“It is wise and normal in a big party like the Liberals to conduct such profound examinations in order to discuss the multiple dimensions of such a complex issue.”
It concluded the issue is more complex than expected and requires study.
The line is similar to the one adopted by Premier François Legault on Friday when he said before acting in hast to defund the 50 private religious schools that Quebec needs to study the question carefully.
“The Liberal Party policy committee is launching a consultation process of the members of the party, experts in the field of education, and of the communities affected on the subject of public financing of private religious schools as well the Programme de formation de l’école Québécois (PFEQ) in all of Quebec’s schools,” the party said in a statement.
“We welcome favourably this initiative. It is wise and normal in a big party like the Liberals to conduct such profound examinations in order to discuss the multiple dimensions of such a complex issue.
“This consultation will be the occasion to deepen our collective reflection and explore the different facets of this debate.”
Once the consultation process is over, the policy committee will report back to the party by March 31, 2025.
It is unclear what significance the vote taken by Liberal MNAs in the legislature Thursday has now that the party has decided to revisit the issue. The Liberal policy supporting funding had been on the party books since 1961.
“The sense the leader (Marc Tanguay) gave the motion the principles invoked by the leader (before the vote) remain,” a Liberal aide Saturday. “With this consultation, we are opening a discussion forum to examine the different issues and modalities.”
He did not elaborate.
But the move will likely put at ease for now members of the caucus who felt the Liberals made a wrong decision in voting the way it did.
At least three of the 19 member Liberal caucus of MNAs were opposed to the idea of defunding, while several others felt the issue had not been discussed enough before Saint-Laurent MNA and education critic, Marwah Rizqy, stood up in the house and announced the policy change.
Two Liberal leadership candidates, Frédéric Beauchemin and Denis Coderre, deplored the fact the Liberal membership had not been consulted on such a fundamental policy shift.
“I do not support the defunding of private religious schools that teach Ministry of Education curriculum and do not receive government grants for religious studies,” Prass said in a statement Friday.
“I will continue to defend this position in the National Assembly and elsewhere.”
Prass, who was absent for the vote Thursday for personal reasons, said while what happened at Bedford elementary school where there are allegations of religion creeping into the classroom is unacceptable, “we should not paint private religious schools with the same brush.
“Our private religious schools are the cornerstone of many communities, as many Jewish private schools are in my riding. As long as they follow the rules, they should not be targeted by threats of defunding.”
In the bigger scheme of things, the original PQ motion the Liberals backed is already dead in the water because the Coalition Avenir Québec government used its majority to vote it down.
There are 50 private religious schools in Quebec, which are supported by $160 million a year from the state. Twenty-seven of them are Catholic, 14 Jewish, four Muslim, two Protestant Evangelical, two are Armenian and one Greek Orthodox.