Tory bends on school funding
KAREN HOWLETT AND MURRAY CAMPBELL
Globe and Mail Update and Canadian Press
October 1, 2007 at 1:02 PM EDT
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory says his contentious policy to fund faith-based schools will now go ahead only after extensive consultation with Ontarians.
“I have always believed that listening to the people is at the very core of leadership,†Mr. Tory said in a speech today to the Economic Club of Toronto.
He announced that he would hold a free vote on the policy, which would allow MPPs to vote with their conscience if the party wins the Oct. 10 Ontario election.
As the campaign enters the final stretch, the announcement marks a dramatic about-face from Mr. Tory's stance as recently as last week when he ruled out a free vote.
Ontario PC leader John Tory talks with Ontario Liberal candidate Kathleen Wynne prior to an all candidates debate in the riding of Don Valley West in Toronto Sunday. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
He announced the change following a conference call last night with his caucus and this morning with Progressive Conservative candidates.
The business audience greeted his announcement with sustained applause.
But one Progressive Conservative candidate has already broken ranks with his stand, with Hamilton East-Stoney Creek candidate Tara Crugnale telling the Hamilton Spectator that she “can't defend the policy as it stands now.â€
Ms. Crugnale told the paper she supports the ideology of faith-based funding, but wouldn't vote for the plan because it is not understood or supported by the electorate.
Mr. Tory has been under fire for a month over his proposal to spend $400-million to integrate private religious schools into the public system. The governing Liberals have said such a move would detract from the effort to improve the public system and are content to leave in place the constitutional provision that gives preferential treatment by providing public funds to Roman Catholic schools.
Mr. Tory has argued that bring other religious schools into the public system is a matter of “fairness†and “inclusion.â€
But the proposal appears to have bogged down his campaign. Conservative support in the polls has not budged during the campaign despite polls that show Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty is unpopular with many voters for breaking his 2003 campaign pledge not to raise taxes.
Mr. McGuinty was quick on Monday morning to comment on Mr. Tory's expected announcement, saying he would let Ontarians “draw their own conclusions about his judgment.â€
“I think what they are looking for is someone who's prepared to stand up for two million students who every day go to our publicly funded schools,†Mr. McGuinty said after a campaign stop at the Daily Bread Food Bank.
New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said he hoped to turn this into a “real†debate on education, saying he believes parents are more interested in improving education than faith-based school funding.
Mr. Hampton said Mr. Tory's plan had created a problem that Mr. McGuinty had then used to distract voters.
“I hope we can spend the last 10 days (of the election campaign) actually talking about the real issues,†Mr. Hampton said at an event in Toronto. “Perhaps a real debate can begin now.â€
On Friday, a new poll showed Conservative support had dropping by two percentage points, an indication that Mr. Tory's core supporters may be abandoning him.
Some caucus members have been grumbling about the schools issue, saying that voters on the doorstep are resisting it. Veteran Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch said last week that he could not support the policy.
The promise of a free vote among Conservative MPPs is a recognition that the Liberals have succeeded in their attacks over the schools issue and that Mr. Tory is hopeful that he can defuse it as a campaign issue.
Mr. Tory has talked previously about reforming the rules of the Ontario legislature to allow for more votes by MPPs that are free from party discipline but he has not done so in the context of the schools issue.
With a report from Paul Waldie
