TORONTO, Ontario, August 30, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The vice-chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board has denied that she was ever involved in a group devoted to promoting openness to homosexuality in Ontario’s Catholic schools, as alleged by Canada’s leading homosexual news agency earlier this year.
Xtra! reported in May that homosexual activist and Ontario MPP Glen Murray had formed a “working group” to promote the implementation of homosexual clubs, known as “gay-straight alliances,” in Ontario’s Catholic schools.
The news agency named TCDSB trustee Jo-Ann Davis as a member of that working group alongside Murray and three other homosexual activists: Egale executive director Helen Kennedy, Halton Catholic trustee Paul Marai, and Toronto lawyer Douglas Elliot.
But Davis told LifeSiteNews that while she had attended a meeting in her ward that Murray organized related to school bullying, she later backed out before the working group formed because she realized it included members who have fought against public funding for the Catholic schools.
“I was invited by Mr Murray to meet with constituents in his ward (which is one of my wards) several months ago,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I met and listened to their concerns regarding bullying in our schools and available supports for students (both Catholic and public as representation from the TDSB was also in attendance) – that was the meeting that was reported on.”
“I was then invited to attend another meeting and join an ongoing dialogue which included individuals who are publicly waging a campaign to remove funding from Catholic schools,” she continued. “I informed Mr Murray that as a guardian of Catholic schools I could not be a part of such a group. I did not attend any of their meetings and so can’t speak to its objectives.”
In recent months, Davis’ school board became a focal point in the effort to uphold Catholic sexual teaching in Ontario’s Catholic schools. The battle will come to a head on Wednesday evening as the board is set to pass judgment on crucial amendments to its controversial equity and inclusive education policy.
Thousands of parents have protested the policy out of fears that it would give homosexual activists a foothold in the schools. The amendments seek to ensure that “equity” and “inclusion” are interpreted consistently with Catholic doctrine.
LifeSiteNews also asked Davis if she accepted Catholic teaching that homosexual acts are immoral, and if she was committed to transmitting that teaching to Catholic students. She did not address those questions in her reply.
Contact Information:
For trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School board click here.
Catholic Bishops of Toronto Archdiocese:
Most Rev. Thomas Collins, (416) 934-0606, [email protected]
Mgr Vincent Nguyen, 416 724-0900, [email protected]
Mgr William T. McGrattan, (416) 769-6001, [email protected]
Most Rev. John Boissonneau, (416) 207-4983, [email protected]
Director of Education, Ann Perron: 416.222.8282 ext. 2296, [email protected]