Secularism Works
Axial Tilt is the Reason for the Season.
December is a month dominated by religious traditions. Some humanists are able to overlook religious traditions and focus on generosity, celebrating with friends and family. It provides a break in the long dark days that surround the Winter Solstice. Other non-religious folks struggle with the constant rhetoric about the benefits of religion. Whichever camp applies to you, please consider making a donation to CFIC as we fight for secular values in Canada.
There is a strong positive correlation between secularism and desirable social outcomes such as reduced poverty, rates of incarceration, teenage pregnancies, and addictions; and increased literacy, life expectancy, employment and wealth. Yet in spite of this the Canadian government continues to endorse and subsidize religious perspectives and practices over secular values and institutions.
Perhaps the most egregious evidence of this is that the government provides charitable status for organizations whose goal is “the advancement of religion.” This single issue costs Canadians more than $5.5 billion each and every year!
However, it does not stop there. Many provinces have faith-based hospitals. While these hospitals are open to the public treatment is often determined by religious principles at odds with the best interests of the patient – regardless of whether the patient is a member of that faith or not. As a result, people are denied access to medical assistance in dying, birth control and abortion.
Even the census fails to be impartial in the matter of religion. The census asks: “What is this person’s religion? Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is not currently a practising member of that group.” (emphasis added) This wording leads to higher reported rates for all religions at the expense of accuracy.
As 2023 draws to a close, give the gift of secularism. Please consider donating to CFIC so that we can do more to promote secularism for all.
For more information see:
The Cost of Religion in Canada 2022
When Religious Leaders Become Atheists
Sudbury Inmates’ Reading limited to Christian Bibles
Religion: Freedom “Of” or Freedom “From”
What It Means to be Moral with Phil Zuckerman
Seth Andrews, host of The Thinking Atheist, on the un-Christian behaviour of many Christians
Gift a Donation
Although we are secularists, for many of us gift-giving is a part of the year-end holiday season. You may give gifts because you love doing it, or because you temporarily get caught up in the season, or simply because it is expected. Whatever your rationale, if you are looking for an idea for the hard-to-buy-for critical thinker on your list please consider donating to CFIC in their honour. With a donation of $25 or more, CFIC will send a personalized e-card to that special person.
Here are a few reasons why a donation to CFIC is the perfect holiday gift:
- It’s tax-deductible
- It’s environmentally friendly
- It will never be regifted
- One size fits all, and it will never go out of style
- This is a gift that won’t languish in a drawer somewhere
- No clutter!
- No messy wrapping paper
- This makes a perfect gift for someone who could use a little more skepticism in their life
- Best of all it helps a cause you believe deeply in.
If you would like to make a donation and have CFIC send a personalized acknowledgement to someone special on your list:
- Make a donation of $25 or more
- Tell us who you’d like us to send a card to and select your card here.
Have you already made a donation and wish to send a card? Just complete step 2 above.
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking may be the most important tool in the toolbox to push back against world events that have gotten out of control.
The Centre for Inquiry Canada provides practical information for Canadians about why critical thinking is important and how to be a better critical thinker. Faced with complex issues such as globalization and division, wars, populist game-playing, and misinformation from both domestic and international sources, our world, now more than ever, has a critical need for critical thinking
CFIC promotes evidence-based decision-making. By making decisions based on evidence, rather than emotion, tradition or religion, decisions can contribute to better outcomes in important areas such as environmental conservation, secular governance and rational policy making.
CFIC fights misinformation. We help people to find tools that identify misinformation and significantly biased information. We remind people to check before they share and we help people to understand why disinformation is spread and how to avoid being scammed by it.
CFIC promotes ethical actions. We share information that helps people to understand the ethical implications of decisions that they make, and work towards win-win solutions
CFIC helps to equip people with the skills and mindset to tackle complex problems, make informed decisions and contribute to a more rational, ethical and sustainable world. Your support helps us to do more. This December, please make a tax receiptable donation to CFIC in support of Critical Thinking.
Click here to make your tax-deductible contribution.
For more on Critical Thinking please see:
Suggested books for Critical Thinking
Too Good to Be True? Fact check the good stuff too
Research Before You Research Predatory Journals
Check your Outrage – How to avoid unintentionally spreading misinformation
A picture says 1000 words…Whether True or Not: How to Fact-Check Photos
Fighting Misinformation – Essential fact-checking resources
How Minds Change – With David McRaney- Podcast for Inquiry
Ontario Petition for One Public School System Updates
CFIC has been working with other secular organizations to promote a petition to end the public funding of separate Catholic school boards. We have been able to extend the deadline for submissions. If you can possibly obtain more signatures, please do.
We have received some questions about the petition and are happy to provide some answers:
Q – Why do we have to use a paper copy and mail it?
A – This standard requirement comes from the Province of Ontario.
Q – I’ve e-signed government petitions in the past. What’s different now?
A – The Federal government permits the use of e-petitions. They may also be used by other provinces. However, the Province of Ontario only accepts paper copies of petitions with original signatures.
Q – Why not just use an online petition program?
A – Online petitions are a way for people to express an interest in a topic. However, they have no legal standing and generally are not helpful in promoting a cause.
Q – Alberta and Saskatchewan also have publicly funded Catholic school boards. Why is this petition only for Ontario?
