Chapter 4: Religious Diversity in Western Canadian Education: Presumptions, Provisions, Practices, and Possibilities

This chapter outlines how Canada’s provisions for education have dealt with religion and religious issues within a multicultural, multireligious context. It examines current legal and political provisions for religious diversity in Canadian schooling, with an emphasis on the situation in Canada’s westernmost provinces. Nine school administrators, teachers, and parents of various religious backgrounds respond to questions about their experiences with religious diversity in government public schools. The chapter teases out some common themes in their reflections. It then concludes by probing possibilities for providing a school system where stakeholders can express and uphold their religious identity without fear of reprisal, while at the same time balancing such individual needs with the need of all citizens to contribute to a compassionate, just, equitable, and democratic society.