April 28, 2022
Nancy Naylor
Deputy Minister,
Ministry of Education, Ontaro
Patrick Case
Assistant Deputy Minister/Chief Equity Officer,
Ministry of Education, Ontario
Raj Dhir
Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Patricia DeGuire
Chief Commissioner
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Dear Ms. Naylor, Mr. Case, Mr. Dhir and Ms. DeGuire,
I am writing because recent activities at the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) in London, Ontario have highlighted what I believe to be further discrimination within the education system in Ontario and the urgent need for a new governance model for education in Ontario.
Two years ago, TVDSB began a Rural Education Task Force (RETF) as a series of special community consultations designed to help identify the unique opportunities and challenges of providing public education in rural communities – in order to inform the creation of a TVDSB Rural Education Strategy.
However, recently the TVDSB appears to have stopped the RETF from moving forward.
Trustee Graham Hart said the formation of the TVDSB in 1998 created equitable learning opportunities for Oxford County students. Senior administration said TVDSB has the necessary tax base and capabilities to invest in rural students. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the creation of a school board with a necessary tax base and capabilities to invest in rural students does not mean the school board will invest in rural students.
In response to what appears to be this sudden screeching halt to the RETF, Mayor Marcus Ryan of Zorra Township (in rural Oxford County), who is also a co-chair of the RETF,
delegated to a TVDSB meeting on April 26, 2022, on the apparent cancellation of the RETF.
Mayor Ryan opened with the following statement: “It’s not totally clear to me if I’m required to wear a mask or not. I’m not sure if I should ask the trustees or if I should ask the Director. It’s a serious question. Who is in fact in charge here?”
Mayor Ryan made this statement because TVDSB Trustee Corrine Rahman had made a motion in a previous board meeting to mandate masks in TVDSB schools because 10% or about 1,000 educators were off sick with COVID-19 or in quarantine.
The motion was seconded, but another trustee tried to block the vote so the trustees had to vote on whether they should allow a vote on the mask mandate. In a tie vote, trustees voted to uphold a ruling by Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato to allow a vote on the mask mandate, and this meant, according to board administration, that trustees weren’t allowed to vote on the motion. But a smart CBC journalist, Jonathan Sher, noticed a miscount and reported the miscount publicly.
Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk later confirmed that an error was made and this forced the board to hold another vote at a follow-up meeting. This time trustees passed the motion to mandate masks in schools.
After the vote, the trustees issued a statement saying masks were required in all TVDSB schools. But then senior administration responded with a statement of its own saying the Ministry of Education said masks are not required, and they can’t enforce mask wearing in their schools.
Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato issued another statement saying yes, masks are required, and a public war ensued with lawyers, university professors, local politicians and the media weighing in.
After Mayor Ryan opened his delegation with his serious question, “Who is in fact in charge here?” Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato interrupted him on a point of order and said, “Everything has to be positive. We are trying to teach children positivity.”
This was followed by a point of order from Trustee Corrine Rahman, who asked Mayor Ryan to be respectful of staff and trustees and consider the stress everyone has been under due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Ryan politely and respectfully replied, "If pointing out deficiencies in governance is disrespectful & unacceptable...then I don't understand how any governing institution can ever hope to get better if they are unwilling to accept even the slightest criticism."
Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk entered into the conversation by saying, "Argumentativeness and criticism are not allowed in any form in the board room.”
Mayor Ryan replied, "I have never ever in that entire time seen a head of council or members of council refuse constructive critics from residents, taxpayers, consumers of services,” referring to his years of participating in and observing meetings as mayor and in other roles.
Mayor Ryan continued, "Whether it is sarcastic or not is irrelevant. This room is a democratically elected group of people who spend taxpayers’ dollars on services that residents consume. It is the definition of what government does to accept constructive criticism.
“If this room is unwilling to accept constructive criticism, how can it ever hope to get better...The fact that people struggle doesn't mean that we are immune to criticism. We need that criticism if we are ever going to do better.”
Mayor Ryan also stated, "I don't understand how this room can function and deliver governance of a billion dollars a year and not accept any criticism?"
Mayor Ryan then began his presentation again by detailing how the RETF was disbanded and asking, "Who is in charge: trustees that pass resolutions, or senior administration that does whatever they want?"
At that point, Mayor Ryan was told he was out of time – even though he was just getting started.
“You know what?” Mayor Ryan replied. “This is nothing but a charade and a sham, and I cede the rest of my time. Good luck to you all in ever having any level of effective governance if you are not willing to accept any level of criticism. This is absolutely farcical."
Those of us following online watched the TVDSB shut down Mayor Ryan’s valid concerns in disbelief.
Deputy Mayor Stephanie Jaworski of South Glengarry Township posted the entire exchange with clips on Twitter if you’d like to view it:
https://twitter.com/StephJaworski/status/1519152558836695040
I can’t help but wonder if the rural/urban divide doesn’t fall under “place of origin” or “ancestry” within the Ontario Human Rights Code, which are protected grounds – since many people living in rural communities are born and raised in rural communities, live their entire lives in rural communities, and have entirely rural ancestral lines. The social area impacted is services, as in education services. This means the TVDSB’s attempt to shut down Mayor Ryan’s concerns about the RETF may be discriminatory.
Additionally, a reprisal is an action, or threat, that is intended as retaliation for claiming or enforcing a right under the Code. Mayor Ryan was attempting to enforce his right under the Code as the mayor of a rural community and as an Oxford County representative to have rural voices heard. (He’s also been very vocal about the apparent stoppage of the RETF initiative from moving forward.) I can’t help but wonder if these recent shenanigans at the TVDSB meeting constitute a subtle form of “reprisal” under the Code.
