Why are taxpayers subsidizing private school tuition?

Over the last few days, Sandy Garossino has been contemplating that question. 

The writer and former crown prosecutor recently learned about the ways taxpayers are subsidizing the tuition for children who attend elite private schools. 

Garossino, an associate editor for the National Observer, wrote an opinion piece on the subject and spoke to The 180 about it. 

The full interview is available in the audio player above. The following portions have been edited for clarity and length.

How does the child care expenses deduction work for parents who put their children in private school? 

Well the CRA offers a child care expense deduction for a variety of child care services. But in one of the clauses they permit a deduction for educational institutions — for the part of the fees that relate to child care services. So what I found is that Vancouver's St. George's school, in their financial package, offered this deduction and they would calculate lunch hours, recess times and before and after school activities as child care. I was also able to obtain a letter where St. George's makes the calculation and it's runs between $3600-$3800 a year per child. It depends on fees - so the deduction is based on St. George's fees. 

And is that for all grades - up to grade 12? 

It's for up to the year the child if fully 16. So you can have kids who are shaving who are getting the deduction for child care! 

How well known is this? 

I don't think anyone outside the people who are getting the deduction and who are offering the deduction know. I was shocked. I actually used to have a child in private school and I was not aware of this, so I don't think it's well known at all.

Is it your sense this is a loophole or that this is how the deduction was intended to be used? 

It's hard to tell from the reading of the CRA documents. The reading of the documents seems to be pretty benign and I don't think it was ever intended to cover recess and lunch hour, and I think it needs some tightening. 

How does religion figure into these tax breaks? 

Well religion has another aspect here. What I was able to find is an elite private Catholic school here, Vancouver College, issues a charitable donation tax receipt for approximately 80% of the total cost of tuition.

And then over and above all of that, B.C is one of the provinces that subsidizes private schools. 

Yes, that's correct. For the private schools the subsidy is roughly $3000 per student, per year. And then for the religious schools, the subsidy generally goes up to $4500 per student, per year. And then there is a blanket exemption on property taxes — and as you know in Vancouver, property is extremely valuable — but these schools have an exemption. So there is a just a plethora of tax treatments that are all designed to maximize the special value at the private school level. 

What is the overall message then to people who are trying to make ends meet with their children in public school? 

Pay your taxes, so rich people don't have to! What concerns me in all of this is the relentless pressure on public institutions to cut and cut and cut, and we have not looked at the revenue side. We have not looked on the tax side - what advantages are we giving? Do these meet the test of the modern world today? Is this the right way? There are so many people who are so very tempted to go to the private system and it's easy to see why because all of these benefits are accruing — and that's really abandoning the public education system. 

How would you like to see these things change? 

I don't think there is any justification for lunch hour and recess. However that provision is being interpreted, it's got to be tightened up. Everywhere we look - the Panama Papers - we are seeing how people are pushing the system and I think it's time to look on the revenue side and tighten it up, as everyone else has to tighten their belts.