution. However, the constitution is a living tree, and by no means does it have to stay the way it was in 1867. When it needs to be updated, then it ought to be updated. Such was the case with the infamous 'Persons case' in the 1930s. The historic compromise of minority religious education was appropriate in 1867, the same is no longer true today. To create a unified, secular, public education would require a constitutional amendment. Ontario would need to propose this to the federal government, who would also have to approve it. They did the same for Quebec and Newfoundland, so there is no reason to see it being a problem in Ontario. To this day, no court challenge has been able to alter the unified, secular system in either one of those provinces.

It is important to note that the United Nations has criticized Ontario for its education policy for violating basic human rights. Some may ask why not simply fund all religious education? Well, this would further connect religion and the state. As I mentioned previously, these entities need to be separated. Furthermore, Canada is- whether one likes it or not- a multicultural country. As such, separate education systems divide us and prevent culture from being shared. It creates the concept of 'the other,' and makes acceptance of other religions much harder. The very name of the system- the separate school board- clearly illustrates that instead of uniting Canadians, it divides and separates them.

I attended a Catholic high school from kindergarten to grade 12. Though those years, I didn't know anyone of Jewish faith, anyone of Hindu faith, anyone of Muslim faith, or anyone else besides Christians (presumably Catholics) that went to my school, or any Catholic school. I felt segregated from a cosmopolitan society. This represents the failure of Ontario's education system to integrate various religions; it also represents a major hindrance to the realization of true multiculturalism.

A unified, secular, public education would connect people from all nations, cultures, and religions. It would end the current system of divisiveness and discrimination. It's about time that Ontario recognize the fact that this is 2007.