The Province of Alberta introduced a new school funding scheme that pooled all revenues in a central fund and distributed them on a per-student basis.
Separate school boards, but not public school boards, were permitted to opt out of the scheme and continue raising funds directly from ratepayers.
The appellants challenged the scheme, arguing it violated a constitutional right to reasonable autonomy, discriminated against public school boards, and violated a principle of mirror equality.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that school boards do not have a constitutional right to reasonable autonomy, the funding scheme does not discriminate against public school boards as it meets a standard of fairness, and the constitutional provisions do not guarantee mirror equality between public and separate school boards.
