Ontario School Board Trustee Banned for Gender, Critical Race Theory Comments

A file photo of a school bus sitting idle in Toronto,on Jan. 17, 2023. Tammy Hoy/The Canadian Press

A school board in the Durham region of Ontario drafted a new human rights policy, and when one trustee voiced her concerns about it she was banned from attending future meetings.

Trustee Linda Stone’s criticisms included the policy’s use of the term “white supremacy,” and that the policy would keep parents in the dark if their children were changing genders.

The Durham District School Board (DDSB) decided at a Feb. 6 meeting to ban her on the grounds that she had contravened the board’s code of conduct.

The argument against her was laid out in a 55-page document that included tweets from her personal account and comments she made at meetings. It said she contravened the code in that her comments “might harm members of the local community” and because she did not support the board’s “vision and values” as required.

One of the complaints against her from a former trustee, Darlene Forbes, said Stone “espoused racist and transphobic points of view which are damaging to the reputation of the DDSB, run counter to the equity and diversity initiatives of the DDSB, and were potentially harmful to the students and staff of the DDSB.”

Many of the comments at issue Stone made more than a year ago. Stone had resigned in May 2022 over the controversies, but was reelected in the fall. An arbitrator’s investigation was paused when Stone resigned, but resumed in December at the request of the board. It culminated in January this year and led to the board’s decision this month.

Stone’s Comments

The board’s draft of its new human rights guidelines said, “Systemic discrimination and racism exist in the DDSB and stem from discriminatory and racist ideologies, systems, cultures and the structural dominance of white supremacy, sexism, ableism, heteronormativity, cisnormativity/cisgenderism, cissexism and faithism.”

Stone commented in a meeting on Oct. 25, 2021 (among the comments the board has taken issue with): “the term is ‘white supremacy.’ I’m concerned about it because I’m worried about our staff, our students, our parents, and how this term will be taken. This term separates whites from anyone else. This term is derogatory, even though it is explained that it’s not derogatory, people take it as derogatory, believe me.”

She said she would like it removed “so as not to make people feel small, or as if they’ve done something wrong because of the colour of their skin.”

Then-Trustee Scott Templeton said the Ontario Human Rights Code uses the term “white supremacy” in a similar sense and thus it is not up for debate by the board.

During a Nov. 9, 2021 board meeting, Stone said, “when you use the word ‘cisnormativity,’ are you talking about things like saying … men cannot get pregnant or give birth, or that men can’t breastfeed?”

The board’s human rights and equity advisor replied that “cisnormativity” is  assuming cisgender is the norm and the term it describes the “systemic prejudice against trans people,” the document said.

At the same meeting, Stone had addressed the topic of “Privacy and Confidentiality” in the draft related to a student’s gender identity.

Stone said, “I was a little bit disturbed to see that you would keep things private with the student and not let parents know what’s going on with the student. And that even goes into whether the student is going to undergo surgery or other procedures.”

The equity advisor said, according to the document, “staff are responsible under Ontario’s Human Rights Code to uphold students’ rights within school environments, and recognize and affirm their gender identity.”

On Jan. 24, 2022, Stone said, “Is diversity of thought encouraged? When anyone speaks against the orthodox thinking, has a differing opinion, or merely would like terms explained or defined, they will, as I was, be told that their questions and comments are offensive and harmful, and that it showed a lack of understanding of human rights.”

In a complaint two days later, Trustee Niki Lundquist called Stone’s talk about free speech “an inappropriate diatribe.”

The document states that a trustee’s freedom of speech is not protected to the same extent as other elected officials, such as parliamentarians. It should, the document says, be limited to helping “the local education system adapt and transform effectively to changing needs and shifting challenges.”

The Epoch Times asked the board and the arbitrator who wrote the document to elaborate on how they differentiate between comments on the policies and ideological statements. The investigator said he could not comment. The board did not reply as of publication.

Tweets

Stone’s twitter account, since deactivated, had in the profile information the disclaimer “Personal tweets, views and opinions are my own.”

Two of the tweets in the document included “Should biological men compete in women’s sports?” and “How many different pronouns are there? And could they be changed daily? That might make it even more difficult for teachers.”

Several retweets were included. One was a retweet of an article written by Ontario teacher Chanel Pfahl who was being investigated by the Ontario College of Teachers for saying critical race theory should not be taught in schools. Pfahl advocated instead for a non-partisan “modelling of kindness to everyone.”

Another was a retweet related to “chest feeding,” a term used by people who identify as non-binary and others who prefer not to refer explicitly to their anatomy as breasts. The tweet said, “The chest is a cavity. ‘Chest feeder’ isn’t just medically inaccurate, it’s medically impossible.”

Stone declined an interview request from The Epoch Times.