HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-10-19, Page 3Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, October 19, 1988 -.Page 3
Individual rights are at stake says Huron director
While school boards in other counties are
loudly dealing with the issue of whether or
not the Lord's Prayer will still be heard in
classrooms, the Huron County Board of
Education is waiting for word from the
Ministry of Education before action is
taken.
On September 23 the Ontario Court of Ap-
peal struck down Section 28, an Ontario
regulation dealing with religious exercises.
The stricken section read:
"A public school shall be opened or closed
each day with religious exercises consisting
of the reading of the scriptures or other
suitable readings and the repeating of the
Lord's Prayer or other suitable prayers."
Opening exercises, which traditionally
have involved the singing of "0 Canada",
the recitation of the "Lord's Prayer", and
readings from the scriptures, will be chang-
ed by the Court of Appeal's decision. But ex-
actly what these changes will entail is not
yet known, and the Ministry'of Education is
currently considering what legal and policy
options it has to deal with regarding this
issue.
The HCBE was advised it may continue
with opening exercises, but only provided
readings and prayers reflect the
multicultural realities and traditions of On-
tario society, and provided no one religion is
given a position of primacy.
Both public school principals and ad-
ministrators at the Board office have been
hearing from parents who are concerned
about the decision by the Court of Appeal,
and at the October meeting of the HCBE
Dorothy Schneider of Auburn told the Board
her views.
"The Lord's Prayer is in my opinion one
of the very best non-sectarian prayers
available. Let's not deprive a child the
Prefer private
enterprise to
municipal ownership
West Wawanosh, the township in this
area that has taken the lead in sorting and
recycling waste, has, served notice to
Stratford City Council that their idea for a
regional recycling plant owned and
operated by a group of municipalities from
Huron and Perth is not all that appealling.
When West Wawanosh Council members
discussed the manner in which they would
answer the Stratford questionnaire, it was
clear council members agreed that if a
recycling plant was established in the
area, it should be owned and operated by
private enterprise.
Clerk Joan Armstrong said that West
Wawanosh councillors like the concept of
having a recycling facility close by, but
felt there was not sufficient information
available to decide in favour of such a
plant being operated publicly.
NEW OFFICE
The premises owned by K. K. Dawson of
Dungannon beside the bank on the Ashfield
side of the village, will be used by the On-
tario Provincial Police for an extension
service office.
It is hoped that new office will be open by
November 1, 1988.
• MISSING PAGES
It's the matter of the missing page ap-
parently not sent from the Colborne
Township office - or not received in the
West Wawangsh office - that is reputed to
have caused much of the misunderstan-
ding surrounding the payment of bills for
the shared boundary road construction.
Clerk Armstrong said she was not in
receipt of the page from the special
meeting minutes which reported Reeve
Russell Kernighan's remarks concerning
a 50-50 split of land acquisition costs as
part of the deal. It was West Wawanosh's
position that the land acquisition costs and
accompanying survey and legal fees would
be picked up by each municipality for its
own needs.
However, as Colborne pointed out, the
West Wawanosh position was not as
agreed.
The project is considerably over budget.
Still to be paid is the cost for Ontario Hydro
to relocate poles in West Wawanosh.
In other business, council members ap-
proved building permits to Eli Yoder for a
house; to Leonard Kerr for a barn; to Gor-
don Drennan for a shed; to Huron County
for a salt and sand shed; and to Noah
Stutzman for a barn.
benefit of this learning. Let's set aside the
fact that we belong to Catholic, Jewish,
Moslem, United, Anglican or any other
religious denomination and act as responsi-
ble caring parents. Let's give all children an
opportunity to learn a very basic prayer,"
she said.
Mrs. Schneider also reminded the board
of the adage "if it ain't broke don't mend it."
In a later interview Bob Allan, Director of
Education for the HCBE, noted the Court of
Appeal's decision has no effect on the
religious education which public school
students get in their regular curriculum.
For two 30 minute periods each week
students take part in exercises in religion
which are non -denominational, .age ap-
propriate, and generally concerned more
with morals and values than religious
doctrine.
Many individuals would dispute the court
decision on the basis that the majority of the
Canadian population is Christian, and
therefore a Christian prayer is appropriate
for opening exercises. But Mr. Allan says
this is not an issue of majority or politics, it
is a legal issue concerning the rights of in-
dividuals, rights that are safeguarded in
society. In this case the courts have decided
the individual's right to freedom of religion
should be safeguarded in public schools.
"The correspondence we've received so
far is telling us we can't promote a single
point of view. We should not be biased
toward one faith," explains HCBE chair-
man John Jewitt. But Mr. Jewitt adds, he
believes schools should provide more than
very general exercises of a "morals and
values" type nature.
"It's important that some of our young
people who have no spiritual guidance
receive a small amount of it (in school)," he
says.
To people who say the religion of the ma-
jority of the population should be used in
school exercises Mr. Jewitt says: "I think
we are a Christian nation, but at the same
time I hope we can respect the rights of
other faiths as well." But the HCBE chair-
man also notes' he has heard teachers of
younger grades remark that when they ask
their students which song they want to sing,
"Jesus Loves Me" is still at the top of their
lists.
In dealing with this issue the Perth county
board turned down a motion to have a silent
moment of reflection instead of the Lord's
prayer. The Bruce county board noted "The
Lord's Prayer" and other prayers have
always been used in the past. "The majority
of parents want 'The Lord's Prayer'. I think
Christianity is the main religion in Bruce
County, though as a public board, we have to
recognize nit all people practice Christian
faith," said a spokesman for the Bruce
board.
Both of these boards are also awaiting a
ministry decision.
"I would expect to hear from them (the
Ministry of Education) by Christmas. It
takes some time for their legal and policy.,
staff to go over the material. They really
have quite a problem to deal with, not the
least of which is public opinion," stated Mr.
Allan.
While the board is waiting, it h. • en
to the Toronto Board of End ation for a
package of opening exercises which are
more in keeping with the spirit of the ruling
by the Court of Appeal. While this resource
has not yet been seen, it is anticipated it will
be listing of major prayers from a variety of
religions.
Both Mr. Allan and Mr. Jewitt say the
board has always taken a sensitive ap-
proach to people of faiths other than Chris-
tian, adding they are not forced to be involv-
ed in religious exercises to which they
object.
Mr. Allan says he does not anticipate
there will be huge changes as a result of the
ruling.
"But, it's simply an issue which we should
not respond to too dramatically or too
quickly."
HAPPY
40`h
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