TORONTO – It is all-out viciousness in the campaign to secure the Chairmanship of the TCDSB and its constituent Committees. The vote is Thursday (today). Former allies in the “deep-sixing” of trustee Michael Del Grande are now embroiled in a “take no prisoners” internecine battle strategy.
Goodbye to the concept of a Board of education dedicated to student learning and to supporting family values. The supporters of an Etobicoke trustee, two of which were not even eligible Catholic electors when they ran for office, have as their campaign manager/communications strategist a TCDSB teacher (whose primary residence is listed in Vaughan).
That teacher is a former lawyer whose behaviour before being eased out of the profession earned him the designation of “ethical elf” by the Committee to Expose Dishonest and Incompetent Judges, Attorneys and Public Officials. He still operates a law practice from a post office box in Woodbridge.
What message do they post on their social media? The voting record on “key human rights issues (as only they can define them) in the past 2 years” by the candidates. That is the only lens through which they want to judge or be judged. Conflict of interest is not part of their consideration.
Nor, for that matter, is the Constitutionally mandated obligation of the TCDSB to provide a Catholic education for its Catholic electors. To reproduce what they exchange among their echo chamber would be to give them more credit that they deserve.
There are other candidates for the position. Corriere Canadese offered every trustee an opportunity to be interviewed to lay out their agenda for the coming year. Only one took advantage, Garry Tanuan, four others either filled out a questionnaire or politely refused via telephone.
The four trustees who form the block guided by the lawyer/teacher above, judging by their actions to date, are committed to stripping any semblance of Catholicism from the Board. They appear to have already made the decision not to swear allegiance to the magisterium (unless Pope installs a bishop compliant to their views).
If you are a parent looking for a sound, skills-based curriculum steeped in values that support your home environment and validate your concerns for your children, you may have to wait until this crew is drummed out of the Board.
