The controversial proposal to extend tax funding to faith-based schools dominates Ontario’s 2007 provincial election, yet the real issue escapes most observers. Both John Tory’s plan to integrate religious schools into the public system and Dalton McGuinty’s opposition mask the same danger: expanded government control over what children learn.
Tax dollars always come with strings. Once religious schools accept public funding, courts and bureaucrats dictate curriculum and policies, overriding faith-based distinctions. The Marc Hall case proves this principle— a Catholic board’s refusal to allow a same-sex prom date collapsed under Charter equality provisions, despite religious objections. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Public education already suffers under this monopoly. Literacy rates decline, standards soften, and moral relativism replaces objective values. Extending funding merely grows the beast without addressing its failures. Creationism debates distract from the core problem: forcing taxpayers to subsidize others’ education choices while surrendering parental authority to the state.
True diversity demands separation of school and state. Parents must reclaim responsibility for their children’s education, free from coercive funding that homogenizes beliefs under the guise of inclusion. Only then can genuine freedom in education emerge—one that respects individual rights and rejects forced assimilation. That’s the perspective just right for preserving both faith and liberty.
