Quebec threatens independent protestant schools.

Quebec City--Throughout Canada many parents send their children to independent schools because they object to public-school treatment of certain subjects, such as sex education. Now parents in the province of Quebec who have sent their children to evangelical Christian schools are finding they have nowhere left to run.

At least three such schools, currently unlicensed, in the Outaouais region of the province have been ordered to teach sex education and Darwin's theory of evolution--or face closure. The Quebec Education Minister, Jean-Marc Fournier, has decided that even the smallest private schools must comply with provincial curricula in all subjects, even where there is a conflict with their religious beliefs. This poses a problem for administrators at such as Eglise Evangelique school who "offer a curriculum based on a Christian worldview rather than a humanistic (one)."

Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham, director of law and public policy with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, says that parents' right to educate their children according to their religious beliefs is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She notes that the Quebec government has not been prominent heretofore in respecting religious freedom and this latest example is definitely putting a "squeeze" on it (LifeSiteNews, Oct. 24, 2006).