Released on May 17, 2017
The Government of Saskatchewan will appeal last month’s Court of Queen’s Bench ruling on separate school funding.“After a thorough review of the decision, we will be filing a notice of appeal to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant said. “In doing so, I hope we get further clarification on this matter that is vitally important for Saskatchewan families.”
On April 20, the Court of Queen’s Bench ruled on a legal challenge brought by the Good Spirit Public School Division. The Court held that Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division could not receive provincial funding for non-Catholic students. The Court ruled that the government must stop paying for non-minority faith students to attend separate schools.
The government disagrees with this ruling. If allowed to stand, the ruling would affect approximately 10,000 students who would no longer be funded to attend Catholic schools.
The government previously announced Saskatchewan will invoke the notwithstanding clause regarding the decision.
“We wanted to give students and their families the certainty that their ability to choose which school they attend will not be impacted by this decision,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Don Morgan said. “Use of the notwithstanding cause will give parents that certainty, without having to worry about the outcome of an appeal.”
The notice of appeal will be filed on Friday.
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For more information, contact:
Jordan Jackle
Justice
Regina
Phone: 306-787-8621
Email: jordan.jackle@gov.sk.ca