Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association calls on Hamilton-area school board trustees to resign after racism probe
If trustees don't resign, they can remain on board until at least next election in 2022
A prominent Black advocacy organization has joined a chorus of voices calling on four Hamilton-area school board trustees to resign after a recent report found they contributed to a dynamic that marginalized and silenced a former student trustee.
Evelyn Myrie, president of the Hamilton-based Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA), said the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has lost the public's trust after initially refusing to sanction the trustees last week.
"The actions of the school board trustees … are egregious enough to step away from their duties and resign from their position as leaders in the education system," she said.
"If they're serious about zero tolerance for racism and discrimination, that would be the best thing for them to do ... they have really lost confidence in the community, especially among racialized people, to lead the education system that is supposed to set a good example for students."
As of Wednesday, hundreds of people have signed an online petition for the trustees to resign or be removed.
Alex Johnstone, Becky Buck, Kathy Archer and Carole Paikin Miller are the trustees referred to in the report that was spurred by allegations from former student trustee Ahona Mehdi.
Last week during a board meeting, Buck, Archer and Paikin Miller didn't declare a conflict of interest and voted against issuing sanctions against themselves and in favour of removing their names from the public report. It led to intense public and political criticism.
This week, trustees passed a motion to reconsider the decision to not punish them. Of the four, Paikin Miller was the only trustee to vote on that motion.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are no special board meetings scheduled or items on the agenda of an upcoming board meeting related to the situation, so it is unclear when there will be an update.
Myrie says sanctions should have been swift and immediate.
"The community is not accepting that at all, so I'm glad they're reconsidering. To me, resigning is at the top of our recommendations, but zero [sanctions] is not even a conversation starter," she said.
Trustees could stay until 2022
Board chair Dawn Danko previously said sanctions weren't issued because that wasn't one of the 12 recommendations from the third-party investigator who authored the report — but calling for sanctions wasn't part of the investigator's mandate.
Asked why she didn't apply the recommendations to the trustees' code of conduct, which would have cleared the way for sanctions, Danko said by email: "We are committed to following a fair process that aligns with our Board Member Code of Conduct procedure regarding any actions that may constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct. In camera sessions are subject to strict confidentiality requirements and we will provide an update if trustees vote in favour of additional sanctions or disciplinary action in response to the report."
Danko added: "Trustee elections take place at the same time as the municipal election. In the meantime, work is underway to begin implementing the recommendations provided by the investigator to address the concerns raised by the former Student Trustee Ahona Mehdi, and to establish a better, more robust governance process across the entire board, with updated policies and regular training on governance practices, equity, diversity and inclusion, and clarifying and supporting the role of Student Trustee."
There is no process to remove trustees prior to the next municipal election.
Myrie says there should be a review of all the trustees, similar to a recent staff audit, and they should add a mandatory anti-racism, diversity and inclusion training into their orientation for all new trustees.
WATCH | Would there be less racism and extremism if we were better at teaching Black history?
She also said it was hypocritical for board members found to have made racist comments about Black and Muslim people to be part of a board that released a report on bullying in schools that highlighted a culture of fear.
"She's a brave, young woman who we need to stand with and support the action she took. I'm so proud of the leadership she's taken. She's worked with a young team who have been working alongside her to drive this change," Myrie said of Mehdi.
"She could have walked away and kept her mouth shut, but she didn't. She did the right thing."
(PDF KB)
(Text KB)CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
