Yukon NDP Leader Kate White has taken a stance on the territorial Department of Education publicly funding Yukon Catholic schools: stop doing it.
“Let's defund Catholic education in the Yukon. Let's make it truly fair,” White said.
“There's lots of jurisdictions in Canada where you, as a taxpayer, get to check whether you want your funding for education to go to Catholic schools or public schools. I wish that was the case here.”
White indicated that no religious school in the territory should be publicly funded.
Her impromptu comments were made when responding to reporters’ questions in the atrium of the Yukon legislative building following the formal question period in the legislative assembly on March 10.
On the floor of the legislature, White and Lane Tredger, the Yukon NDP MLA for Whitehorse Centre, raised questions to Education Minister Jeanie McLean about human rights and sexual orientation and gender policy in Catholic schools after Holy Family Elementary School principal Maria Gray’s recent resignation.
“How can the minister say she is supporting reconciliation and the 2SLGBTQ+ community when racism, homophobia and transphobia within the school system is forcing educators to resign?” White asked McLean. Tredger, who attended Holy Family Elementary School, indicated this is “just the beginning of what educators and students have been dealing with in the Catholic schools over the last decade.”
As reported by Jackie Hong of CBC News, Gray sent a letter to the school council in late February accusing Bishop Hector Vila of interference with the school, making discriminatory and hateful comments about First Nations and 2SLGBTQ+ people, and harassing and bullying staff. CBC News reported that Gray is stepping down to seek a job outside of Yukon Catholic schools.
“I would say that this bishop is making this conversation much easier to have in a public way,” White told reporters.
The territory has no other religious schools but three Catholic schools: Holy Family Elementary School in Porter Creek, Christ the King Elementary School in Riverdale and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School in Riverdale. The schools offer religious education programs, lessons that teach Catholic values, school-based prayer life and church-related activities, according to the Yukon government website.
It costs $25 per student or $45 per family each year to attend Yukon Catholic schools, as noted on the website.
While Catholic schools in the territory get public money through the Department of Education, they are also subject to Yukon laws and Education department policies, as noted in departmental briefing notes prepared for the minister in fall 2024.
The Yukon government’s budget doesn’t appear to break down school spending by Catholic and non-Catholic schools. The News has reached out to the Education and Finance departments for that information but didn't get a response by publication.
“I don't think the rest of Yukoners should be saddled with the responsibility of paying for an education where there's this constant battle of them not respecting human rights,” White said.
“And by them, I'm very clearly saying this to, like, the leadership, right? This is not about educators. This is not about schools. This is not about the people themselves. This is about those who are weaponizing Catholicism against the 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and in some cases, First Nation communities, and that's totally unacceptable.”
McLean noted defunding Catholic schools wasn’t part of the confidence and supply agreement, or CASA, between the governing Liberals and the NDP that keeps the minority government in power.
The Education minister challenged the NDP to add its stance on defunding Catholic schools to its election platform.
“If this is something they feel strongly about, then they should put it into their election platform so that we can have a territory-wide discussion about this issue. I think that's very important, you know, in terms of our consultation on any major changes to education,” she said.
“I don't really believe in governing on the fly, and I don't think that's how the work of our government should be done at any time.”
Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon noted funding for Catholic education falls under the Education Act.
"We have no plans to make a change that would defund Catholic education or change the Education Act to remove Catholic education from the Education Act," he told reporters on March 11.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
