'Hostile intentions' behind embattled Manitoba school board's new flag restrictions: employee

An employee of a western Manitoba school division says he believes a recent flag restriction introduced by its embattled board of trustees is a veiled attack against 2SLGBTQ+ rights.

In a mid-September meeting, four trustees of the Dauphin-based Mountain View School Division voted to ban all flags except for provincial, federal and school flags — despite not having enough trustees at the meeting to make quorum.

The move was meant to "foster inclusivity and positivity in all that we do," the board said in a Tuesday message on its website.

"We aim to send a clear message: everyone is welcome, included and supported under these banners."

But an employee who works with students in the school division, whom CBC News is not naming because he fears retribution, said he believes the new rules were made with "hostile intentions."

"They did this because this board isn't brave enough to admit it, but openly opposes LGBTQ+ rights," he said in a Tuesday interview.

"They want to do everything they can to limit and remove protections and rights for LGBTQ+ students in this division."

In its message about the flag ban, the school board cited a quote by then prime minister Lester B. Pearson as he unveiled the Canadian flag on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the first time in 1965, which reads in part: "may the land over which this new flag flies remain united in freedom and justice; a land of decent God-fearing people; fair and generous in all its dealings; sensitive, tolerant and compassionate towards all men."

The board says it is "promoting unity" through the restriction, which in turn will "eliminate negative responses towards diverse cultures and communities."

How the rules will be enforced is unclear. The board did not respond to CBC's multiple requests for comment on Tuesday prior to publication.

Allies need to stand up: former resident

The board, which is in charge of the division's purse strings and policies, has been under provincial scrutiny since trustee Paul Coffey gave a board meeting presentation in April, during which he said residential schools began as a good thing and called the term "white privilege" racist.

Mountain View superintendent Stephen Jaddock was removed from his position in June. The Manitoba Métis Federation's representative for the region, Frances Chartrand, claimed at the time that Jaddock's firing was because he expressed support for a local Pride parade. Three trustees resigned days after.

That same month, the province established an oversight panel to ensure the board concentrates on "student learning and well-being," with an eye on diversity, inclusion and reconciliation, Education Minister Nello Altomare said at the time.

The concerned employee at the division says the flag ban shows that the board is "openly insulting" Altomare's wishes.

"There's been a pattern of hate and anti-acceptance in this division for months now."

Terra Matthews, a two-spirit Indigenous woman who briefly ran a 2SLGBTQ+ support group at the Dauphin Friendship Centre in 2017, says the flag ban is unfortunate, but also indicative of the "homophobic and transphobic and racist" attitudes many still have toward 2SLGBTQ+ people.

"To let youth know that they are not welcome, that they can go back in the closet and stay there or be hurt, ignored — you know, that just allows for the hate and the violence to continue," said Matthews, who lived in Dauphin for 25 years before leaving for B.C. in July.

Matthews says she's looking forward to how Dauphin's 2SLGBTQ+ community comes together in light of the flag restrictions, but thinks more people need to stand up to push for change in the board.

"We need our allies to actually assist in removing individuals that are standing in the way and creating more barriers for Indigenous youth and our LGBTQ2S+ youth."

'Terrified' for students

The employee says he's "terrified" for students in the division, many of whom identify, either openly or not, as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

He says Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School — the city's only high school — has a variety of flags in its cafeteria to represent the various countries that its growing number of newcomer students come from.

"How is banning symbols [that are] meant to welcome people fostering inclusivity?" he said.

"Only allowing the flag of Canada or the province or the school, that's not telling everyone that they matter and they're included. That's telling certain people that you matter and you're included."

A byelection to fill the school board's vacant seats is scheduled at the end of October, but the staff member says the current board shouldn't be allowed to pass any more policies until then.

"They are currently making critical decisions with less than half the board there."

The province did not respond to a request for comment before publication on Tuesday.