Comical Conservatives

A reader emails this story:

Taxpayers should fund Islamic, Hindu, Jewish and other faith-based schools just like public and Catholic ones, Opposition Leader John Tory says.

If the Progressive Conservatives are elected Oct. 10, they will appoint former premier Bill Davis to lead a commission to figure out the best way to bring religious schools into the public system.

What a terrible idea.

The reader rightly points out:

Allowing various ethnic and religious groups to use government money to re-enforce their ghettos is just a non-starter for me, and I hope for many others in this province as well.

Count me in.

The reasoning by John Tory for this awful proposal is ridiculous.

Rather than divide students of different religions, public funding – and accountability – would bring them closer together, Tory said.

Public funding would bring them together!? These students would be divided on religious lines for years -- perhaps even a decade. How in heaven's name will that bring them together?

There are 30 Islamic schools in Ontario but many families who want to send their children to these religious schools can't afford the $5,000 to 7,000 per-child cost, said Mustafa Rawji, from the Islamic Society of North America.

"So we're happy to see that we'll be able to get the taxpayer money that is being channelled to the public schools right now," said Rawji.

If you can't afford education for your children, then don't have 'em. It's not the responsibility of society to pay for that. If you really want that precious Islamic education for free, then move to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, ...

Related matter: I've noticed that politicians are quite adept at exploiting such differences to their advantage. They don't care about the long-term, deleterious effects of such policies. Instead of asking for assimilation, they're content with separation.

To top it off, we will pay for it, in more ways than one.

Comments

[MikeT]

You might appreciate this.

[Mike2]

Given the small number of persons directly affected, it is clear that Tory is acting on principle, and this deserves praise. This contrasts with the fear-mongering coming from many opponents of Tory’s proposal, particularly Premier McGuinty who hypocritically claims that extending funding to small minority of faith-based schools that are not already funded will destroy social cohesion in Ontario, while ignoring the fact that 93% of faith based schools have been funded for decades with no such effect.

Taking funding from the Catholic system is not politically realistic given that it serves almost 700,000 children and has the unwavering support of all three parties at Queens Park.

Even if removing established faith-based school funding were politically feasible, would it really be beneficial to take a step that would likely result in huge numbers of families making a painful decision to remove their children from publicly regulated education? Shouldn’t publicly funded education should be including more children, not excluding them? A growing array of needs and preferences, like special schools or programs for arts, sports, natives, blacks, Ukrainians and gays, are supported within publicly funded education. Why should families who insist on a faith-based element in the education of their children not be part of this inclusive trend?

Extending funding to the small excluded minorities is the only fair and politically viable way to solve the current unacceptable discrimination. It is the least impact way to fix the discrimination, and it will benefit all Ontarians by ensuring that these schools, which are already operating are brought within the publicly regulated system and will comply with the Ontario curriculum, hire accredited teachers, and be accountable publicly.

[Isaac Schrödinger]

Mike2:
"A growing array of needs and preferences, like special schools or programs for arts, sports, natives, blacks, Ukrainians and gays, are supported within publicly funded education. Why should families who insist on a faith-based element in the education of their children not be part of this inclusive trend?"

There are two intertwined issues here:

1. If you think that it is okay for government to take money from people and then dole out the cash to pay for fragmented education, then you won't see a problem with this matter.

I do not agree with this. I think that parents should be responsible for the education of their kids -- religious or otherwise. Those who truly can't afford it can send their children to an all-inclusive public system.

2. All religions are not equal. Some are far more fanatical and extremist than others. Thus, they don't deserve equal respect and consideration.

So far the government has financially supported Catholic schools without much of a negative response. This, I predict, won't be the case with payments to Islamic schools.

In effect, the government will be using our money to separate Muslim kids from infidels. This will have noxious effects for these kids, for they'll grow stagnant within their cut-off community. We will ultimately suffer, for such an upbringing will not bring much tolerance or understanding to these Muslims.

So, I disagree with you on the point that this will benefit all Ontarians.

[Isaac Schrödinger]

MikeT: Never has a dog been so gravely insulted.

[Josh Scholar]

They only have religious schools in Quebec, nothing but.