Canadian diocese weans schools off gambling funds

Catholic school authorities in the Canadian diocese of Edmonton have voted to abolish gambling activities as a source of school funding.

But board chair Debbie Engel says casino revenues will still be used in Catholic schools while the board looks for alternative and sustainable options for the district, which serves the city of Edmonton with publicly funded Catholic education, CNS reports.

Trustees adopted the position that “no school or school community in Alberta should have to raise money through gambling activities in order to meet children’s educational needs.”

The board has been dealing with the issue since the fall when the Archdiocese of Edmonton implemented new policy guidelines that forbid Catholic groups to raise money through “harmful gambling activities.”

The archdiocesan chancellor, Father Gregory Bittman, said the archdiocese recognizes that the school district needs time “to make fundamental changes. 

However, we believe that fundraising without casinos is an attainable goal.”

Catholic schools in the city earn about $6 million through casino fundraising every 18 months. 

All but one of the 87 schools take part in the practice. 

They use the money to pay for school field trips, hot lunch programs, equipment and other extras.

Engel said the issue is one of social justice and educational equality. 

While larger schools in more affluent areas can afford to pay for extras, smaller schools cannot.

The board plans to look at a number of options, including lobbying the Alberta government for changes in how revenue is distributed, so parents do not have to work at casinos.

“We would like to lobby the provincial government to find out exactly how much money is coming into public education from casinos and allocate it evenly on a need basis throughout the province for adequate, sustainable funding for education,” Engel said.

“We are not asking the government to come up with more money. We are asking the government to take the money and put it into general revenues and distribute it on an equitable basis so schools can have adequate, predictable funding,” she added.

Until that happens, schools will likely continue to rely on casino revenues.

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