Sean Conway on Separate School education in Ontario

Sean Conway served as  Minister of Education in the first Peterson government (1985-87), given the task of extending public funding beyond grade 10 to the end of grade 13 to the province’s Roman Catholic Separate School system, a commitment made by Ontario Progressive Conservative Premier William Davis in June 1984 but not implemented before the May 1985 election.

Conway reflects on the Ontario provincial election of 1985, which brought an end to the 42 year PC dynasty, and the unusual circumstances that led to his receiving official briefings on the “Separate School Funding” issue as much as six weeks before the Frank Miller government fell and Conway was sworn in as Minister of Education in the David Peterson government. The conversation also explores the longer constitutional backdrop, from the Union period in the 1840s to Confederation, and how denominational school rights shaped provincial and national politics well into the twentieth Century.