This article is reprinted (with a few modifications) from “The View from Conestogo”
We think of our public school system in Canada as being basically “secular”. By that I mean that our public school system(s) are not officially meant to be institutions sanctioned by our governments to promote a particular religious point of view. Yes, they promote a general set of inclusive “values”. But not a set of specific religious beliefs.
The exception to this is the preferential treatment given to the Roman Catholic “separate” schools that exist in some Canadian provinces (Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.) These school systems are constitutionally protected and receive provincial government funding.
The Origin of Separate RC Schools in Canada
The existence of publicly-funded Protestant/Catholic schools was an outcome of the history of Canada. When the British defeated the French in 1763, Canada was populated by mostly Roman Catholics living along the St Lawrence River in what is now the Province of Quebec.
But the British crown had rejected the Roman Catholic church (and the authority of the Pope) roughly two centuries earlier and replaced it with Anglicanism. So the official religion of the British Empire was Anglican. To avoid internal fighting the British government gave the residents of British North America the right to organize Roman Catholic Schools, but only if the same right was extended to Protestants in predominantly Roman Catholic areas such as Quebec.
It is important to recognize that both systems – Protestant and Catholic – were organized by churches and promoted the beliefs and practices of their respective organizing bodies. There was no “secular” system of schools as we think of the public systems today.
This compromise was maintained as the provinces developed. When Canada was split between Upper (Ontario) and Lower (Quebec), the right to have two systems was maintained. In Quebec this protected the rights of Protestants (who didn’t want to be indoctrinated by Catholics.) In Ontario it protected the rights of Catholics (who didn’t want to be indoctrinated by Protestants.) This was an agreement reached by the leaders of the two main parts of the colony of Canada.
Separate Schools Confirmed at Confederation
This was formalized further in 1867 at Confederation. Gradually the “Protestant” school system became secular – not run by churches, or including specific religious teaching or practices. This secularization happened for a variety of reasons but was certainly helped along by the simple fact that there were so many different versions of Protestants, and no dominant group.
The Catholic church, on the other hand, was rigidly uniform and its doctrines tightly controlled by the church hierarchy. So the Catholic system (which was also publicly funded) was able to maintain its insistence on including specific Roman Catholic religious training.
The “Public” School System is not “Protestant”
So to call the “public” system “Protestant” is a misnomer in today’s Ontario. It is a secular system open to all and with no overt religious content. The “right” to publicly funded religious schools is limited and, arguably, discriminatory. This “right” is not available to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or any religious group other than Roman Catholics. It is completely the result of political compromises made since the founding of Canada, and, in a very important sense, the result of outdated thinking.
The basic problem here is that the current system of “separate schools” is discriminatory. It accepts that Roman Catholic citizens have rights to public funding that other groups (for example, Muslims) do not have. In typical Canadian fashion we have never made a serious effort to address this problem.
As in the case of the use of our odd relationship to the British monarchy our usual response is “What’s the big deal?” It is much easier to simply leave things the way they are.
Of course there is some wisdom in this approach. Being hard-headed about religious issues in politics usually ends up badly (e.g., Ireland). So perhaps it is best to just let this one fade away until no one takes religion seriously enough to care.