Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
I think the onus should be on Catholic Schools to justify why they should have a right to exist and use our tax dollars, vs any other argument. And I've never heard a justification for their existence that doesn't place their club in some special position relative to all other clubs.
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In 6 of 13 provinces and territories, other religious groups can form their own separate school systems and have their tax money directed towards it. The Catholic school system is the largest separate school system in Canada, but not the only one. There are Protestant schools, Jewish schools, Indigenous schools, and Muslim schools as well.... probably others.
As for why, because it was enshrined in the British North America Act in 1867. Catholic schools predated confederation by 250 years. It would have been hard to push confederation on people if your goal was to remove their rights. Minority rights were written into the BNA, which is a good thing. Rights for Catholics were specifically mentioned because at that time, they were regularly targeted for discrimination in the English speaking world. Without putting that into the BNA, several parts of what is now Canada, would never have agreed to join.