The Education of Etienne Parent - Part I
Etienne Parent was born at a time when the educational system in Upper and Lower Canada was in a state of flux. The French government no longer subsidized education in Canada after the conquest and for the British authorities public education was not initially a priority. (1) Soon after the conquest the British authorities saw the French - Canadian majority as a threat to their authority. They proposed to establish public schools as a way to Anglicize and convert French Canadians to Protestantism. (2) In 1801, the first Canadian school law was implemented; the law of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Science. (3) The Catholic bishop and clergy saw the Royal Institution law for what it was, an attack on their authority over the French - Canadian population. They refused to support the law and it failed. (4) The clergy and the educated class established their own schools that were held in private homes and French Canadian businesses, such as newspapers. The teachers covered a