My French friends and teachers often ask me about Canada. The vast majority of them simply want to know whether it is minus 20 or 40, but once we get past that question, a number of different topics come up. Most of them simply present me with an opportunity to brag about the virtues of my country. Nothing is more enjoyable than sharing Trudeau’s romantic vision of Canada with an innocent fourteen year old schoolboy!
The only topic I do have difficulty talking about is education. You see, one of the pillars of the French identity is secular schooling, so they naturally all want to know if the same is true in Canada. This is when it starts to get difficult. I start by reassuring them that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees a secular schooling environment for all students. We do allow headscarves, and even Sikh daggers, but children can be assured that the teaching will be completely secular. Unfortunately, this does not always satisfy them. The really tenacious ones want to know Canada’s position on religious education.
At this point, I have no other choice than to look away and admit that a number of provinces of my beloved multicultural country allow separate schools. Yes, in Canada, the capital of multiculturalism, schools that include catholic education in their curriculum are publicly funded. You should see the shock on their faces! How can a country claim to be open to all religions if it only funds the catholic school board? Why don’t Muslim and Jewish schools get publicly funded?
I understand that for a number of historical reasons, the existance of separate schools has become a right, but that can be changed. If we are really serious about multiculturalism, we have to create an environment in which no religions are favored. This obviously doesn’t include funding the schools of one religious group and not of another.
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