The Trap Of Public Funding - Again

Whoever pays the piper calls the tune. Whoever provides the funding for schools and daycares gets to decide what should and what shouldn't be taught there:

Quebec’s family minister, Yolande James, has banned all religious instruction in government-subsidized daycare centers. Since 1997, the province has subsidized 85% of daycare costs, with parents paying $7 per child per day.

“I want the young Quebecers who attend our daycare services to do so in a spirit of openness to others and diversity,” said Yolande James, Quebec’s family minister.

Under the new regulations, subsidized daycare centers are permitted to set up Christmas trees and Nativity scenes, but are forbidden to identify Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as figures in the scene, according to two Canadian newspaper reports. Christmas carols are also forbidden.

“At a Montreal daycare centre run by Catholic nuns, a parents association was so terrified at the prospect of losing governmental subsidies that it decided to apply the guidelines six months before they’ll be implemented,” according to Globe and Mail columnist Lysiane Gagnon. “So the week before Christmas, the little kids sang insipid Bing Crosby ballads instead of beautiful traditional carols such as ‘Silent Night.’”

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That's how it works. It starts with the government offering financial relief and it ends with the very same government taking away our rights to make decisions on our children's education in exchange for our own money. That's also how the Ontario Catholic school system lost its autonomy. The landmark court case, filed by a perverse couple against a Catholic school some 7 or 8 years ago, made it clear that a school which receives public funds is not allowed to have other principles than those mandated by the government.

In Quebec, the government has already forced its vision of world religions and ethics on all school students, including those attending private schools and those that are home-schooled. Now, they're extending their indoctrination to pre-schoolers. And it's not much better in the rest of Canada. Even though Paul Martin's plans for a government-run mammoth daycare monopoly were scrapped following the 2006 election, we now see some provincial governments trying to implement these same plans on a provincial level.

Yes, unfortunately, the notion of the government footing the bill is way to attractive to quite a large group of people. But these people should be made aware that all those generous offers actually mean that the government is buying our rights and freedoms from us - with our own tax money.

And another thing: Quebec government is tripling the number of its daycare inspectors to help enforce those regulations. Talking about "low-cost" government-run daycare versus those "for-profit" ones, that are privately run.