Vincent J. Curtis
10 Feb 2016
In an editorial of February 8, 2016, the Hamilton Spectator lamented the lack of political will towards the defunding of the Separate School System of Ontario. It's evident wish was unlikely to be fulfilled. The abolition of Separate Schools has been a manifestation of anti-Catholic prejudice in Ontario since Confederation, and its advocacy is tirelessly repeated as if it were something new.
One could despair of the education offered by the Public system, given the ignorance of facts such an opinion is based upon, and the preference for secularism over scholasticism. To say nothing of the Public system's inability to cure prejudice.
Below is a reply.
Sirs;
In an argument favoring the abolishing of funding for Separate
Schools in Ontario, the Spectator editorial offered the beauty, the simplicity,
and economy of oneness. One is logical, two is not. Whenever I read
of a call for oneness that would extinguish constitutional rights, I think of
the old German political slogan, “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer!”
In order for Ontario to reach the simplicity of oneness in
respect of education, Canada would have to repeal Section 93 of the
Constitution Act, 1867, as well as Section 29 of the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms. While the Spectator may be inclined to call for such
repeal, I would be impressed by its consistency if, at the same time, it also
called for the repeal of Sections, 2, 15(2), 25, 26, and 27 of the Charter, as
well as of the entire Indian Act.
The call for secularism to be the prevalent philosophy of a
single school system for Ontario is odd. Why not choose
scholasticism? At least scholasticism is a philosophy built around
learning of the real world. Secularism, on the other hand, is a religion
of anti-religion. Secularism consists of a contradictory set of poorly
understood propositions that are applied in chop-logic fashion.
Secularism treats all religions as more or less the same, and so cannot condemn
Suttee and Female Genital Mutilation as the moral abominations that they are
because they are merely religious practices to be tolerated.
Scholasticism does not make that mistake. Secularism simply collapses in
the face of scholasticism.
Now look at duality, and even multiplicity. Without
the Separate School System to compare it to, no one would realize how poorly
performing the Public School System is. Except at the highest levels of
administration, there is no duplication of the two systems. If Separate
Schools were abolished tomorrow, the education system would still need all the
buildings, all the teachers and support staff, and much of the administrative
overhead of the Separate system because the students of the abolished Separate
system would still need to be educated. At best, the public would save
some money in school trustee pay and in the pay of a few top administrators;
but the cost would be the creation of a government monopoly, a socialist
paradise in education!
No one is prohibited from attending Separate Schools on the
basis of religion. While the system is intended for the education the
substantial Catholic minority in Ontario, it is truly a public system since
anyone can attend - and be subject to the same Catholic discipline as any other
student.
If parochialism seems so unjust nowadays, and a recollection
that the bargain of 1867 would not have been reached without such compromises,
then the Spectator should advocate for a full-scale voucher system and for
Charter schools. A voucher plan would be able to fund any school that
meets the requirements of the Ministry of Education and none of the rights
granted in 1867 and reaffirmed in 1982 would be touched. Charter schools
would add to competition in education, to the benefit of the students.
Competition is the reason the existing education hierarchy and teacher’s union
hate voucher plans, and that is a reason in its favor, so far as I am concerned.
Instead of lamenting the lack of a fascist unity, the
Spectator should be advocating for greater diversity in education.
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