MPP says Waterloo region's Catholic school board 'wasting time and taxpayer dollars' with infighting
Kitchener Centre MPP Aislinn Clancy wants education minister to ‘intervene’
Kitchener Centre MPP Aislinn Clancy says she's concerned about the behaviour of trustees with the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and how much money they're spending on legal fees.
Clancy stood during question period Tuesday in the Ontario Legislature and asked Education Minister Paul Calandra to "intervene" with the board.
Clancy's statement came after a Monday night meeting where trustees discussed, and voted down, a motion to change its flag policy. There had been concerns that if the motion passed, flags — including the Pride flag — would be banned from school properties.
"Ontario's education system is publicly funded and must be inclusive of all students. So I ask the minister, will you intervene and stop these trustees who are wasting time and taxpayer dollars fighting about what books should be in libraries and what flags should be on poles?" Clancy said.
Clancy added outside groups, including the anti-abortion Campaign Life Coalition, have been trying to influence board decisions.
In his response, Calandra did not say if he would intervene, but added he wants to make sure "school boards are focused on what matters to the people of the province of Ontario and that is ensuring that students, parents and teachers have the resources that they need in order to ensure maximum success for our students for the jobs of tomorrow."
Board 'acting in good faith,' chair says
In an interview on CBC K-W's The Morning Edition with Craig Norris on Friday, Clancy said it's not just the flag policy that is concerning.
Clancy said she was "troubled by the division on the board and their focus on a number of things and their treatment of each other as trustees."
LISTEN | MPP Aislinn Clancy calls on province to hold WCDSB trustees accountable:
Clancy said Friday her office did a freedom-of-information request and found the board has spent more than $200,000 on legal fees in the past two years related to code of conduct charges and legal bills associated with that.
"Some trustees, not all, were … focusing on books, and libraries and flags on posts, and also this infighting and this focusing on code of conduct sanctions, keeping trustees from participating in meetings, voting, speaking up and that is undermining democracy," Clancy said in the interview.
Clancy said she felt some of the actions being taken to sanction trustees was an effort to silence people.
"Don't get me wrong, it's great to get legal advice, but I think we always have to balance it out. If we are not functioning well or if there's a code of conduct charge, I think we need to be mindful of legal expenses. To me, it seemed like a high number."
Board of trustees chair Renée Kraft said Clancy did not speak to the board before making her statements at Queen's Park.
"We did not know she was going to be speaking about that in the Legislature. So I guess firstly, I would just say the board is not trying to silence anyone. We are acting in good faith," Kraft told CBC News in a phone interview Thursday.
Kraft added the board sometimes requires legal advice.
"There's no intention or direction to use legal services to silence any trustee or opposing view," Kraft said.
"It's important for everyone to know that school boards, like all public institutions, sometimes require legal advice, whether it's to clarify policies, support governance processes, or ensure compliance with legislation."
WATCH | Hundreds attend Pride flag rally ahead of WCDSB meeting:
Kraft became chair of the board earlier this month after former chair Robert Sikora stepped down abruptly in March. She said one of her "first priorities is to begin review of these expenditures so I can understand the full context and ensure we're being both prudent and fair in our use of resources."
MPP's comments come on heels of trustee ban
Clancy's comments also come after school board trustee Kathy Doherty-Masters went to court for being banned from board meetings until the end of June over a code of conduct complaint.
Court documents obtained by CBC News from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Hamilton show Doherty-Masters asked for a stay of her being banned, which was decided at a December 2024 meeting.
The documents, dated April 16, showed Justice John Krawchenko reviewed two affidavits — one from Doherty-Masters and the second from another Catholic school board trustee, Linda Cuff.
According to the documents, the chair of the board of trustees became aware of an anonymous complaint against Doherty-Masters on Jan. 25, 2024. The complaint alleged Doherty-Masters had "acted in a conflict of interest when her husband was hired by the board to speak at an event in April 2023."
In April 2024, the board retained lawyer Bruce Best to investigate the allegations. In November, Best gave a summary of his report to trustees that found Doherty-Masters had not contravened the board's code of conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
"The allegations that were investigated were not substantiated," the court documents say.
The board met to consider the allegations, and on Dec. 20, 2024, Doherty-Masters received a letter saying her fellow trustees had determined she had violated the code of conduct and she was sanctioned. That meant she could not attend any board or committee meetings until June 30, 2025, and she was barred from sitting on the audit committee, the Catholic Parent Involvement Committee and the governance committee until Nov. 15, 2026, which is the end of her term as a trustee.
Doherty-Masters appealed that decision, but the board "reconfirmed its earlier decision and the sanctions [were] imposed," the documents show.
"The applicant [Doherty-Masters] takes issue with the jurisdiction of the board to have even initiated their investigation, the process followed by the respondent [the Waterloo Catholic District School Board], the reasonableness of their decision, and the appropriateness and proportionality of the sanctions that they imposed," the court documents say.
Judge says trustee ban case raises 'serious issues'
In his analysis in granting a stay in Doherty-Masters's sanctions by the board, Krawchenko wrote, "I find that there are many very serious issues and questions that need to be addressed" about the case.
Krawchenko said Doherty-Masters "would suffer irreparable harm" if she continued to be barred from meetings and doing her work as a trustee.
CBC K-W reached out to Doherty-Masters for comment but she said in an email that she would not be offering a comment on the situation.
Doherty-Masters returned to her seat at the board of trustees meeting on Monday.
Kraft said they were "pleased" to welcome her back to the board table.
Kraft added she does see where there is some division between trustees, but hopes they can come together to "create a path forward where we can get back to the shared things that we do have in common."
"Everyone does have a strong desire to see student success and achievement, and so just finding the way forward and while making sure all voices are heard," Kraft said.
"There's been a lot going on with our board," Kraft said, adding it's time to "perhaps put some of the things that have happened in the past and create a good working relationship forward as best we can to get back to our key focuses and core mandate as trustees."
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