McGuinty against extended funding to religious schools

McGuinty dismisses calls to extend funding to non-Catholic religious schools

August 22, 2007 - 10:35

TORONTO (CP) - Premier Dalton McGuinty warns a Conservative plan to fund non-Catholic religious schools in Ontario could lead to social unrest.

McGuinty says he wants to "grab Ontarians by the earlobes" and make them understand the importance of the public education debate in the upcoming election campaign.

He defends public funding of Catholic schools because the government inherited that system, but says the Tory plan to fund other religious schools would be a backwards step.

McGuinty says an important part of Ontario's success as a multicultural society is the public education system that lets kids of all faiths learn together.

Ontario's Green Party is campaigning on a platform to end public funding of Catholic schools, a practice the United Nations has condemned as discriminatory against other religions.

But McGuinty flatly rejects that idea.