Charity ban at schools hotly debated

OAKVILLE — The Halton Catholic District School Board’s ban on donations to charities that don’t align with Catholic values spurred contentious testimony from community members on both sides of the debate, with one Milton high schooler saying he’s worried students will be barred from donating to mainstream charities.

Speaking to board members in the first hour of a marathon board meeting in Oakville’s Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School’s gymnasium Tuesday night, student Deelan Sabido said his peers raise thousands for causes that may be banned, like the cancer fundraiser Relay for Life.

“Now we’re being told that we may not even be able to do that because the Canadian Cancer Society may not be on the list of allowed charities,” he said.

School board trustees last month reapproved a motion that bans financial donations to charities and non-profits that “publicly support, either directly or indirectly,” abortion, contraception, sterilization, euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research. The board had been expecting to hear more than three hours of testimony from parents, students and community members. The crowd of 200 was large enough that the meeting, usually held at the school board’s office in Burlington had to be moved. Nineteen delegates — some in groups — were set to address the board.

Marie-Claire Bissonnette, head of the Campaign Life Coalition Youth branch, called the policy a “pro-life motion.” “We cannot in good conscience support the raising of funds for social causes which, under the guise of human rights, bring harm to these innocent lives.”