Waterloo Catholic school board trustee apologizes for tweet that had some calling for her to resign

A Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee has apologized for a tweet she made last fall that had some people calling for her to resign.

Trustee Wendy Ashby, who represents Kitchener-Wilmot, has deleted her Twitter account, but groups such as Parents as First Educators and Campaign Life Coalition have shared screengrabs of the tweet. The screengrabs say she wrote: "The most dangerous creature on the planet is the white Christian male. They're a threat to anyone that is not them."

The screengrab shows the tweet was posted on Oct. 16, 2022, about a week before the Oct. 24 municipal election, during which school board trustees are elected.

In a statement released Wednesday by the school board, Ashby apologized to those that were offended by the tweets and to her board colleagues for how the controversy has impacted them.

"Conversations about inequality are often uncomfortable," Ashby wrote in the statement.

"As a Métis woman and in my professional role, I encounter these discussions regularly and part of these discussions is to challenge our existing systems. A great deal of my education and advocacy work is around understanding and furthering diversity, equity and inclusion."

Ashby says she deleted her Twitter account to ensure her comments and advocacy "will not be taken out of context in the future" and said she remained dedicated to her work as a trustee.

In her comments to CBC News ahead of the municipal election last fall, Ashby noted she's a mother of two and she would speak out on a variety of issues.

"I feel my voice is one that has been missing from the table. Particularly with respect to reconciliation in education, LGBTQ2+ kids and families, anti-racism work and policy development around the mental health and well being of the diverse population in our board," she said in her candidate survey.

Comments condemned

During a board meeting Monday night, some people showed up to protest and call for Ashby to resign. It included members and supporters of the Parents as First Educators group, which speaks against certain aspects of sex education in school including gender identity. The Campaign Life Coalition is an anti-abortion organization.

A reporter for the right-wing media outlet Rebel News stood up at Monday's meeting and asked questions about the tweet.

Waterloo regional police were called to the meeting at about 5 p.m., police service spokesperson Cherri Greeno told CBC News.

"[The] officers were able to meet with both sides and the meeting was able to continue. All parties were co-operative," Greeno said, noting there were no arrests.

"Those who were there were advised of how they can apply for delegation to speak at the board meeting and then left peacefully."

Fellow trustee Marisa Phillips also issued a statement to express her "personal dismay and sadness regarding the hateful comments made by my colleague on Twitter."

"These comments deeply hurt members of our Catholic school community and are entirely inappropriate, unacceptable, and should be condemned without hesitation," Phillips said in an emailed statement.

"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."

Board 'does not support' tweet

The board of trustees issued a statement saying it did not support Ashby's online comments. It said it is aware of concerns over the comments and it is "doing its due diligence in ensuring that those concerns are heard."

"Whenever there are allegations of a breach in the code of conduct, the board follows up with a review into those allegations," the statement, which is posted on the board's website, said.

The board also addressed the group that disrupted the meeting Monday night.

"The board will continue to be accountable and accessible to our community, but we will not tolerate hate of any kind or disrespectful behaviour that is disruptive to public meetings," the statement said.

The board will meet again on Monday for a committee of the whole meeting. Currently there are five people listed as delegations for the meeting, four of which list "trustee concern" as the reason they want to appear before the board.