A – One of our members arranged to have a petition presented to the Legislative Assembly in Ontario. We have supported this member to get signatures. We would welcome the opportunity to support similar endeavours in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Q – You say funding the Catholic school board in Ontario costs $1.5 billion. How did you arrive at this number?
A – This is a lengthy answer. The figure of $1.5 billion a year comes from the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods of Ontario, Ontario Public and Catholic School Merger Study, March 2012.
On the one hand, there have been some board mergers that have reduced the amount spent on board trustees, their administrative staff, etc. On the other hand, there has been inflation. So it is hard to say exactly what the current figure is, especially because the provincial government is not, shall we say, transparent about exactly what the money is spent on, beyond the broad categories. Further, Catholic school boards go across the same geographical area as public school boards. Ontario spends more money on the costs associated with having more than one board than if there were only one board for all English-speaking schools.
We also know that in general, boards with fewer students (up to a certain size) spend more money per student on administrative costs than boards with more students. All boards, no matter how few students, have certain costs: salaries of trustees and their administrative staff; facilities for the board and their administrative staff; superintendents of education and their staff; supplies and IT support across the board.
Especially outside the large cities, the cost per student of the smaller Catholic school board is more than its corresponding public school board. And even the public school board spends more per student than it would if all the students in the geographical area were represented by one board. It may be that the Catholic school board spends more per student than the public school board. This might not apply to boards such as Toronto, where even the Catholic school board is quite big. Merging would not necessarily bring economies of scale. But it would apply to enough boards that there would be savings.
The costs of bus transportation per student in Catholic school boards is generally higher than the costs of bus transportation in public school boards because they have to transport fewer students over the same area. And even public school boards might spend more on bus transportation (drivers, fuel, vehicle maintenance) than they would in an amalgamated system, because the closest publicly funded school may be a Catholic school with relatively inflated costs.
Savings would be based on eliminating duplicate administration costs, facility costs, and excess transportation costs. And of course there would be economies of scale in purchasing supplies, etc. Further, there may be under-utilized schools near each other — one in the Catholic school board, and one in the public school board. With one public school system, one school might be able to be closed, without requiring students to travel any farther.
Suppose there were two fire services over the same geographical area. One was for everyone including Catholics, and the other one only for Catholics. Each had their own administration, fire stations, supplies, etc. And when there was a fire, instead of the closest fire station sending out a fire engine, it would depend on which fire service you were affiliated with. Wouldn’t we all agree that this makes no sense?
If all Ontario students in the English boards went to one school, there could be enough students to provide a wide variety of courses at a local high school in each town. But because the students are split between two English boards, neither board has enough students to keep the schools going in the local towns.
In summary:
We are proposing one public school system with English and French boards.
Please print the petition, sign, get others to sign, and (this is the most important part) return your signed petitions by mail to:
Petitions ℅ Centre for Inquiry Canada PO Box 83045, Ottawa RPO Bank & Walkley Ontario K1V 1A3
We would like to receive the petitions as soon as possible, but if you have an opportunity to get more signatures, hang on to them just a bit longer.
Note:
Please do not change or annotate the petition. Any changes, including written notations, may invalidate the form, including all signatures on the page. If you have additional questions please contact Petitions@Centreforinquiry.ca.
One School System for Ontario (Petition to End Funding of Catholic Schools)
MPP Jessica Bell (NDP University-Rosedale) has agreed to present a petition at Queen’s Park, calling for the elimination of public funding for the Catholic school systems. We need your assistance in circulating physical copies and returning them by mail, no later than October 1, 2023, to:
Petitions ℅ Centre for Inquiry Canada PO Box 83045, Ottawa RPO Bank & Walkley Ontario K1V 1A3
The text of the petition was created in partnership between CRIPE, Secular Connexion, OPEN, CFIC, and Humanist Ottawa. It was difficult to eliminate some compelling arguments for this petition, but was required to ensure there was space on the petition for signatures. When asked to select the points which could be eliminated, one committee member expressed, “That’s like asking me to choose between my children.” However, these and many other compelling reasons to discontinue the public funding of Catholic schools are available on the One Public Education Now website.
Your signature will help to ensure that this petition is presented in the provincial legislature and will attract media attention and raise public awareness. This is another step in the eventual, inevitable withdrawal of discriminatory public funding for a school system that is not open to all.
Please help us collect signatures. You can download a printable PDF here. Share the petition on social media, through email, and in any other way you can think of. If you are attending a live event, please bring copies of the petition with you. (Some have noticed that if you print directly from your browser, the margins may not be properly aligned – this can usually be fixed if you download the document then print from your PDF reader – e.g. Adobe.)
To be presented to the Legislative Assembly, a petition must meet the following rules (taken from https://www.ola.org/en/get-involved/petitions):
- It must ask for an action that is within the jurisdiction of the Legislative Assembly.
- It must use clear and respectful language.
- The text of the petition must be at the top of every page of signatures.
- All signatures must be original. They must be written directly on the petition.
- Each petitioner must print their name and address and sign their name under the text of the petition.
- Petitioners must be residents of Ontario.
- The petition must be addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
- The petition must be written, typewritten, or printed. Emailed, faxed, photocopied, or online petitions are not allowed.
Please note:
Do not change or annotate the petition. Any changes, including written notations, may invalidate the form, including all signatures on the page. If you have technical questions please contact Petitions@Centreforinquiry.ca.
