CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
BACKGROUND

• In 1992, the Williams' Royal Commission recommended the reorganization of the primary, elementary, and secondary education system in Newfoundland and Labrador to permit government to administer the system in an efficient manner. The Commission proposed the creation of a single interdenominational school system encompassing the four separate denominational systems currently in operation.

• Shortly after receiving the Commission's report, government entered into negotiations with representatives of the denominations involved. After nearly three years of discussions, government and the denominational representatives were not successful in reaching agreement on a restructured school system. In the Fall of 1995, Government sought the approval of the people, in a referendum, to amend Term 17 of the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada, in order to proceed with the restructuring plans.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

In the five years since the submission of the Report of the Royal Commission on Education "Our Children Our Future", government has been attempting to restructure the education system of the province along the lines recommended in that report. Because certain religious denominations held constitutionally protected rights dating back to the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada in 1949, restructuring could not be carried out without either church consent, constitutional change, or both. To that end, extensive discussions took place with the churches over a period of almost three years beginning in the Fall of 1992. The following is a chronology of the main events since June 1995.

June 1995
Government announced it would be seeking the approval of the people to amend Term 17 in order to proceed with education reform.

September 1995
Referendum resulted in 54.4% majority approval of the proposed amendment.

October 1995
House of Assembly passed resolution requesting the Federal Parliament to amend the Canadian Constitution in accordance with the peoples' wishes.

November 1995
The Speaker of the House of Assembly sent a certified copy of the resolution to the Clerk of the Privy Council.

January 1996
The Prime Minister wrote Premier Wells informing him that the federal government "intends to proceed with the amendment resolution", and that the Government would be in a position to table the resolution in Parliament once the House reconvened.

January-March,1996
Premier Wells stepped down and was replaced as Premier by the Honorable Brian Tobin. Provincial election was held. New Cabinet was announced

March-April, 1996
New Minister of Education resumed discussions with denominational representatives.

May 1996
The House of Assembly unanimously endorsed the resolution to amend Term 17.

Premier Tobin requested the Prime Minister to proceed with the Term 17 Amendment in accordance with the wishes of the people.

June 1996
The House of Commons passed the resolution to amend Term 17.

June - July,1996
The Senate of Canada Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs held public hearings in Ottawa and St. John's.

November 1996
The Senate passed an amended resolution.

December 1996
The original resolution was returned to the House of Commons and was passed on December 4, 1996.

On December 19, 1996, the House of Assembly passed a new Schools Act and a new Education Act which allowed the province to reduce the number of school districts to 10 and to appoint interdenominational school boards.

January 1997
The 27 denominational school boards were dissolved and the 10 new interdenominational school board assumed full responsibility for the administration of schools.

February 1997
A student registration process was undertaken throughout the province.

March 1997
School boards summarized the information contained on the student registration forms and identified the numbers of students whose parents prefer that they attend uni-denominational schools.

On March 10, all school boards were advised of their teacher allocations for the 1997/98 school year.

April 1997
School boards identified the number of schools required for the 1997/98 school year and began the designation process, and teacher reassignment.

May 1997
All school boards decided on the designations for schools under their jurisdiction.

60 schools, province-wide, were identified for closure at the end of the 1996/97 school year.

All teachers who were to be laid off received layoff notice by May 7, as required by the collective agreement.

May 15, 1997
The Pentecostal Assemblies and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church initiated legal action to challenge the legislation and to seek an injunction to stop boards from implementing school designations and from closing certain schools.

June 17-20, 1997
Mr. Justice Leo Barry heard arguments with respect to the application for an injunction.

July 8, 1997
Mr. Justice Leo Barry granted an injunction.

July 29-30, 1997
The Roman Catholic Education Committee advised boards which Roman Catholic schools it would consent to close and designate interdenominational, or establish as joint service.

July 31,1997
The Pentecostal Education Committee advised boards which Pentecostal schools it would consent to close and designate interdenominational, or establish as joint service.