The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling in favour of the province of Saskatchewan when it comes to the funding of non-Catholic students who attend separate schools. With the decision, it ends a saga that goes back nearly 18 years. 

In March of 2020, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal had ruled in favour of the provincial government, overturning a decision from 2017 that stated it was unconstitutional for the provincial government to pay for non-Catholic students to attend Catholic schools, as was the case in Theodore.  

In 2003, the public school in Theodore was going to be closed. A group of Catholics in the region, which is northwest of Yorkton, petitioned the province to form the Theodore Roman Catholic School Division, and it became part of the Christ the Teacher School Division. The group also purchased the building, and re-opened it as a Catholic School. 

The Good Spirit School Division filed a legal complaint, stating it was against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for non-Catholic students to receive funding when there was a public school board and public school still active in the area, albeit it 15 minutes away in the town of Springside.  

The case had worked its way through the court system, with the province invoking the notwithstanding clause to overrule the Court of Queen’s Bench ruling in the case.