Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

In Quebec, all children may attend French-language public
schools but education in English is restricted because the
Quebec government is concerned about preserving and
promoting French in the province. Only children with a
parent who was educated in English in Quebec may attend
a English-language public school. Exemptions are possible
for children with serious learning difficulties and the
brothers and sisters of that child. 66 Section 59 of the
Canadian Charter suspends the application of section 23(1)
in Quebec to give the province time to develop legislation
in compliance with the Charter’s guarantees. 67 Montreal
language activist Brent Tyler says that this restriction is
contrary to the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and
Freedoms and that discrimination on the basis of language
denies the child’s right to education. 68
Despite political concerns about the fate of the French
language, English-language instruction for francophones
still remains a priority for many parents in Quebec.
Nevertheless, access to English instruction cannot
commence before Grade 4 for Quebec students. Englishlanguage
teachers in Quebec have expressed concern about
the limited hours of instruction allotted to it at the
elementary level. 69
National Values
Canadian History
Concerns have been expressed about a diminishing
importance of national history in education. Province-wide
testing of Grade 7 and Grade 10 students in British
Columbia in 1997 found a significant and troublesome
decline in knowledge of Canadian history since the last
testing in 1989. 70 According to commentator Mark
Starowicz, “there is a crisis in the transmission of our
society’s memory.” 71 A national survey found that only one
in two Canadians can pass a basic test about the country’s
past, people and geography. 72 The elementary curriculum
was recently changed in Ontario, however, so that students
start studying history and geography earlier. 73
Religious Education
In Canada, denominational schools are primarily Roman
Catholic schools and school boards which are publicly
funded. These schools provide some religious instruction
and generally follow provincial curricula. There is
constitutional protection of these schools through section
93 of the Constitution Act of 1867 and section 29 of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Quebec,
Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest
Territories used to operate denominational school systems
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although Quebec and Newfoundland recently changed
from denominational to secular education systems. 74 There
have been a number of court challenges initiated by parents
who want public funding for non-Catholic denominational
schools but these challenges have been unsuccessful to date
because the constitutional protection does not provide a
precedent for other religious denominations. 75
Case Law
In Adler et al. v. Ontario (Minister of Education), 76
the court ruled that the lack of public funding for
Jewish and independent Christian schools was a
permissible “degree of impairment” of the Charter
rights of the applicants. 77 This was also the
conclusion of Bal v. Ontario. 78
Different Civilizations: Global Education
“Global education” is the term for teaching about
international issues, such as social and economic
development, sustainability, human rights, peace and
security, the environment, social justice, equity, mutual
respect and global interdependence. 79 At this time, all
provinces have at least one course on global issues at the
senior level. 80 The effectiveness of global education
courses is not known.
In the late 1980s, the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA) supported the development of provincial
curricula and resources 0n global education, in
collaboration with provincial teacher organizations and
ministries of education across the country (except
Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest
Territories). 81 Funding in this area has recently been
restored to continue global education efforts.
Non-government Organizations (NGOs) are active in
global education in Canada. For example, Foster Parents
Plan produced Kids Who Care, funded by CIDA and the
Royal Bank of Canada, which provides teachers and
students with background information and action-oriented
strategies to address environmental and social issues.
Foster Parents Plan is also coordinating the “Great Water
Race,” where Ontario elementary students gather pledges
to support water projects overseas. 82 Free the Children is a
youth organization that establishes programs to reduce
poverty and exploitation of children around the world and
empowers young people by giving them a voice in local,
national and international issues. 83