SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Catholic educators in Alberta, NWT and Yukon didn't get the Supreme Court of Canada ruling they hoped last month, according to one Catholic district trustee.

The Catholic school district - through the association it belongs to - presented on the losing side of a Supreme Court of Canada case arguing for constitutional right to Catholic education in Alberta, NWT and the Yukon. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

A 12-year court battle that began with an Alberta traffic ticket printed only in English and spiraled into a debate on constitutional right to French language and Catholic education, ended with a 6--3 decision Nov. 13. in the Supreme Court of Canada, stating the province of Alberta was not constitutionally required to enact it's laws in both English and French.

Erin Currie, Yellowknife Catholic Schools' (YCS) representative to the Alberta Catholic School Trustee Association's (ACSTA) board of directors, said if the case had been successful, Catholic education would be confirmed as a constitutional right - because Catholic education and French language were intrinsically linked when the territories and Alberta joined with Canada. A win in the Supreme Court of Canada would have meant Catholic school boards in Alberta, NWT and Yukon would have been better entrenched against any future attempts to dissolve them. When the constitution was finally signed constitutional right to French and Catholic schooling went to some provinces, but not the NWT, where it remains a legal right.

The ticket

Francophone Albertans Gilles Caron and Pierre Boutet, were challenging traffic tickets they'd received on the grounds they were printed only in English. They cited a decree from 1870 obligating the province to issue its laws in both languages. They learned they'd lost their case Nov. 13, with the judges stating their evidence was a "complex amalgam of instruments, vague phrases, political statements and historical context."

The ACSTA

Currie said the ACSTA became involved after its lawyer told them there was an opportunity to strengthen their defences against unforeseen attack in the future.

"The lawyer brought it forth to ACSTA because he recognized it could mean that if Mr. Caron was found to have a constitutional right to French language, it would also determine that those of us with that right to Catholic education would also be entitled to a constitutional right," she said. "We voted to put forth an application. And now that it's done, there's no downside for us. It just didn't move forward as we'd hoped."

Currie said the ruling doesn't change things for Yellowknife Catholic Schools.

"It doesn't really make a difference for us because we still have our legislated right to Catholic education, we just didn't move it a step forward and get a constitutional right to it," she said.

A victory for Caron would have meant Catholic schooling in the territory would be more secure in the future, but that doesn't mean they feel insecure now, said Currie.

"It might have given us a more solid basis. But we're not without a solid basis," she said.

She said, hypothetically, if a future territorial government decided to dissolve the Catholic district which it funds - if enrolment dramatically dropped, or in a bid to save money - it'd be in for a battle with Yellowknife Catholic Schools.

"But, if the Caron case had been determined differently, it would have been a more difficult battle for the territorial government."

In 2006, Yellowknifer reported then-superintendent Kern Von Hagen believed the territorial government had a hidden agenda to get rid of the Yellowknife Catholic Schools' board and dissolve the board. The GNWT denied any such plans.

Asked if the territorial government has intention to dissolve the Catholic school district, Tami Johnson, spokesperson for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, did not respond before press time.

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