The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG – A private Jesuit school that is set to open next fall in one of Winnipeg’s poorest inner-city neighbourhoods is already sparking debate.
Gonzaga Middle School will follow a Jesuit model used in other cities that incorporates greater support, longer school hours and summer programs.
The school also plans to remove barriers for low-income and academically gifted students between Grades 6 and 8 by offering free education.
But Larry Morrissette, executive director of Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin, an organization that works with youth in gangs, says the Indigenous community was not properly consulted.
He says the school goes against the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
And he worries the mistakes of the past could be repeated.
“Again they’re coming in with the idea that they know better than us,” says Morrissette. “There’s no call in that report that asks for, you know, the Jesuits or any other religious group to come into the city, north end, central, to build schools.”
Mark Wasyliw, chairman of the Winnipeg School Division, is also concerned, saying the school will pick and choose certain students, leaving others behind.
“We’re interested in building up communities and that means building up all students in a community,” says Wasyliw.
Grade eight students who graduate from Gonzaga Middle School will be offered tuition-free education at St. Mary’s Academy or St. Paul’s High School.
Wasyliw says that would move youngsters who could develop into community leaders out of the city’s North End.
He says the school means well, but funding could be better used to support programs that already exist within the community and school division.
“They’re planning to help 60 students within that neighbourhood and what we’re saying is that if you work with us, we could do a lot more with that money and we certainly could help a lot more than 60 students,” says Wasyliw.
Gonzaga Middle School principal Tom Lussier has issued a statement promising it will be an inclusive organization.
He says the school will be “open to a variety of cultural traditions and expressions of spirituality, including Christian and Indigenous traditions. We want our students to learn and respect their own faith and spiritual traditions, to understand where they come from and who they hope to become.”
Lussier says the school supports recommendations from the TRC report, and plans to include Indigenous studies in the curriculum.
Manitoba Treaty Commissioner Jamie Wilson is speaking out in support of the school, saying parents should have a choice in how their children are educated.
He credits the Jesuits for being the first religious organization to make amends during the Truth and Reconciliation hearings.
“What matters most to me is Aboriginal students being given opportunities to graduate and succeed and Gonzaga certainly has earned that reputation today.”
Gonzaga has several prominent financial backers, including Mark Chipman of True North Sports and Entertainment.
