The Catholic Federation of Classical Colleges of Quebec told the Royal Commission on Education here that Jews and other Canadians who are neither Catholics nor Protestants were entitled to send their children to any type of schools they prefer and that such schools should be financed by public funds.
The defense of the educational rights of non-Christians by a Catholic group created a sensation in Catholic Quebec. Brother Marcel Degree urged that all special schools be financed by public funds. He contended that such schools were legal and should be given public funds.
Currently, children in the province attend schools which are under Protestant or Catholic control and which receive public funds. The exceptions are children attending private schools, including a substantial number of Jewish day schools, which do not receive public funds. A Jewish delegation previously presented a plea to the Royal Commission, asking for public funds partly on the grounds advanced today by the Catholic spokesman and partly on grounds that their taxes are used for schools under Christian direction.
The Catholic spokesman also urged that non-Protestants and non-Catholics be appointed as associate members of the Council on Education, the supreme authority on public instruction which currently has only Catholic and Protestant representatives.
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