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Clashes between conservative activists and trustees at the Windsor-Essex public school board continued Tuesday when again, a speaker was shut down, this time only seconds from the end of his presentation.
In a video of Tuesday’s meeting on the board’s website, Jeremy Palko, of the Windsor chapter of Action4Canada, which says its mission is to protect Canada’s heritage, “which is founded on Judeo-Christian biblical principles,” had spoken to the education committee for several minutes contending that enrolment in the Greater Essex County District School Board had not kept up with the growing population in the area and pointed out that enrolment at independent schools is growing.
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He then offered a list of what the board must do to reverse the trend.
He started by voicing his opposition to cancelling the speaker’s list – an optional board mechanism that allows speakers to address trustees on items that are not on the agenda. A notice of motion to abolish the speaker’s list is expected to be dealt with at the next board meeting on Oct. 15.
He then cited the “double-mindedness of our government” — he did not clarify which one — in trying to politicize the school system, which he claimed is causing parents to remove their children from the public school system.
Palko then listed a number of other suggestions.
“More DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) … won’t help. Promoting CRT (critical race theory) is a dead end, pushing Pride (LBGTQ rights) is counterproductive and alienating people of faith clearly hasn’t helped,” Palko said.
At that point, Trustee Ron LeClair intervened with a point of order, contending “those are all protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code and he should not be speaking about Pride, or he should not be speaking about diversity, equity and inclusion, Madam Chair.”
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Trustee Kim McKinley, who chairs the education committee, said Palko had another 30 seconds to speak.
LeClair then challenged McKinley’s ruling.
McKinley replied that she “didn’t hear anything contrary.”
“He indicated that our board should not be involved in DEI or Pride,” LeClair said. “So those are in direct contravention of the Ontario Human Rights Code. They are also issues that are mandated by the Province of Ontario and the Ministry of Education. Madam Chair, you have to rule him out of order.”
Palko said he had three sentences left in his presentation, but McKinley turned the issue over to the vice chair, Trustee Julia Burgess, to call a vote on the speaker’s ruling. Only Trustee Nancy Armstrong voted to sustain McKinley’s ruling that Palko could finish his speech, so he was prevented from continuing.
At that point, LeClair asked McKinley to have Palko removed from the meeting.
“The speaker’s list is complete, you’ve made a decision, we’re moving on to the next item on our schedule,” McKinley said.
Also speaking at the meeting were Salena Hamilton, a member of the Windsor chapter of Action4Canada, and Beth St. Denis, who ran for council in Ward 6 in 2022 and has said she plans to run for the Christian Heritage Party in the next federal election.
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The trio have spoken at previous board meetings, and all three have had their presentations shut down by Chair Gale Hatfield for violating board policy during their presentations.
Hamilton addressed the school board’s “obligations” under the Ontario Human Rights Code and freedoms found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Speaking in generalities, she asked trustees, “does being free from discrimination mean being free from scrutiny?… Is it discrimination to offer to someone that they are using poor judgment, they are displaying inappropriate behaviour, or they’re infringing on the rights of others?
“Words are interchanged and confounded of meaning so that everyone is on the brink of offence,” Hamilton said.
“If we’re not willing to tolerate what someone says, we shut them down. If we’re not willing to tolerate what someone does, we remove their access. And if we’re not willing to tolerate someone’s presence, we’ve removed them. So how has simple disagreement been relabelled intolerance?
“Free speech is being eroded by those who will not allow their opinion or perspective any scrutiny,” Hamilton said. “They lack the courage of their convictions. Critique is being labeled intolerant. Rebuttal is being labelled hate speech. And the pursuit of change is being labeled extremist.
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“It’s not hate speech just because one hates what they’re hearing.”
She asked trustees to “revive true tolerance and diversity in the public school system where a secular creed does not infringe upon the conscience and religion of the students, parents and staff.”
St. Denis addressed the importance of the speaker’s list.
“Trustees have a responsibility to keep the speaker’s list intact for public interaction,” she said. “When you shut down parents and citizens, you erode the public trust and create dissatisfaction in the performance of the board. It is possible to achieve public input and show respect to all parties involved without abolishing the speaker’s list.”
She suggested trustees hold in-person ward meetings and advised them to add a section on frequently asked questions to the speaker’s list segment of the board’s website to “clarify and clearly define speaker obligations.”
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