Welcome back to school!

It’s hard to believe summer holidays are already over. Whether it was a rainy season in Ontario or a heat wave in Manitoba or simply gorgeous weather out East (we’re looking at you, Nova Scotia!), we hope you at least had the chance to unwind and get refreshed for the new school year.

We know we are.

Now that we’re back in the office, we’re evaluating our goals for the upcoming school year, and we’re ready to get started; including the political front.

This year, we will be focused on the Trinity Western Case. We have been granted intervenor status along with OCSTA, ACSTA, SCSBA AND AFOCSC. The ACSTA AND OCSTA will be taking the lead on the case and we’re awaiting for a date as to when it will be moving to the Supreme Court. We will soon provide a more detailed breakdown of this scenario and next steps later this fall.

We will also be monitoring the Theodore Case as it moves to The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. Based on a legal opinion, CCSTA won't be seeking intervenor status at this point. When – and if – the case moves to the Supreme Court, we will seek intervenor status at that time.

Meanwhile, CCSTA President Marino Gazzola and Executive Director Julian Hanlon had a very successful two days in June lobbing the Saskatchewan MPs on the Theodore case. Stay tuned for a story on that as well.

When it comes to funding for students who wish to attend a Catholic school in Canada, we’re focused on continuing to build our Toonies for Tuition campaign. It’s gaining great traction, but the financial support requests far outweigh the available dollars. We’ll continue to encourage schools, churches, community groups and individuals to host a fundraiser on behalf of Toonies for Tuition.

Read more: New School Year, New Goals

With the continued, cross-country support for the Toonies for Tuition campaign, CCSTA decided to make it easier for donors to offer their support: by going online.

Earlier this summer, CCSTA launched its Toonies for Tuition online donation program through the CanadaHelps Organization.

CanadaHelps is a non-profit serving Canadian charities and donors. Because they’re a not-for-profit organization, their fees are smaller than for-profit alternatives, which allows a donor’s dollar to go further for the given charity.

The online payment platform has been running successfully for 16 years, and provides secure payment processing as well as generates an instant tax receipt.

More than 1.4 million Canadian have supported charities through CanadaHelps. Now CCSTA has been added to that roster.

CCSTA decided to add an online payment option for donors to make it a more simplified process.

“We get support from across Canada, so we want to make it a one-stop, user-friendly experience for our donors,” explains Executive Director Julian Hanlon. “This past spring, our Board of Directors supported this direction, and so we moved forward.”

Donations can now be made online through CanadaHelps, and donations can be made in one-time increments or on a monthly basis.

When Bishop Henry received word that he was honoured with the 2017 Justice James Higgins Award, he says he was shocked and stunned, but grateful.

“I’m not really into awards and the words of Jesus to this disciples came to mind: “So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves: we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (Lk.17: 10) Nevertheless, it was nice to be noticed,” he says.

When Bishop Henry travelled to Niagara Falls in June for the CCSTA AGM where he received the award, he sent out a clear message in his acceptance speech (see below for the full speech) in that it’s important for educators and trustees to make disciples.

He explains the meaning to his message.

Read more: Bishop Henry on Receiving the Higgins Award