CCSTA is saddened to hear of the passing a great promoter and leader of Catholic education, Fr. Mario D’Souza.

A member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Toronto, Fr. D’Souza made a wide and deep contribution to Catholic education, in particular to its philosophical underpinnings in contemporary culture.

Fr. D’Souza was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1956, and moved to Canada as a young adult. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1991, celebrating his 25th anniversary of ordination last year. He began teaching at St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology in 1991, and, other than his time at Assumption (Jan., 2005-Aug., 2006), the Faculty remained his home until his death. He held the Basilian Fathers Chair in Religion and Education, and was named a Fellow of St. Michael’s College in October of 2014. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Theology from 2009 to 2014.

He died peacefully at the Cardinal Flahiff Basilian Centre on Sept. 26 after a brief illness.

Read more: A Tribute to Fr. Mario D’Souza

Every year the Evergreen Catholic School Division in Alberta chooses a charitable cause in which all the board’s staff and students collectively fundraises for throughout the academic year. Often the cause is tied to the year division faith theme.  This year’s faith theme is “In Christ, all are welcome, all belong.” 

And so, they selected Toonies for Tuition to connect with that theme.

Evergreen Catholic School Division is a separate school authority within the Canadian province of Alberta operated out of Spruce Grove and includes 10 schools and a division office.

The Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association has made a commitment to support Toonies for Tuition and each board was encouraged to contribute each year based on the number of students they have graduating. 

ECS Superintendent Dr. Cindi Vaselenak explains how it came on their attention, and why they’re giving their full support to Toonies for Tuition this academic year.

“Our board chair Gerald Bernakevitch has been a HUGE advocate for Toonies for Tuition and has always encouraged schools to donate.  It has always been on our radar and we donate,” she explains. “However, this year we decided to really push it because there is so much negativity in the papers about the need for publicly funded Catholic education and Alberta could be in jeopardy of losing it.  We wanted to make sure we support Catholic education publicly (especially in an election year) and as one united division effort at a time, the value of Catholic education is publicly challenged.”

Read more: Alberta’s Evergreen Catholic Schools commits fundraising efforts to Toonies for Tuition

Taking the opportunity to connect with MPs from across Canada is a key political engagement strategy for the CCSTA: and that’s what’s on the agenda for its Board of Directors later this month.

On. Oct. 31, the CCSTA Lobby Day will take place at the Parliament Buildings in the Nation’s Capital where two or three CCSTA Directors will sit down with an MP at one time for a 30-minute period.

“The Lobby Day gives our board members a chance to talk about CCSTA, including our vision and goals as well as about Catholic Education in Canada,” explains Executive Director Julian Hanlon. “We talk about fully funded provinces versus partially funded, private schools and most importantly, we talk about the total number of students enrolled in Catholic Schools and how we do make a difference.”

The last Lobby Day took place in February, 2016 and directors say the meetings are a great opportunity to connect with politicians and to establish relationships.

“Previous Lobby Days have been very successful and tie in nicely with the local engagement strategy we implemented two years ago. This involves encouraging trustees from across the country to meet with their local MPs,” explains Hanlon. “While education is a provincial matter we feel strongly that federal politicians need to be aware of what is going on as there are federal implications such as the Theodore Case in Saskatchewan.”

For this month’s Lobby Day, they are working with Ensight Canada to identify MPs from across the country who they wish to see that day. They’ll then ensure the CCSTA Board Member from that specific MP’s home province attends that meeting.

Read more: CCSTA Lobby Day with MPs set for Oct. 31