School division, province appeal court costs ruling

The Christ the Teacher Catholic school division and provincial government are seeking an appeal of a Saskatchewan judge’s decision that they pay almost $1 million in costs associated with a long-running court case.

Justice Donald Layh issued a decision on Jan. 24, ordering that $960,077 be paid to Good Spirit School Division to cover legal fees and other costs incurred in the battle over a school in Theodore, 200 kilometres northeast of Regina.

The school board should cover 30 per cent of those costs, and the government 70 per cent, pending the results of an appeal, Layh concluded.

The decision is related to Layh’s April 20, 2017, decision that nonminority-faith students should not receive provincial funding to attend minority-faith schools.

A notice of appeal of that decision was filed in May. The most recent notice of appeal over the fees was filed Wednesday. An appeal date has not been scheduled.

This continues more than a decade of legal action between the Yorkton-area public and separate school divisions.

In 2003, when its public school was slated for closure, a separate school division was created. The new St. Theodore Roman Catholic School was able to remain open given constitutional protection, even though the majority of students are not Catholic. At the time, 13 of 42 students were Catholic, or 31 per cent. The ratio has climbed to 39 per cent in years since.

Layh found that, by funding non-Catholic students to attend Catholic schools, the province is violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The province in November invoked the notwithstanding clause to nullify the court decision.