Sask. Catholic schools win funding appeal fight

It’s a significant legal victory for Catholic education in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the appeal of the Theodore case in a unanimous decision.

It overturns the 2017 ruling that decided it was unconstitutional for the provincial government to pay for non-Catholic students to attend Catholic schools.

It means the current public and separate system will remain.

The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association said in a media release that it was grateful for the court’s decision.

“Even though the Government of Saskatchewan had assured us they would do whatever is necessary to protect your choice for your child’s education, this ruling confirms what we have said and believed all along: parents know what is best for their children and they should be able to choose Catholic, faith-based education if that is what they want – no matter their reasons, faith backgrounds or traditions,” it read.

Had the appeal been denied, as many as 10,000 students would have potentially had to switch systems.

The Government of Saskatchewan had always supported the existence of the separate system, even suggesting it would invoke the notwithstanding clause under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“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,” Education Minister Gord Wyant said at the time of the appeal.

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.

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, under the Good Spirit School Division (GSSD) 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, the GSSD filed a legal complaint, alleging it was against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the CTSD to get funding for non-Catholic students when the GSSD was acting as the public board in the area.

The GSSD can still appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.