Saskatchewan Court of Appeal

By Jessie Anton/ 650 CKOM

Province, Catholic schools to appeal education funding

Mar 12, 2019 | 10:01 AM

The province and the Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division will face the Good Spirit School Division (GSSD) in Saskatchewan’s highest court on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The case is an appeal of the 2017 judge’s decision barring non-Catholics from being funded to attend the province’s separate schools.

Education minister Gordon Wyant said on Monday at the legislature that the government will be “keeping a close eye” on the deliberations.

“We think parents have a choice in where they want to send their children to a publicly-funded institution — whether that’s in the Catholic system or the public system,” Wyant said.

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The decision could affect as many as 10,000 students, who would potentially have to switch systems if the ruling is applied.

Wyant noted the plan is still to invoke the notwithstanding clause under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to override the judge’s decision for at least five years, should they lose the appeal.

Despite the appeal’s outcome, he added, there’s a good chance this matter will end up in the supreme court.

“It’s a pretty important case — not just for Saskatchewan, but for Canada generally,” Wyant said. “I rather suspect that there will be an appeal notwithstanding that the court of appeal comes out with.”

Court case sparked by long-standing dispute

The court case stems from a long-standing clash between the public and Catholic school boards around the village of Theodore, about 40 kilometres northwest of Yorkton.

Back in 2003, Theodore’s public school was set to close, but a group of Catholics in the area successfully petitioned the province to form the Theodore Roman Catholic School Division, which eventually became a part of Christ the Teacher School Division (CTSD).

The group purchased the building and reopened it as a Catholic school.

Whether Catholic or not, parents in the area decided they preferred to send their kids to the local school rather than busing them to the public school in Springside, about 15 minutes away on Highway 16.

When it first opened in 2003, St. Theodore Roman Catholic had 42 students enrolled — only 13 of them, or 31 per cent, were Roman Catholic. That number has fluctuated over the years.

In 2005, GSSD filed a legal complaint, alleging it was against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for CTSD to get funding for non-Catholic students when GSSD was acting as the public board in the area.