As you are aware, I have filed a complaint with the Ontario College of Teachers (the College) against 6 senior education officials as well as an Application with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT) expressing similar concerns.
The College tells its members that members cannot speak out or put anything in writing that reflects poorly on another member or on the profession itself.
This is the same message Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato gave to Mayor Ryan when she said, “Everything has to be positive. We are trying to teach children positivity.”
It’s also the same message Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk gave Mayor Ryan when she said, "Argumentativeness and criticism are not allowed in any form in the board room.”
I’ve pointed out in previous communications to you that this messaging allows systemic discrimination to flourish within the education system because if one cannot speak out about discrimination or inequity, or if everything one says has to be positive, or if criticism is not allowed in any form in education board rooms, then how does one have discrimination or inequity appropriately addressed within our education systems?
This is something Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato and Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk don’t appear to understand.
I’d also like to alert you that I was born and raised in the TVDSB area and I currently reside within the boundaries of the TVDSB. My great grandparents (on my father’s side) emigrated from Spellsbury, England in approximately 1875 establishing our family farm here, which continues to operate today. My father’s cousin, who was born and raised in the TVDSB area, was the 2006 North American Champion – in the horse, one furrow, riding plough category – winning International Plowing Matches nine times from 1999-2010. My grandfather (on my mother’s side) emigrated to the TVDSB area from Virginia, and was an expert in the flue-curing method of tobacco.
I’m very proud of my rural “ancestry,” and this means my “place of origin” is within the TVDSB rural community. So the TVDSB’s potentially discriminatory actions toward Mayor Ryan and other members of the TVDSB rural community impact me.
These recent events at the TVDSB are very timely as my concerns about discrimination within the education system and the role the education governance model plays in contributing to that discrimination continue to be ongoing with no remedy in sight.
I believe the Ministry of Education now needs to intervene in this matter in the TVDSB since it may be a potential breach of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
In response to the government's consultation on school board governance, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) wrote that school boards have a duty to take complaints alleging a breach of the Code seriously and to act upon them promptly. The same can be said of the Ministry of Education itself.
However, it’s my understanding that dissolution of the Ontario Legislature will occur on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 (next week) in preparation for the upcoming election. So this matter needs to be addressed immediately.
I respectfully request that Minister Lecce:
1. Ask Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato and Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk to apologize to Mayor Ryan and the entire TVDSB rural community for their treatment of Mayor Ryan at its April 26, 2022 Board meeting, and allow the RETF to proceed as previously planned before the dissolution of the Ontario Legislature on May 4, 2022.
2. Clear up any confusion around mask-wearing in Ontario schools before the dissolution of the Ontario Legislature on May 4, 2022.
Jacob Shelley, an Associate Professor and Director of Health Ethics, Law and Policy at the Faculty of Law and School of Health Studies at Western University pointed out yesterday in an article called “Making schools safe spaces: The legal authority for school boards to enact masking policies” that school boards are permitted to enact mask mandates, and he outlined the legal reasons why.
Shelley says that what appears to be happening “is that the Ministry of Education is attempting to govern by fiat – in short, telling local, autonomous boards that they are not permitted to exercise their lawful authority because, well, we say so.”
Shelley says that this is “an affront to the rule of law and undermines the democratic principles our dominion is founded upon.”
Shelley also says that “it is not only permissible that a board enact policies to promote the health of its students, it has a legal duty to do so,” and “the next step that may be needed is to initiate legal actions to hold these boards to account.”
So here I am – showing up again – and alerting you to the fact that my concerns about discrimination within the education system and the role the education governance model plays in contributing to this discrimination as well as the government’s potential “overreach” in the mask-wearing debate continue to be ongoing with no remedy in sight.
Professor Shelley’s full legal argument can be found here:
https://healthydebate.ca/2022/04/topic/making-schools-safe-spaces-masks/
If Minister Lecce does not ask Chair Lori-Ann Pizzolato and Parliamentarian Lori Lukinuk to apologize to Mayor Ryan and the entire TVDSB rural community for its treatment of Mayor Ryan at its April 26, 2022 Board meeting, and allow the RETF to proceed as previously planned, and clear up any confusion around mask-wearing in Ontario schools before the Ontario Legislature is dissolved on May 4, 2022, I respectfully request that the OHRC use its statutory powers to appoint a Supervisor who is qualified and experienced to oversee the Ministry of Education to immediately address this matter.
I remain optimistic that my other significant requests – including that major changes be made to the education governance structure, which might mean eliminating the role of school board trustee entirely – will be addressed through my official complaint to the College and my Application to the OHRT when the Legislature resumes after the election on June 2, 2022.
I look forward to an immediate response.
Sincerely,
Debbie L. Kasman, M. Ed, Policy Studies, OISE/University of Toronto
Education Re-imagined
Analyst & Researcher, Author & Speaker
www.debbielkasman.com
CC: Mayor Marcus Ryan, Zorra Township
Deputy Mayor Kelly Elliott, Thames Centre
Deputy Mayor Adrian Cornelissen, North Middlesex,
Mayor Sally Martyn, Central Elgin
Suzanne McCullough, OSSTF
Larisa Grant, OPC
Jennifer Nuyens, TVCHSA
Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford
Heather Rivers, London Free Press
Kate Dubinski, CBC
Rebecca Zandbergen, CBC London, Morning Show
Jonathan Sher, CBC
Craig Needles, London News Today, Classic Rock 98.1