Opening the door?

Has the province opened the floodgates?

Advanced Education Minister Diane McGifford adamantly denies that the government's decision to contribute $150,000 last summer to a $603,500 lab and classroom upgrade project under the federal government's shovel-ready economic stimulus program sets a precedent for provincial capital funding for private schools.

Department of Advanced Education documents obtained under the Freedom of Information act show that on May 25, 2009, McGifford's personal assistant Jeremy Read asked senior bureaucrats if the province had ever before provided a capital grant to CMU.

"We are not aware of any capital support in the past (for) CMU," replied Carlos Matias, a program analyst with the council on post-secondary education.

CMU president Gerald Gerbrandt welcomed the money and says CMU plans to approach the government about more capital funding.

Some of Manitoba's largest faith-based schools, such as Linden Christian School, St. Mary's Academy and Westgate Mennonite School have ambitious expansion projects that are not receiving a single penny of public capital money.

The government says it does not give capital grants to private schools -- but it gave $150,000 to CMU.

And CMU would certainly like to see more capital money, Gerbrandt said.

"Sure, we would like to see ourselves receive capital grants," he said. "We have not had formal discussions around it. That doesn't mean we won't."

The Department of Advanced Education says unequivocally that CMU is a private institution, a government official said, though the deal with the former Conservative government to establish CMU in the late 1990s gives the school some of the benefits of a public university.

But the province insists that the $150,000 capital grant for CMU was a one-time decision that does not set a precedent.

McGifford said the money was part of a federal-provincial initiative aimed at helping colleges and universities expand and repair their research and education facilities and was a special case.

"We recognize the value of work done by the CMU, and it was a modest amount of money," she added.

Providence College also received federal infrastructure cash this past summer, but did not receive nor expect a penny from the province, because it's a private school, said president August Kunkel.

"The province must consider infrastructure funding for CMU, as it does for the other provincial universities (including St. Boniface College as part of the University of Manitoba)," said Kunkel.

The Department of Advanced Education's statement on capital funding for CMU said:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CMU and the provincial government was put in place in the late 1990s under the previous government and that agreement is still in effect.

The memorandum includes a provision that the Canadian Mennonite University would receive the same funding increases or decreases as public universities.

CMU is still considered a private post-secondary institution. Its status has not changed.

Providence College does not have the same type of funding agreement with the province, although it does receive operating funds.

The terms of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program were set by the federal government as part of its Economic Action Plan, and the funding is a "one-time capital infusion."

Private numbers

The amount of publicly funded operating grants which each of the province's funded private schools received in 2007-2008, the percentage of that school's operating budget paid for by taxpayers, and that school's spending per student:

Academie Islamique du Manitoba $36,877 64.5 $6,350

Alhijra Islamic School $673,444 96.2 $4,219

Austin Christian Academy $127,635 70.1 $5,436

Balmoral Hall $1,426,771 16.4 $20,366

Beautiful Saviour Lutheran School $227,635 32.9 $7,555

Calvin Christian School $2,223,675 63.4 $6,617

Cartwright $40,812 42.3 $12,069

Children's House $21,066 9.3 $8,377

Christ the King $666,324 60.2 $6,475

Christian Heritage $448,808 59.4 $7,091

Community Bible Fellowship Christian $145,542 72.6 $5,492

Dufferin Christian $896,997 71.6 $5,950

Faith Academy $1,801,897 70.3 $5,439

Gray Academy $2,328,399 39.2 $11,307

Green Acres $57,376 90.0 $3,983

H.B. Community School $80,080 88.3 $4,220

Holy Cross $1,140,900 94.1 $5,866

Holy Ghost $862,862 81.6 $4,877

Immaculate Heart of Mary $833,377 67.6 $5,884

Immanuel Christian $769,101 65.0 $6,796

Kola Community School $10,825 30.9 $14,001

Lakeside Christian $134,134 75.8 $5,283

Linden Christian $3,316,799 60.9 $6,850

Mennonite Brethren Collegiate $2,308,282 47.7 $8,376

Mennonite Collegiate Institute $565,472 31.3 $12,558

Mennville Christian $136,136 83.7 $4,783

Montessori Learning Centre $26,731 10.1 $9,266

Morweena (grades 11 and 12 only) $64,064 99.0 $4,044

Northern Shield $205,734 29.9 $13,452

Odanah $98,107 90.8 $3,999

Oholei Torah School $31,792 51.8 $7,669

Ohr Hatorah Day School $90,793 23.8 $11,890

Our Lady of Victory School $380,238 53.8 $7,393

Pine Creek $42,357 96.5 $4,181

Red River Valley Junior Academy $292,090 57.7 $6,444

Silverwinds $66,018 79.3 $4,265

Springs Christian Academy $2,221,164 52.0 $7,804

St. Aidan's $105,187 67.5 $6,776

St. Alphonsus $835,041 72.5 $5,743

St. Boniface Diocesan $742,164 59.9 $7,121

St. Charles Academy $858,223 56.1 $7,518

St. Edward $746,957 72.5 $5,726

St. Emile $848,954 69.6 $6,305

St. Gerard $777,732 84.6 $4,893

St. Ignatius $886,622 58.6 $7,185

St. John Brebeuf $963,624 67.9 $6,083

St. John's-Ravenscourt $2,794,317 19.2 $18,594

St. Joseph The Worker $543,642 76.2 $6,795

St. Mary's Academy $2,374,545 48.8 $8,246

St. Maurice $2,439,064 59.4 $6,593

St. Paul's High $2,370,479 47.0 $8,657

Steinbach Christian High $934,199 59.1 $6,818

The King's School $1,036,146 68.5 $6,257

The Laureate $333,234 30.6 $19,486

University of Winnipeg Collegiate $1,409,297 36.9 $6,745

Westgate Mennonite $1,218,671 43.9 $9,104

Westpark $865,619 67.7 $6,000

Wingham School $76,076 98.9 $4,049

Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary $1,571,744 50.1 $8,266

Winnipeg South Academy $90,265 12.9 $6,896

Source: The department of education's FRAME (Financial reporting and Accounting in Manitoba Education) report for independent schools 2007-2008. Percentages calculated by WFP using provincial data.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 6, 2010 H5