TORONTO - Another [emergency] meeting of the TCDSB, yet further evidence of incompetence and subterfuge by trustees determined to tarnish, if not destroy, the inherent value of constitutionally mandated Catholic [separate] schools.
Keep the names of these trustees in mind: Di Pasquale, De Domenico, Li Preti, Rizzo and their principal enabler, Kennedy.
The meeting, November 19, started (in Private session) at 6:00 pm; moved into Public session at 7:30, then back to Private at about 10:30. As of 12:30 am, November 20, they had not returned to Public.
The NUMBER ONE issue for discussion was the sensitivity of the LGBTQ2+ community to alleged or perceived homophobic remarks made by trustees.
Secondarily, the non-apologies by some trustees for interrupting parents making presentations, the previous week, when they attempted to cite excerpts from the Catholic Catechism. The above trustees defined citations as “dangerous” and “unacceptable” language.
Thirdly, the “leak” – but not the substance - of a letter from the Cardinal telling them “to get their house in order”.
Fourthly, the presentation of a parent pleading urgent attention to children in special need whose conditions for specific “pedagogical, emotional and social learning environment” had been all but completely ignored.
And, finally, a plea/warning from the Teachers union that the Board urge the government to close the schools until the virus is contained. There are now 127 schools in the system experiencing Covid-19 contagion. Good luck! The meeting turned pretty raucous quickly enough.
It is hard to keep a civil tongue when describing the clownish antics of theses trustees. Their disdain for the ethic they swore to uphold is palpable. In fact, trustee Li Preti accused [some of] her colleagues, and the Board itself, of “Systemic Homophobia”.
As the saying goes, “that’s pretty rich”, given that one radical LGBTQ2+ activists is a teacher in the TCDSB. He daily tweets out anti Catholic and anti-TCDSB vitriol. Happily, at least one trustee, Teresa Lubinski, took exception to this “drive-by smear” of the system, the religion and all practitioners thereof who do so in good faith and in an embracing and accepting expression of the ethic they espouse.
The meeting descended into chaos, prompting the Chair, Joe Martino, to call a temporary halt to proceedings. Clearly these clowns know not what their duties are. Li Preti began to engage in a public put down of the Cardinal’s competence on the Church’s direction relative to human rights issues. Italians have an expression to describe that arrogance: “ma chi c**** crede di essere?”
A proposal to mandate the Staff and their legal counsel to provide trustees with a seminar on their duties under the Education Act and Denominational Rights under the Constitution went virtually nowhere. The mover, Mike Del Grande suggested perhaps the acrimonious nature of positions in the debate might be calmed by such a plan.
If one thinks this is straightforward, “radicalized” trustees argued that experts in the Human Rights Code and members of the LGBTQ2+ be present. It was a transparently obstructionist tactic. Their goal is to seize total control of the Board in this week’s election of trustees to Committees. So much for educational objectives.
Some parent groups are fighting back. They have set up a crowdfunding website to fight back through trustee Del Grande https://www.wonderwe.com/ StandWithMike
TO READ PREVIOUS COMMENTS: https://www.corriere.ca/english-articles
