There has been a major development in something that has nothing to do with COVID-19.

Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Appeal of the Theodore case in an unanimous decision.

The decision by Saskatchewan’s highest court overturns the 2017 ruling which would have limited public funding for students who choose to attend Catholic Schools in Saskatchewan but don’t have a Catholic baptismal certificate.

In the spring of 2017, a judge ruled that it is a violation of equality rights for the province to fund non-Catholics attending Catholic Schools. The province then invoked the Charter of Rights and Freedom’s notwithstanding clause, which means funding will remain temporarily for the next 5 years.

The government’s stance was that if the ruling was implemented, it would lead to heavily overpopulated public schools and empty out the Catholic schools. The government suggested at the time it would lead to 10,000 students being pulled from the Catholic system into public schools.

The entire issue started back in 2003 when the public school closed down in Theodore, Saskatchewan which is about 40 kilometres northwest of Yorkton.

The Good Spirit School Division had planned to bus approximately 42 students out to the neighbouring town of Springdale. However, a group formed their own Catholic school division and opened the St. Theodore Roman Catholic School for the students to attend.