Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee Wendy Ashby steps down
Ashby says she will continue to stand with BIPOC community members and 2SLGBTQIA+ community
Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee Wendy Ashby has announced she is stepping down.
It comes after some have called for her resignation for a tweet she made a week before the Oct. 24 municipal election, which is also when school board trustees are elected.
Ashby has since apologized for the tweet and deleted her Twitter account, but groups like Parents as First Educators and Campaign Life Coalition shared screengrabs of the tweet. Those screengrabs show Ashby wrote: "The most dangerous creature on the planet is the white Christian male. They're a threat to anyone that is not them."
The same two groups have called on Ashby to resign.
Ashby, who represents Kitchener-Wilmot, said in a statement Sunday she was encouraged "by so many" to remain in her elected seat.
"However, I have decided to vacate my seat at this time, so that we can all return our focus back on the important work that we have dedicated ourselves to doing," she said.
Ashby added she will continue to stand with BIPOC community members and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
"I will be continuing my advocacy in a capacity where I will be able to challenge tough issues and bring lasting change in a way that is positive and meaningful. I hope that one day advocacy for these groups will no longer be considered an act of bravery," she said in the statement.
The board had issued a statement in April saying it was aware of concerns raised by the community, adding it did not support Ashby's online comments.
On May 1, the board said a motion was brought forward during a special board of trustee meeting advising the board's director of education to appoint an outside consultant to investigate an "allegation of a breach in the board's code of conduct."
"This investigation will be part of the review that the board began immediately upon learning of an alleged Code of Conduct breach and is currently conducting," the board said in its release.
It was not clear whether the investigation was a result of Ashby's tweet.
On Monday, grassroots group Parents as First Educators (PAFE) released a statement responding to Ashby's decision.
"PAFE is pleased to have worked with trustees and a coalition of local parents these past few weeks to bring the situation of Wendy Ashby to light and to have pressured her to resign," said PAFE President Teresa Pierre in the release.
The release called Ashby's tweets "racist and sexist" adding the group is "glad that Ashby has finally resigned."