‘Shared services’ criticized

What's Roblin doing
to public schools?

Special to the Tribune

WINNIPEG

- SPECIAL legislative com-

mittee has begun public

hearings on Premier Rob-

lin’s proposed plan for shared
school services in Manitoba.

Th? plan, announced earlier
this year in response to grow-
ing pressures from certain pa-
roch‘al and private schools, has
received a mixed reception. It
has split the Tory, Liberal and
-New Democratic parties and
has aroused strong feelings, pro
and con, on every side.

Since 1896, Manitoba has had
a single public school system,
secu'ar in nature and main-
tained by public funds. Paro-
chial and private schools are
permitted under certain super-
vision by the department of
_ education, but are supported
entirely by private resources.

In recent years a concerted
campaign has been launched by
a number of parochial schools,

mainly but not exclusively
Roman Catholic, for govern-
ment financial aid.

Premier Roblin attempted to
stracdle the issue by proposing
a scheme of shared services be-
tween public and private
schools.

His scheme is based on the
premise that services provided
by the public schools to its
students on its own premises
shauld be available to associat-
ed private schools which may
select the services desired.

These services can include
transportation, text books, use
of auditorium and gym facili-
ties, use of science lab facili-

On the —
labor front

Se ne ES ee

ties, use of classrooms and

‘equipment for commercial, home

economic and industrial arts
subjects, use of library and
child guidance services, and in-
struction in any subject offered
in the-public schools.

An agreement to provide the

shared services has to be nego-

tiated between the local school-

board and an accredited private
school. The municipal board
has the power to compel any
school board to entér into such
an agreement. .

Fourteen briefs were submit-
ted to the legislative commit-
tee before public hearings be-
gan. Among those already
heard, the Citizen’s Committee
for the Preservation of the Pub-
lic School System, the Winni-
peg presbytery of the United
Church, the Baptist Joint Com-
mittee on Public Affairs in
Manitoba, and the Communist
Party all spoke out against the
shared services plan.

A common argument was
that the plan would violate the
principle of a unified secular
educational system based on
the separation of Church and
state.

The Manitoba Teachers So-
ciety, the
School Board and the Manito-
ba Urban School Trustee Asso-
ciation voiced objections to the
premier’s plan on the grounds
of disorganization of schedules
and general confusion bound to
ensue. But they avoided taking
a stand on the principle of the
matter.

On the other side, the Man-
itoba Association for Equality
of

Education, speaking for

Winnipeg Public -

Catholic parochial schools,
argued that the government
should establish Roman Cath-
olic public schools paid for out
of taxation. The Knights of Col-
umbus criticized. the shared
services plan because, in their
opinion, it fails to get at the
root of the problem — “‘financ-
es for separate schools.”

The brief of the Communist
Party emphasized that “for a
province such as Manitoba,
with a population of so many
ethnic and religious origins, a
single public school system
separated from the Church is
the only alternative to a splin-
tered educational system which
would divide our citizens and
hinder the development of a
stronger Canadian identity.”

It argued that “the premise
on which the shared services
plan is based, that if a child
has a right to the whole (all
the educational services provid-
ed by the public school system)

_he has an equal right to the

part, is invalid and unsound.
This right is not being accord-
ed to regular public school stu-
dents who are not permitted to
take a partial course of studies,
and for very good reason.

“This would create not only
organizational difficulties but
even more important would
weaken educational standards.

“Our public school system
should not be called upon to
play a dual role, of dividing it-
self into public school and
private school functions within
the public school system. To
dilute our public school sys-
tem and move it from its basic

principles would open the door
to chaos and confusion.”

“The Communist Party,” the
brief went on, considers “that
every child in Manitoba has the

right to the fullest and best

education possible. And our
school system must provide
this, with the provincial and
federal governments jointly as-
suming the major financial res-
ponsibility.

“If the students at present
attending private schools want
to take advantage of the edu-
cation provided by our public
school system we would be
among the first to welcome
them.

“And if the parents of these
children desire that they get
additional training in religion
or in other languages, then
they have the right to supple-
ment the public school educa-
tion with instruction in these
special subjects outside of reg-
ular school hours.

