A grandmother and former education assistant has sued the Chilliwack School Board for what she says amounts to censorship of her comments at a recent school board meeting.
Lynda di Armani is represented by the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which filed court documents on Oct. 6.
The documents say that di Armani’s freedom of expression was violated when her microphone was turned off and she was interrupted while speaking to the board at a June 13 meeting.
At the meeting, di Armani said she was trying to raise an issue over pride flags and a trustee’s conflict of interest.
“Trustee Teri Westerby recommended that the Chilliwack school district install a third flagpole at the board office for special event flags,” di Armani’s affidavit said.
The document also says that she was aware Westerby was the director of marketing for the Chilliwack Pride Society, which she saw as a conflict of interest.
When di Armani tried to make this point to the board, she said her microphone was turned off. She was also told by trustee Willow Reichelt that it was not a conflict of interest as there “was no pecuniary conflict of interest.”
Di Armani said she asked if any other trustees were part of the local pride society, and she said her microphone was again turned off.
The court filing says that Vice Chair Carin Bondar responded by saying, “It is not a conflict of interest when we are talking about a human right.”
Di Armani said her microphone was turned back on and she tried to bring up a point about special rights groups’ interests being promoted by raising flags. She called it a violation of the duty of state neutrality and was interrupted again, she said.
She said Reichelt responded by saying, “Gay people and queer people are not special interest, they are members of society.”
When her microphone was turned on, di Armani continued by saying it causes discrimination and segregation. She said at that point, her microphone was turned off and Reichelt told her to sit down.
“The chair did not give me an opportunity to complete what I wanted to say, nor was I given an opportunity to complete many sentences before I was interrupted and silenced. After the fourth time I was silenced, I felt defeated and disgraced,” Ms. di Armani said in her affidavit.
“I believe it is in the public interest for the board to be held accountable to its censorship.”
“Elected officials exercising government power must respect Canadians’ Charter freedoms,” Marty Moore, counsel for Ms. di Armani, said in a JCCF news release.
“The Chilliwack School Board’s actions in this case show complete disregard for the freedom of expression, not only of my client, but also of the listening public, who have a right to hear the views of others at Board meetings. Unfortunately, this kind of censorship is a regular occurrence at Chilliwack School Board meetings. We will be seeking Court orders to put an end to these violations of Charter rights and freedoms.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the Chilliwack school board but did not hear back by publication time.
Recording of Public Meetings
Di Armani said she was also concerned about the board’s policy of not permitting anyone to record meetings, even though they are public board meetings.“With the School Board controlling the only recording of the meeting, and choosing to mute the recording, Ms. di Armani alleges that the School Board is violating the Charter-protected right of other people to hear, listen, and consider alternative viewpoints,” the release said.
“While the Chair is authorized to cut off the remarks of speakers who don’t comply with their bylaw, the Chair is not allowed to silence people simply because the Chair disagrees with what someone is saying.”
According to the JCCF, di Armani wants a court to declare that the board exceeded its authority and infringed on her charter rights. The court action is also seeking court orders that would “prevent the Board from acting in a similar censorious manner in the future, and that would allow members of the public to make their own recordings of these public meetings.”
