TORONTO, Ontario, November 4, 2020 (Corriere Canadese) – The public harassment, defamation and flagellation of Trustee Michael Del Grande’s character and persona is a sorry spectacle unfolding before our very eyes.
The malice and viciousness seeping from the orchestration we have witnessed on the part of his colleagues, the alphabet brigade, the former Premier, the “progressive” press/media and now the Minister of education must surely be plenty to launch several civil lawsuits. Del Grande should seek legal advice.
The barrage of venom heaped on him – most especially in this last week when a feeding frenzy by Media and Press ever-ready to report negatively on Catholic culture – may be just short of criminal. To be silent is to be an enabler. From a human, individual point of view, it is shameful and embarrassing. And it goes against every principle of tolerance and acceptance they claim for themselves.
What motivates these “people” besides unbridled self-interest, intolerance, or simple hatred? It does not appear to be respect for due process, democratic principles, constitutional rights or indeed any regard for the constitutional obligation underpinning the existence of a democratically elected, autonomous organization like a Catholic school board.
Such boards in Ontario are Constitutionally obliged to provide an environment that promotes and safeguards Catholic doctrine and Catholic values. Only the Church can define those, not the Human Rights Code, definitely not Trustees and certainly not an elected member of the Legislature or Cabinet whose religious credentials do not qualify any incumbent to pronounce on them.
In fact, trustees like de Domenico, Rizzo, Di Pasquale, Li Preti are disqualifying themselves when they interpret that doctrine or values for their “positioning” ambitions. And if Human Rights Codes were to conflict with the Catholicity of school boards guaranteed Constitutionally, the Constitution prevails.
Bluntly put, Ontario education Minister Stephen Lecce has overstepped his legal authority and jurisdiction in demanding that the Toronto Catholic district school board (TCDSB) release a confidential, legal opinion on which the Board had made a decision. He may have a special preference for radical elements of the LGBTQ2+ but this is none of his business. Nor is it about the diversionary language of “transparency”. The Board members who voted contrary to the decision had recourse to judicial review. They did not choose that option.
If there was ever any merit to the allegations of “homophobia” in the publicly made statement, in the course of debate, the police would have been duty-bound to lay charges – there was not and they did not. I suspect that the confidential report, filed after expenditure of substantial resources, came to the same conclusion. To release it would serve the exclusive purpose of re-opening the debate and subject Mr. Del Grande and his family to a second phase of libel, denigration, and defamation. Our legal counsel suggests that is “double jeopardy”. And therefore illegal.
Individuals like Kyle Iannuzzi, Paolo De Buono, the Ontario College of Teachers, Trustees, Senior Staff, the Board itself, and Minister Lecce would be open to serious litigation. If there are still any Trustees on the TCDSB with courage and resolve to be true to their mandate, they will wash their hands of De Domenico’s Motion to reopen, defeat it instead (or, at the very least, defer to a date sometime in 2021, when hyperbole and hysteria will have calmed).
In the meanwhile, they should fire their teacher, De Buono, for total insubordination inherent in his daily tweets against the Board and the doctrine at the base of its existence.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Corriere Canadese here and is reprinted on LifeSiteNews by permission of the author.
RELATED
LGBT activists pushing to oust Catholic school trustee who voted against gender ideology
Catholic school trustee still under attack by LGBTQ activists despite being cleared by board
Ontario education minister joins in LGBT attack on Catholic school trustee accused of ‘homophobia’