Expert predicts 'significant change' in Sask. Catholic school system if court ruling stands

As Saskatchewan grapples with a court ruling that calls for the end of public funding for non-Catholic students who attend separate schools, one writer warns residents can "expect to see significant change in your system."

Gerald Galway is a professor at Memorial University in St. John's and has written a book about the shift away from religious-based schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.   

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While he didn't want to comment on the situation in Saskatchewan, Galway said there are few parallels between what happened in his province and what is happening here.

Newfoundland and Labrador had been talking about the idea of nondenominational schools since teachers first raised it in 1988. Then, Galway said, his province found itself in a situation where something had to be done.

"We had three systems, we had a province that was shrinking, and we had huge levels of enrolment decline."

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The change came into effect in the late 1990s.

Now, some two decades later, Galway doubts that people long for the days of religious-based education.   

"I really don't think in this province there would be much appetite for a return to any type of public funding for denominational or religious-based schools," he said.

Saskatchewan vows to fight

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has said that government officials are now looking for a way to work around the court's ruling.

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Neither the provincial government, nor the umbrella group that represents Catholic school boards across Saskatchewan, has said whether they will appeal the court's decision.