27


David Leahy


1 I doubt that Catholic Education will be excluded from funding for non-Catholic


students. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall stated that even if the case in his province is successful at the Supreme Court the government of Saskatchewan would pass legislation, using the notwithstanding clause in the constitution, to allow funding of non-Catholic students in Catholic Schools. I am sure Alberta would follow suit. It will be a very tough sell to eliminate education choice for parents in a province like Alberta. Many non-Catholic parents send their children to Catholic Schools because they want to exercise choice; they appreciate the religious environment, and are very satisfied with the excellent academic and personal growth of their children.


I would respond to the challenge by encouraging the Alberta government to use the notwithstanding clause in the constitution to ensure that non-Catholic parents can continue to send their children to Catholic Schools.


2


In my opinion, that right balance between faith-based teaching and curricula needs is the one that has existed in Catholic Education in this province for over 100 years. For over a century Catholic Education has excelled in providing students and parents with top notch programming that emphasizes Spiritual, Academic, Physical and Social growth.


Catholic Schools have graduated generations of Albertans who have moved on to provide an everlasting positive impact on our province.


The right balance? The right balance for over a century in Medicine Hat Catholic has been reached by striving to achieve our Mission. “In partnership with family, Church, and community we provide Catholic Education of the highest quality to our students.” We must strive to continue to fulfill that mission!


3


If the funding for lunch and nutrition programs is cancelled the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education should explore all avenues to keep the programming in our schools. We should explore partnerships with other non profit agencies and service clubs. The Medicine Hat Food Bank has an excellent “Brown Bag” lunch program and accessing this program may increase efficiencies from even the current program. Various service clubs and churches in our community have been stepping up for years in providing much needed food to meet some of the needs of hungry children. I think some residents of this city would be surprised to know that many teachers use their own money to buy food for their own students so that they have something to eat.


Bottom line ... childhood hunger is an issue in Medicine Hat. If we lose provincial funding we must find another way to feed our kids.


3


Dick Mastel


1 The essence of the question is the Theodore Case in Saskatchewan. Responding to changes in funding begins now, not aſter they have been made. Firstly,


as a catholic division, we have constitutional rights which enshrine catholic education. Constitutional rights aside, catholic education provides a choice for parents as to where their children will receive their education. Here at Medicine Hat Catholic we have a significant number of non-catholic students. These students have chosen faith-based education over the public system, a right they have enjoyed and exercised for well over a century. Many of the first schools in Alberta were started by religious orders who accepted all students. We must also educate our public that catholic education consistently outperforms our public neighbours on government accountability results in addition to providing faith-based, Christ-centred education.


2


There is no balance, we do both. Catholic schools are required by law to follow the Alberta curriculum the same as any other school in Alberta. The difference is in our catholic schools our faith permeates all of what we do. Catholicity is not something we “teach” for 40 minutes, but rather is a part of all that we do throughout the entire day. It is in the way we deal with students, with discipline, the view we have that each child is created by God and therefore deserves respect and dignity as a child of God. It is in the pastoral approach we take when dealing with students, staff and each other. It's living our motto “Showing the Face of Christ to All” each day and in every encounter. There is no effort to “balance.” We deliver on the program of studies in a Christ-centred fully-permeated environment. And we do it exceedingly well.


We are grateful to the provincial government for recognizing the need for nutrition programs in our schools. Should a future government or this one withdraw funding for this program it would clearly leave a void, a void which would fall onto local governments to deal with. To say that our board would or wouldn’t pick up that additional cost would be presumptuous. Boards set and approve budgets aſter careful consideration of many factors including need and affordability. I agree there is a need for this program probably more now than there was in the past, but it would be unwise to say that our board would keep or scale back the program. That is something the board of the day will have to deal with and I'm positive they will make the correct decision.


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