Conservative Leader John Tory says he'll ask former Ontario premier Bill Davis, left, to examine the issue of public funding for faith-based schools if his party is elected.

Tory said yesterday that it's time Ontario figured out how to expand public funding to religious schools that hire accredited teachers and teach the provincial curriculum.

Davis -- who grappled with the issue of fully funding Catholic high schools before making it law in the 1980s -- is the perfect person to figure out how to bring Ontario's religious students into the public fold, Tory said.

He estimated that extending public funding to Islamic, Hindu, Jewish and Christian schools would cost an extra $400 million each year. But it shouldn't be done without extensive consultation and thought, said Tory, in explaining his decision to have Davis head a special commission.

If the Conservatives are elected Oct. 10, Tory said Davis would start with wide-ranging consultations and work toward a fully funded system by the fall of 2010.

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec all provide some public funding for independent schools that meet provincial standards, so extended funding would just bring Ontario in line with its peers, Tory said.

While the prospect of a commission to examine the issue was welcomed by many religious groups, it was shot down by Ontario Liberal Education Minister Kathleen Wynne and public school advocates who say extending public funding will take away precious dollars from the current system and encourage segregation.