Saskatchewan to appeal school funding decision that it already plans to bypass

REGINA – The Saskatchewan government says it will appeal a Court of Queen’s Bench ruling that says the province can’t provide Catholic schools funding for students who aren’t Catholic.

In a release, Justice Minister Gordon Wyant says he hopes the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal will clarify the lower court’s decision.

The move is not surprising, given that Saskatchewan has already said it will use the notwithstanding clause to avoid the court’s directive.

Education Minister Don Morgan says invoking the rarely used section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will give parents certainty about the schools they chose for their children, regardless of the outcome of the appeal.

“The notwithstanding provisions last for a period of five years so we want to have some certainty, the court case is already underway and gone this far so we think it is a proper way to conclude everything,” Morgan said.

Morgan said other provinces are interested in what Saskatchewan is doing.

“Ontario and Alberta have got very similar pieces of legislation so we are concerned about what the precedent would be. We have already heard from other jurisdictions that may want to participate in the appeal.”

The court ruling released last month said provincial government funding of non-minority faith students attending separate schools infringes on religious neutrality and equality rights.

Justice Donald Layh’s decision stems from a lawsuit over the province’s policy of funding separate schools based solely on student enrolment without regard to the religious affiliation of the students.

The dispute started in 2003 when the Yorkdale School Division, now Good Spirit School Division, closed down its kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school in the town of Theodore because of declining enrolment.

The division planned to bus its 42 students to the community of Springside, 17 kilometres away.

In response, a local group created its own Catholic school division and opened St. Theodore Roman Catholic School.

That prompted Good Spirit School Division to launch a lawsuit claiming the creation of the new school division was not to serve Catholics in the community, but rather to prevent the students from being bused to a neighbouring town.

Layh’s ruling noted there is a growing number of non-Catholic students attending Catholic schools in the province.

— With files from CKRM