January 8, 1998 - Newfoundland Public Schools - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Newfoundland moves into a non-denominational public school system. For many years, Newfoundland’s public school system was controlled by religious institutions. In fact, when Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949, the schools were controlled by seven religious denominations: Catholic, Anglican, United, Moravian, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Seventh-day Adventist. In 1987, the constitutional right to full funding under Term 17 was extended to Pentecostals as well. While there was a certain level of opposition to churches controlling the school system, and there were definite costs to having separate systems, it was sexual abuse scandals that came to light in the 1980s and 1990s that persuaded Newfoundlanders it was time for a separation of church and state when it came to education. Premier Brian Tobin called a referendum for September 2, 1997 and despite fierce opposition from some churches, 73 per cent of the public voted in favour of creating a single non-denominational public school system. While the vote was decisive, not everyone accepted it. Alice Furlong, vice chairman of St. John’s Catholic Education Association, said, "If this were done to another minority in Canada, there would be outrage." Because the new law involved a change to Canada’s constitution, any resolution needed the consent of the Newfoundland legislature, the Canadian House of Commons and the Senate. Newfoundland acted quickly, passing the resolution three days after the referendum, and the Canadian Parliament and Senate followed in December. On January 8, 1998, the governor general signed the constitutional change, bringing all public schools under the control of a non-denominational system.

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