A Toronto District School Board (TDSB) committee has voted in favour of asking the province to put in place diversity, equity, and anti-racism certification for all Ontario teachers. The motion will now be referred to trustees at the regular board meeting on Jan. 22 for approval.
The motion was brought forward at a Jan. 16 meeting of the Program and School Services Committee by trustees Deborah Williams and Debbie King on behalf of student trustee Angelika Bell.
“Ongoing professional development on equity and diversity will help ensure teachers are equipped with current best practices to further an inclusive classroom,” the motion continued.
It noted that in January 2022, mandatory certification was implemented by the minister of education for Ontario-certified teachers to train them in sexual abuse prevention.
The motion said lack of training in diversity, equity, and anti-racism presents a gap in achieving TDSB equality policy that commits to an inclusive and equitable education environment for students and educators.
If passed by all trustees, the board chair will be required to send a letter to the ministry of education and the Ontario College of Teachers, advocating for mandatory certification to be implemented.
TDSB’s diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) initiatives came under scrutiny after a principal took his own life in 2023 while embroiled in legal action related to interactions he'd had with an instructor during diversity training sessions in 2021.
In one session, Richard Bilkszto had disagreed with some of the trainer’s accusations about racism in the education system in Canada. At one point, the instructor told Bilkszto, “you and your whiteness think that you can tell me what’s really going on for black people,” adding, “Your job in this work as white people is to believe.”
As TDSB’s executive superintendent of education came to the instructor’s defence on social media, Bilkszto’s lawyer said he had been defamed, and what he experienced accounts to “harassment and bullying.”
Bilkszto, who took sick leave, eventually won a harassment complaint when Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board concluded that the trainer had been abusive.
Bilkszto went on to sue the board in 2023 for, among other things, failing to investigate his original complaint and for defaming him. About three months later, he died by suicide, before the lawsuit could be heard in court. His lawyer suggested that what he went through as a result of the training sessions led to his suicide.
