Canadians Call For Equal Funding of Religious Schools In Ontario

In Toronto last week, a group of Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians demonstrated to demand equal public funding for all Ontario faith-based schools. Ontario's Catholic schools are fully funded by tax revenues. This week's Canadian Jewish News reports on a push by the Multifaith Coalition for Equal Funding of Religious Schools to obtain public funding in exchange for compliance with government curriculum standards, teacher certification and auditing of schools' finances. Earlier this month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a report calling on Canada to "adopt steps to eliminate discrimination on the basis of religion in the funding of schools in Ontario." This follows up a ruling six years ago that Canada is violating international human rights law by its discriminatory funding policy. (Full text of UN ruling.)