| Steal This Green Idea |
|
|
|
| Thursday, 27 September 2007 | |
|
Article by: Kate Heartfield, member of the editorial board of the Ottawa Citizen. The people of Ontario have a real conundrum ahead of them. The only party with a position on faith-based schools that makes sense has no chance of forming the government. I'm talking about the Greens, who got together, hashed it out, and decided that the government should fund one secular system (in both languages) and leave private schooling to the private sector. This is, as nearly all candidates acknowledge, the kind of system Ontario would create, were it creating a new education system today. But the Greens are the only ones who go the next logical step, who say: Well, why don't we just do it, then? After all, other provinces have. The Greens don't have to worry about losing seats to irate Catholics or resentful Muslims. They haven't got any seats to lose. So they can make their decisions in much the same way the Citizen's editorial board does - without an electoral bias. The editorial board has, for some time, recognized the unfairness in the status quo and argued that the best solution is a single, secular system. The parties with seats to lose don't have the luxury of relying on reason. It has been painful to watch the Liberal candidates from Eastern Ontario flounder around in the Citizen's boardroom as they try to explain their party's position, which is to maintain the separate Catholic public board. Adding to the general confusion, Liberals sometimes use the word "public" to mean the secular system, and sometimes to mean the secular-plus-Catholic system. Kind of makes you think. Or it should. The Progressive Conservatives, to their credit, recognize the unfairness in the status quo. So why do they want to fund other religious schools, rather than take the Catholic religion out of the public system? I found Tory MPP Bob Runciman's answer to that question instructive: "I'm hearing from some folks in the Catholic community who are concerned about this debate, in that it could jeopardize the Catholic system. That could be, perhaps, what the end result is of this. And when we talk about divisive issues, I think that could be a most divisive issue in the province of Ontario." So the Tories don't want to anger the Catholics. It is easier, politically speaking, to give money than to take it away. But that's not a conservative position. A true conservative would begin by asking himself why he thinks the government should fund education at all. Why does the state fund an education system? So that all children, regardless of class or background, can learn. If parents want to send their children to private schools for extras, such as catechism or lessons in deportment or whatever, that's their right, so long as the children also learn the basic curriculum. But the state has no obligation to fund those extras, so it probably shouldn't. The argument that religious families shouldn't pay taxes as well as private-school fees holds no water. Every family pays taxes to support the education system, whether it's a family of 10 children or of none. The education system is a public good, not a pay-per-use service. As for the NDP candidates, they look as if they want to fall through the floor any time someone asks them about faith-based schools. They've been blindsided by this issue. Most of them parrot the Liberals. I'm convinced that a single secular system makes the most sense. But if I vote for the Greens, under our first-past-the-post electoral system, my choice will have no practical consequence. Besides, the field of Green candidates in Eastern Ontario is uneven, to put it mildly. Some are excellent; some are incapable of holding public office. If we had a mixed-member proportional system, I could make two marks on my ballot: one for the person of any party I felt could best represent my riding, and one for the Greens, to express agreement with the one party that has a coherent position on one of the biggest issues of this election. If the Greens put their best candidates at the top of their slate, those people would be elected to reflect the percentage of the popular vote the party got. Many Ontarians agree with the idea that the public system should be secular. After the next election, it's likely that not a single member in the legislature will be speaking up for that view, thanks to our current electoral system. The most coherent position on education reform will disappear from the public debate, unless someone steals it. For years, the Greens have been fond of saying that they love it when other parties steal their ideas. Their policy on faith-based schools is one idea that is in desperate need of stealing by any party that has the power to implement it. |
|
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 September 2007 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|