Catholic School Trustee Who Denounced White Christian Males Resigns; Parents Say Problems Remain

High school students in London, Ont., in a file photo. Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

A Catholic school board trustee in Waterloo, Ont., has resigned after weeks of controversy over her tweets, one of which said “the most dangerous creature on the planet is the white Christian male.”

Parents with children in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) told The Epoch Times that the actions of Trustee Wendy Ashby, and how the board leadership handled the matter, highlights problems in the system that won’t necessarily be fixed by her resignation.

“This is a small victory,” said Robyn Adamus, whose son is in kindergarten at a WCDSB school. “I hope she is replaced by someone who truly values all our children being treated equally.” The board will be in charge of appointing a new trustee. While some current trustees spoke strongly against Ashby’s statements, Adamus feels others “swept it under the rug.”

Parent Mike Bogias, also with a son in kindergarten, has dedicated much time lately into calling for Ashby’s resignation. Up until Ashby’s recent announcement, the board’s leadership had not decided on disciplinary action and had instead called in a third-party consultant to investigate.

“It wasn’t that long ago that the people working inside our institutions could recognize a moral dilemma and take appropriate action to remedy issues that are cancerous to an institution,” Bogias said. “Too many of our elected officials have abdicated this responsibility and left it to the people to expend their own time, energy, and resources to continually remind our representatives of their standard duties.”

Ashby and the board’s chair, Tracy Weiler, did not reply to interview requests by The Epoch Times.

Ashby’s Statement ‘Unapologetic’

Adamus and Bogias both took issue with Ashby’s resignation statement.

“It’s difficult to read her resignation,” Adamus said. It accuses others of “rage baiting” against her and compares it to the “kind of harassment and online bullying that so many kids experience.”

“That is, in fact, what she had been doing until she got caught,” Adamus said.

Ashby’s tweets received broad attention starting in April, though parents who scrolled through her Twitter account in detail before she closed it say Ashby has expressed similar sentiments for the past year or more.

Other tweets included calling white women “obedient soldiers for the christofascist patriarchy.”

In her resignation statement, Ashby framed her comments as uncomfortable truths.

“Diverse voices, when elected, come with truth and history,” she said. “Expecting these voices to assimilate because the historical truth they challenge makes some uncomfortable is something that should be reflected on. There is no easy way to have these tough conversations.”

She said many understand the “historical context to which I was referring.” She said she has chosen, however, to resign “so that we can all return our focus back on the important work that we have dedicated ourselves to doing.”

Bogias said her statement is “unapologetic.” He said it reads like she is a “self-sacrificing and heroic individual [who] has been unjustly censured.”

She ended the statement with a comment on the bravery needed to advocate for black, indigenous, and other peoples.

Bogias takes issue with Ashby’s recent comments to media that people are targeting her because she is an LGBTQ advocate. “[Ashby is] implying that the 3,000 petition signatures calling for her resignation have nothing to do with her prejudiced remarks ... but everything to do with presumed anti-LGBTQ attitudes of those parents and taxpayers who are challenging her legitimacy on the Catholic school board.”

Adamus similarly commented, “Not one parent has ever said anything about her and the LGBTQ community.”

Reactions From Fellow Trustees

Board Trustee Marisa Phillips issued a statement on April 26, saying she was dismayed by Ashby’s comments.

“Racism and Sexism against any group have no place in our society. These actions become especially heinous when they originate from an elected school board trustee whose hurtful comments are aimed directly at many of the families she has been tasked with representing,” Phillips said.

The board issued a statement later the same day saying it does not support statements made by Ashby on social media. An apology from Ashby was included: “I apologize for my tweets that offended people and I apologize to my board colleagues for how this has impacted them. ... I have decided to remove my Twitter account to ensure that my comments and advocacy will not be taken out of context, in the future.”

Adamus said Ashby’s apology seems to focus more on people being offended than on any wrong in what she said.

On April 28, Trustee Bob Sikora released a statement saying Ashby’s statements are “hateful, racist, sexist, and anti-Christian.”

Remaining Concerns

Adamus and Bogias remain concerned about the Catholic board and schools not representing their Catholic values.

In a delegation at the board’s May 1 meeting (to which police were called after an uproar from parents upset about Ashby’s tweets), Bogias’s wife, Chelsea, said she is worried about “messaging about white entitlement, Christo-fascism, and patriarchy that kids are being exposed to. They begin to hate themselves at a young age for things they have no control over.”

Adamus said, while Ashby’s resignation is a “win for our kids” she’s worried about an ongoing war.