“With all its weaknesses and

defects our public school sy
tem is a democratic institution
and potentially a very powerful

and cohesive force in our com ~
munity and our nation.” ee

The brief stressed that “at @

ie
time when the province of Que 3}

,

bec has, for the first time, eS typ

tablished a provincial depart

ment of education and take! hy;

the initial steps to organize 4
secular school system,  freé
from control by the church, thé
Manitoba government’s
gram of shared services with
private schools is a step back
ward. des

“Any measure which would
weaken the public school sys”
tem or would encourage th?
spread of private schools at”

public expense would be retro" —
should be OP

gressive and
posed.”

The public hearings are com 4.
tinuing and it is not expecte® |
that the legislative committee —
will bring in a report before },

late in 1965. ’

On structural reforms (1

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

IDE by side with the
sharpening conflict _be-
tween the Confederation

of National Trade Unions
(CNTU) and the Canadian
Labor Congress over which is
to represent Quebec work-
ers, an interesting dialogue
is developing between these
two trade union centres
around the issue of a united
trade union movement.

Speaking to a meeting of
Montreal Tramway workers
(members of the CBRT) who
are presently being raided by
the: CNTU, CLC President
Clauce Jodoin declared that
“if tle Quebec based syndi-
cate was sincere in wishing.
to he!p the workers, its lead-
ers would resume talks with
the CLC with a view to unit-
ing th: two organizaticns...

Inter-union raiding helped
nobody and inflicted great
harm on the workers in-
volved.”

A somewhat belated ad-
mission although an impor-
tant one which we hope Mr.
Jodoin will consistently main-
tain.

* * *

.As if in reply to Mr.
Jodoin’s proposal, President
Marchand of the CNTU used
the occasion of an address to
the Congress of Canadian
Affairs to declare that the
CNTU is disposed to make
an effort at seeing the birth
of “a sort of unity” of Can-
adian trade unionism so as
to ensure truly representa-
tive participation of the labor
movement in the complete

reform of the Canadian econ-
omy.

In his view the CLC is
not now in a position to ef-
fectively represent Canadian
workers in economic plan-
ning because most of its af-
filiates are controlled from
outside the country § and
therefore have a union philo-
sophy which does not corres-
pond with the needs of Can-
adian workers.

By way of explanation of
this thought he drew atten-
tion to the fact that the U.S.
trade union movement was
not striving for complete re-
form of the U.S. economy
and was perfectly satisfied to
maintain the status quo,
something the Canadian trade
union movement could not

and should not do in light of
the situation in our country.

* * *

Returning to the question
of a united trade union move-
ment, Mr. Marchand indicat-
ed that what the CNTU
strove for was not “organic
unity” but what he called a
superstructure uniting the
CNTU and CLC based on the
CLC becoming genuinely Can-
adianh with non-organic con-
nections with the U.S. labor
movement.

It becomes clear from the
remarks of Messrs. Jodoin
and Marchand that we have
here two different approach-
es to the problem of unity
and how it can be achieved. |

We will come back to this
question later on. Here we

December 11, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 6

more immediately importanh —
the need for agreement on # 7
common program directed 19 %

what ‘Mr. Marchand  callé
“the complete reform of the”

economy” or, if you wind a

the need for deep-going stru!

tural reform.
* *

*
This in fact is now thé —

most urgent problem com
fronting the entire abd
movement.

The need for it arises. oul

of the structural changes”
the Canadian economy which

‘lar

Ct
te,
€

pro- oN 4

Pag
Dy

fal

Ki,

Mt

cannot be solved through cok ith
lective bargaining alone. The

Consider for example a {
related problems, that 1a 4
growth of population am 9°

rate of economic growth. ~ 4
is anticipated that with? —

the next six years Canada’ th

labor force will expand by 2%
additional million men 2”
women, actually a conserv4 —
tive estimate. Half of this 1”

crease will be in the undet —
25 age group and three qual =
ters will be in the under- oth
4

age group.
(Concluded next week)

s% nt

\\

Ni
A