The Saskatchewan NDP is calling for public funding from the province for all educational institutions to be tied to the Saskatchewan Human Rights code, following the allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Legacy Christian Academy in Saskatoon.
“Publicly funded schools in our province should be required to adhere to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. Full stop. Our kids simply deserve nothing less,” said NDP leader Carla Beck.
Qualified Independent Schools that meet provincial standards, like Legacy Christian Academy, began receiving funding from the Ministry of Education for the 2012-2013 school year.
On Tuesday, Minister of Education Dustin Duncan was asked if schools named in a lawsuit against teachers alleging abuse of former students had violated the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
“I don’t know if I can really comment on that,” Duncan said.
“I think in all educational situations there’s, I think, that balance between, particularly in schools that may have a faith-based component to them, of kind of balancing off those rights. People have a right to an education. People have a right to religion and religious expression in the province.”
CTV News has reached out to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission for comment.
“Is the Sask Party government really okay with discriminating against the human rights of children in certain circumstances,” questioned NDP education critic Matt Love.
Former Legacy Christian Academy student Coy Nolin says now is the time for action for the province.
“How can you not have a comment when there's children's lives that are being affected by this? Have been and are still continuing to be affected,” he said.
“If there was a little bit more oversight from the very beginning, maybe some of this stuff, some of this trauma and this pain that all of our former students or even current students are going through, maybe this could have been avoided. It's sad, it really is sad.”
CTV News has requested a response from the Ministry of Education.
