The most serious of several conflicts over minority francophone education rights, the Manitoba Schools Question still remains a source of bitterness in contemporary Québec. A dual system of Protestant and Roman Catholic schools had been established by the Manitoba Act of 1870. By 1890, however, the French population was in a minority, and Manitoba's government abolished public funding of Catholic schools.
The 1896 federal election was fought mainly on this issue. Ironically, Charles Tupper's ruling anglophone Conservatives found themselves defending the rights of francophone Catholics against Wilfrid Laurier's defence of provincial jurisdiction and promises of a congenial compromise.
