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I happen to agree with the UN in this case. Public funding of Catholic schools but no other parochial school system is clearly discriminatory. It's also wasteful of public funds, as we have to fund two sets of schools, administrators, school buses and so on. And don't start on about how public funds should be available to all parents to send kids to schools of their choice, since they pay into the system. I pay lots of taxes, too, and I don't have any kids at all. By the above logic I shoudn't have to contribute to funding education at all.

Even if you agree you have to ask yourself, "Why is the UN giving a sovereign nation marching orders? WTF?"

Oh, I don't care that the UN has told us so, but then again it might be the impetus for us to re-examine the needs for two seperate publically funded school systems.

Certainly the original reason for the seperate (Catholic) school system is gone - anti-Catholic prejudice is basically long gone and dead in this country, outside a few Protestant cranks. And if Catholic parents want their kids to learn their religion they can send them to Sunday school.

The UN isn't giving us our marching orders; Canada signed and then ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976, with the prior approval of all 10 provinces (including Ontario, by the way). In their 1999 decision, the UN was merely pointing out our hypocrisy in not living up to the obligations we voluntarily undertook to uphold. No one shoved those obligations down our throats; we said "Yes, were good and decent people and we will respect the fundamental equality of all of our citizens". What a load of crap that was, wasn't it? The UN was just saying (again, the first time was in 1999), "We weren't suckered Canada, you talk the talk, now walk the walk".

The fresh condemnation this month (Nov 2005) was in response to Canada's latest report on the measures they have taken to give effect to the rights "guaranteed" in the Covenant (or at least "guaranteed" in some of the places that have ratified it). We'll be slapped again in another 5 years if we haven't done anything to address the problem (maybe sooner - stay tuned).

Just days after the UN censure this month, McGuinty told Chinese law students (while on a trade mission to China) that he hoped China would soon ratify the Covenant. My guess is he didn't know we were just whacked upside the head again for violating its terms. Maybe he didn't know about the first time either. It would be odd if he did: "Please follow these human rights obligations that we don't."

We’re also giving even bigger violators of human rights some wiggle room. Just after Canada’s censure, Iran brushed off a Canadian sponsored resolution: “Being charged itself with human rights violations, is Ottawa competent enough to initiate a human rights resolution in the UN against another country?” Our own status as a violator, even though of less serious offenses, seriously compromises our legitimacy as a critic of other nation’s violations.

Regardless of what the UN says (even though they are bang on target and deserve kudos for it), we should get rid of the waste and discrimination in our school system just because it is wrong; just because it has an opportunity cost for all of our children and for our economy. Do we need any more reason?

Want to help? See www.OneSchoolSystem.org or www.cripeweb.org. They're keen on starting groups around the province to put an end to the discrimination and waste.