Alberta currently has one of the most absurd policies regarding school funding. They completely fund competing secular public and Catholic school boards (except in St. Albert where the protestant board was never secularized and there is no secular school board), but they also fund private schools (including Islamic and Christian fundamentalists) up to 70% of their budget.
So I like it when half of the NDP caucus there (it’s only 2 members) calls for an end to private school funding.
Rachel Notley uncovered that $171 million is going to private schools in the province. I’m not sure what percentage of private schools are religious, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a large portion.
This number doesn’t even include the amount being spent on the redundant Catholic school boards.
Unfortunately, political will in Alberta is pretty stagnant and I don’t foresee this situation getting better without a lot of pressure both outside and inside the legislature. However, this announcement shows that some consider this an issue worth fighting for (although likely for financial and not secular reasons).