(Corriere Canadese) — The February 28, 2023, meeting of the York Region Catholic District School Board (YRCDB) may yet turn to be a seminal event in the erosion of the Catholic schools system in Ontario.
For now, it appears to indicate that the latest step in the secularization , anti-Catholic, woke movement may have “poked the bear.” The prompt would have seem minor enough at first: the Ontario Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA, the teachers’ Union) was distributing and displaying in their classrooms “stickers” declaring them a “safe space.”
The terminology has come to be interpreted as it’s okay to be non-heterosexual – even in Catholic schools. OECTA has no legal authority to initiate educational policy.
Two parent-delegations, accompanied by like-minded supporters, went to express their vehement disapproval of the YRCDSB’s apparent surreptitious preaching of gender ideology in their schools.
Carlo Ravenna, the first delegator, did not mince words. He “[found] it disgraceful” that the YRCDSB had “turned its back on our faith” by “preaching confusion under the guise of inclusivity” (see his full intervention in the video here).
He cited the examples of the self-identified transgender teacher, the breast prosthetics user, in Halton DSB whose conduct has resulted in no less than twelve school lockdowns and bomb threats sometimes numbering twenty per day. He added the example of the young lad in Renfrew Catholic District School Board whose objections to male students identifying as female so that they could use the girls’ washrooms earned him an expulsion and two arrests, as examples of the outcomes of such directions.
Mr. Ravenna referenced the practice of [Phys Ed] teachers at St. Joan of Arc H.S. who are “pushing the use of puberty blockers” for children who may be confused about their sexuality as “disgusting and abusive.” Further, he said, allowing LGBTQ students to hold meetings in the school chapel is a reflection of “abuse” and an effort to “brainwash” the children placed in the Board’s care.
His supporters cheered roundly.
The second delegator, Sheree Di Vittorio, stressed that the religious component of the schools was being cast aside to promote sexual practices contrary to the bible and Church teachings. She pointed to the fact that the schools were setting aside Scriptures “in the name of inclusion”. She said, [our] “children have a right to their innocence” (see her full intervention in the video here).
Supporters in the public gallery were loud and tumultuous in their support. Shouts of “shame” and “resign” were audible. The Chair felt compelled to recess the meeting for 5-10 minutes.
In the interim, the local police were called in to disperse the crowd and compel them to vacate the building. Several sources claimed that OECTA representatives originated the call. E-mail messages to the president, Mike Totten, went unanswered.
A spokesperson for the YRCDSB, Mark Brosens, was “not able to dispel or confirm the allegations.” He did provide a written statement outlining the Board’s position on the event (here: Statement from the York Catholic District School Board re_ February 28, 2023 Regular Board Meeting), pointing out that the Board has an “Operations element” and a “Board of Trustees” element. The trustees apparently were unaware of any of this prior to the meeting.
They are now.
Here below is a letter from a parent:
Parents were shouting for answers, we wanted some form of response, anything. We waited as the board went into recess. During the recess one of the OECTA teachers called the police, I am not sure why, there was no crime. The OECTA teachers were laughing at us for raising our concerns that this is child grooming. So parents were upset that these teachers would think something so serious like child grooming is funny. Some words were exchanged but I wasn’t close enough to hear exactly what was being said. Someone told us they were going to come back and talk to us – not sure who said it. But when they reconvened they moved onto the next agenda so we all left. At least 7 cruisers came for nothing, we were already all standing outside at that point, and they locked the doors behind us, so we went home. Thank you!
Published with permission from the Corriere Canadese.