HomeMy WebLinkAboutOntario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - Globe & Mail - 06/19/2018 - Globe & Mail - 06/19/20186/20/2018 Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - The Globe and Mail
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Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special
meeting on controversial charity policy
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The Halton Catholic District School Board has voted to hold a special policy meeting
in the summer to discuss a controversial motion that forbids students from raising
money for charities that support abortion, euthanasia and other activities opposed
by the church.
The board received feedback "much greater than the norm" about the motion,
according to education superintendent Tim Overholt, who presented the
community's reaction to the board Tuesday night. A majority of respondents to an
online form opposed the changes to the fundraising policy.
Keith Boyd, president of the Halton Secondary affiliate of the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers' Association, said the consultation process was important to the
community and made them feel "empowered." But, he added, he was not surprised
that a final decision on the policy has been pushed back and believes the feedback
will not keep the policy from moving forward.
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6/20/2018 Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - The Globe and Mail
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publicly support, "either directly or indirectly, abortion, contraception, sterilization,
euthanasia, or embryonic stem cell research."
In April, the provincial government stepped in, asking the board to put the charity
policy on hold until it considered feedback from the wider community.
The board suspended its policy in May, after months of uproar from students and
parents who said they had not been properly consulted before the changes were
made.
The community feedback, presented in a staff report to trustees Tuesday evening,
included more than 900 responses, with 74 per cent of respondents opposed to the
policy changes.
"Jesus said to `love thy neighbor' and to `treat others as you would like to be treated'
so why are we going against his word and refusing to aid those in need," one wrote.
About 21 per cent of respondents supported the policy, saying it upheld Catholic
values, differentiated the Catholic school system from the public system, and that
anyone who didn't agree with the policy could donate to the charity of their choice
on their own time.
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6/20/2018 Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - The Globe and Mail
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The staff report noted that the online feedback form was anonymous, making it
difficult to ensure that the responses came from the Halton Catholic District School
Board community, which raised more than $316,000 for charities in the past school
year.
The broad nature of the "Sanctity of Life" motion caught many off guard. At one
point, more than 30 charities and non -profits had signed a form provided by the
board promising not to support certain activities in order to continue receiving
donations. But there also seemed to be confusion over what they had agreed to, with
some saying the board's concerns did not apply to their organizations.
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6/20/2018 Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - The Globe and Mail
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6/20/2018 Ontario Catholic school board votes to hold special meeting on controversial charity policy - The Globe and Mail
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