John Tory, leader of the Ontario Conservative party, has revived a five-year-old debate on faith school funding. Tory was quoted in February after a policy conference saying, he is "completely and totally committed" to addressing "the fairness issue for independent schools. The issue of fairness more starkly presents itself when you are dealing with faith-based schools as opposed to others."
Currently only Catholic schools are subsidized in Ontario. In 2001, premier Mike Harris had announced private school tax credits that could have provided tax relief up to 50 per cent per student. The program was axed by Dalton McGuinty's Liberals two years later. While faith-based schools, along with private schools, welcome subsidies, many defenders of public education believe they will hurt the public system.
The next Ontario election will be held on October 4, 2007.
