Ottawa School Board Votes Not to Censure Trustee for Comments on White Supremacy

Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, an Ottawa family doctor who hosted several pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics, speaks during SafetyPalooza, a rally calling on Ontario to adopt a provincial COVID-19 vaccine mandate, in Ottawa, on Aug. 22, 2021. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

A board of trustees has narrowly voted that family doctor Nili Kaplan-Myrth, an Ottawa public school board trustee, did not breach a code of conduct when she asked a black trustee to vote for masks instead of voting “with white supremacists.”

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) held a special meeting on Sept. 11 for the single purpose of considering a complaint made against Dr. Kaplan-Myrth by a fellow trustee, Donna Dickson, with regard to a number of text messages that the doctor sent Ms. Dickson before a board meeting on Nov. 29, 2022. That meeting was disbanded due to an unruly crowd that was creating a safety risk, so the meeting was continued virtually two days later, according to an investigator’s report commissioned by the board.

The motion to consider if Dr. Kaplan-Myrth had breached certain sections of the OCDSB code of conduct was brought by trustee Donna Blackburn. After the vote, she expressed disappointment in the results, stating that “seven people believe that trustee Kaplan-Myrth violated the code of conduct ... that’s more than half.”

The motion needed eight votes, a two-thirds majority, to censure the doctor but only received seven votes with all 12 trustees in attendance. Seven trustees voted in favour of sanctions against Dr. Kaplan-Myrth, while four trustees—Alysha Aziz, Amanda Presley, Justine Bell, and board chair Lyra Evans—abstained from the vote. One trustee voted against finding the doctor guilty of violating the code of conduct.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement on Sept. 12 saying that the province was aware of the situation. A number of videos of outbursts during the board meeting were in circulation on social media at the time.

“We share the concerns of many parents troubled by the behaviour at, and leading up to, last night’s board meeting,” said the minister. He added that the province “urges the board to focus on the academic achievement of students and get back to basics of what matters most: reading, writing, and math.”

Mr. Lecce said that given OCDSB was one of “Ontario’s largest school boards, time and resources should be focused on student achievement and wellbeing, not on debates stemming from actions that undermine public confidence.”

‘Express Political Opinion’

The doctor was not allowed to vote, and was not supposed to speak during the special meeting, but after she interrupted fellow trustee Ms. Blackburn, the board chair called a recess.

Dr. Kaplan-Myrth has been a vocal supporter of masks and other COVID restrictions, including advising others to “mask up” and attempting last year to bring back a mandatory mask mandate in schools. She has also alleged she has received “anti-vaxx, anti-mask death threats” in the last nine months, which are “associated with white supremacy.”

In a series of social media posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 11, Dr. Kaplan-Myrth, who did not respond to requests for comment by press time, said she was “found not guilty” at the OCDSB board meeting.

“But it isn’t a victory. We live in a dangerous time. I have a Charter right to point out that we were bombarded by white supremacists, to express political opinion, and to lobby colleagues,” she said.

Text Messages

The incident was detailed in a number of reports and a legal opinion obtained by the board, and published on the website of the OCDSB in advance of the meeting. The report was prepared by a third-party integrity commissioner in Ontario while the legal opinion was provided by Aird Berlis law firm.

The findings report declared certain conclusions as factual, including that Dr. Kaplan-Myrth sent a series of text messages to Ms. Dickson to solicit her support for bringing in a mask mandate in schools. Ms. Dickson started out receptive, but changed her mind.

In lodging her complaint, Ms. Dickson alleged that she first received “reasonable” messages from her fellow trustee but said Dr. Kaplan-Myrth “became increasingly racist and abusive as the vote nears, when I told her I intend to vote as my constituents wish.”

Ms. Dickson noted she is “a black trustee,” a mother, and a grandmother, adding she is the first black trustee to serve on the board in 27 years and runs a charity in honour of her son who was murdered, an organization that reaches out to marginalized youth. Ms. Dickson said she found Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s comments about white supremacists to be “extremely insensitive, insulting, and disrespectful.” She alleged that Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s other text comments about several other board members were also “defamatory and disrespectful.”

Copies of the text messages were attached to Ms. Dickson’s complaint.

Dr. Kaplan-Myrth “made several comments about the political and moral convictions” of several other trustees, and then asked Ms. Dickson to “abstain” from the vote rather than “vote with white supremacists,” which offended Ms. Dickson, prompting the complaint.