Manitoba Schools Question Manitoba Schools Question The Manitoba

Manitoba Schools Question

Manitoba Schools Question ¡The Manitoba Act (1870) contained a provisions regarding education. ¡Section 22 of the Act said, ¡ that the Manitoba government could not pass educational laws that would “prejudicially affect any right or privilege with respect to Denominational Schools [schools operated by churches] which any class of persons have by Law or practice in the Province at the Union. ” ¡ i. e the provincial government could not change the education system in Manitoba.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡ As a result of this provision, Manitoba had in essence two publicly funded school systems: ¡ One organized by the Protestant Churches – because almost all Protestant’s were English speaking the Protestant school provided education in English and ¡ One organized by the Roman Catholic Church - Because almost all Catholic’s in Manitoba were French speaking, Catholic school provided education in French.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡A second provision in the Manitoba Act (1870) was designed to protect the French, ¡ Section 23, gave French and English equal standing in the legislature and the courts, and required that the records of the legislature and all provincial laws be printed in both languages.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡Manitoba was starting to be seen as a little brother to Ontario. ¡More and more protestants moved to Manitoba and the English speaking population was slowly starting to usurp that of the French speaking population. ¡In the Manitoba election of 1888 Thomas Greenway, Liberal leader, won and formed government. ¡He was well liked by both the French and the English at first… but that changed in 1890.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡In 1890, Greenway created a single public school system and stopped funding both the Protestant and Catholic schools. ¡The language of education in the new public schools was to be English. In large measure the Protestant schools became the new public system, while the Roman Catholic Church continued to operate on its own, but had to charge parents school fees. ¡Greenway also replaced the bilingual provisions of the Manitoba Act with a policy of English only in the courts, legislature and government publications.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡These measures were seen as an attack on the rights of both Roman Catholics and French Canadians. ¡Leading members of the Greenway government justified these measures as being required to protect the province from the undue influence of the Roman Catholic Church and to ensure that Manitoba developed as an English province. ¡Ultimately, Greenway wanted Manitoba to be the good little brother of Ontario.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡Catholics in Manitoba took the provincial government to court over this issue. ¡The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Greenway government had broken the law – particularly section 22 and 23 of the Manitoba Act. ¡However, the provincial government appealed the SCC ruling to the JCPC (British High Courts).

Manitoba Schools Question ¡This issue brought a crisis to Macdonald and his government. ¡Already reeling from the Riel fiasco, many of his Quebec MP’s, and Quebecers in general, were mad at Macdonald, this issue made things worse. ¡French speaking Canadiens felt that their rights were being trampled on, that the English speaking Canadians were being favoured and that Macdonald was doing nothing to support them. ¡ Macdonald, getting old and tired, choose to let the courts decide the fate of the Manitoba Schools Question and decided to not intervene.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡In 1891, Macdonald fought his last campaign. He barely won office. Laurier put up a good fight, but Macdonald won by winning 122 seats, and Laurier won 80. ¡Macdonald won all the seats in BC, the Northwest Territories, over half the seats in Ontario, almost half the seats in Quebec and a healthy majority of seats from the Maritimes. ¡Laurier won all the seats in Manitoba and half of seats in Quebec. ¡Shortly after the election, Macdonald passed away.

Manitoba Schools Question ¡ Macdonald was not alive when the JCPC ruled on the Manitoba Schools question. ¡ The JCPC, in 1891, ruled that Manitoba did not break the law. ¡ This infuriated more and more French Canadiens in Canada. ¡ What frustrated them even more is the Conservative leaders that followed Macdonald could not find a solution to the Manitoba issue; this included: ¡ Sir John Abbott, ¡ John Sparrow David Thompson ¡ Sir Mackenzie Bowell and ¡ Sir Charles Tupper

Laurier Wins…. ¡ By 1896, the Conservatives had been in power for almost 20 years (minus the four from 1874 -1878), and even worse they were replacing leaders almost every six months since Macdonald’s death. ¡ The French were completely disassociated from the Conservatives. They hung Riel, they couldn’t solve the Manitoba Schools Crises, their rights were being trampled on, and they couldn’t find a leader that was capable of ensuring that the French Culture would be protected. ¡ The election in 1896 saw Laurier and the Liberals storm into power. ¡ Laurier won 117 seats with a majority of them coming from Quebec, all from Manitoba, a few from the French pockets in the Maritimes and surprisingly half the seats in Ontario. ¡ The Conservatives had half the seats in Ontario, BC, and the Territories.

Manitoba School Questions ¡Laurier was able to find a solution to the Manitoba Schools Question. ¡He and Greenway agreed that public schools ought to be available for both the French Speaking Canadiens (Catholic Schools) and the English Speaking Canadians (Protestant Schools). ¡In return, Laurier would appoint Clifford Sifton, a Liberal MP from Manitoba, as the Minister of the Interior and it would be up to Sifton to take care of immigration and populating the West.

Cause and Effect #1 ¡Because of the Laurier – Greenway compromise, all provinces that were currently part of Confederation were allowed to have both a Catholic and non-Catholic education system that was paid for by the public. ¡Today every province in Canada have a publicly funded Catholic and non-Catholic education system.

Cause and Effect #2 ¡Macdonald’s decision to hang Riel, coupled with his lack of desire to find an amicable solution to the Manitoba School Questions put the Tories in a very unfortunate path with Quebec. ¡For all of the 20 th Century (except when Mulroney and his Tories won power in 1984) the province of Quebec unequivocally voted for the Liberals. ¡From 1896 to 2000 (104 years) the Liberals formed the government for 80 of those years. ¡Even today, the Tories struggle to gain support in Quebec.

Cause and Effect #2 ¡Cause and effect - Macdonald relied heavily on the support of the French people to keep him and his Tories in office, but near the end of his life he turned his back on the French and for over 100 years the Quebecois has turned their back on the Conservatives.