The direction from the Catholic archdiocese has made it clear that Catholic schools must stop fundraising through gambling activities, including casinos and high-stakes bingos. But that decision has rattled more than one person involved in the Catholic school system - after all, casinos and high stakes bingos can raise hundreds or even thousands of dollars in one night and the bake sales of old just can’t compete.
The pastoral letters laying out the basis for this decision makes complete sense, with the argument being that an institution based on Christian principles shouldn’t exploit greed or weakness in order to raise funds.
École du Sommet, for one, has come up with several creative ways to fundraise without using gambling monies, by holding a ladies’ night out or having students work at grocery stores for an afternoon, etc. The amount of work, creativity and dedication that teachers, parents and students have put into raising funds for school trips or projects has to be commended. Clearly, it is possible to raise money without gambling, even though the efforts may be more and the proceeds may be less.
But the greater dilemma comes up when one looks at the money that the Alberta government provides to school divisions. At the last St. Paul Education Regional Division (SPERD) board meeting, secretary-treasurer Jean Champagne noted that lotteries are the second biggest source of revenue for the province and 98 per cent of the division’s funding comes from the province. Funds for transportation and general per pupil grants also contain funds procured partially through gambling, to say nothing of grant monies the province doles out for extra projects like school playgrounds.
Last year, Albertans drank and gambled less, according to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission's latest annual report. But the result of this seemingly good news is that charities, community programs and the government itself, took a hit in funding. Overall, the province took home $2.1 billion from the vices of liquor and gaming in 2009-2010, a drop from $2.2 billion the year before. It’s a sad fact that in a province that likes to boast about its riches in resources and its low tax rate, money for charities and community programs comes from, in part, exploiting those who are poor or who suffer addictions. It’s a perverse Robin Hood situation of robbing from the poor to give to the poor and to maintain the status quo for the rich.
But while this showcases some of the absurdity of the Albertan government’s method of operation, it does not resolve the debate involving Catholic schools and funds coming from gambling. The Catholic Church cannot espouse gambling in Catholic schools and this makes sense. It also reveals the problem inherent in publicly funding a faith-based education, to say nothing of the discrimination involved in funding only one type of religious education, and not others, such as an Islamic or Buddhist school.
The SPERD board has posed the question – what do we do about the fact that provincial funds, including gambling monies, is helping to fund Catholic education? According to the pastoral letter, it would be impossible to separate provincial revenues from gambling and general taxation, which is an answer that raises questions of its own.
In the long run, if Catholic schools cannot easily raise or access the same type of funding as their public counterparts, due to religious doctrine, they will not be able to keep their doors open and the issue of public funding for religious education will force its hand, constitutional rights or not.