Group ramps up call for removal of trustees
A coalition of Hamilton advocates for students say they won’t be silenced or intimidated as they continue to call on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) and Ministry of Education to “impeach” four trustees.
But it remains unclear if or how the board or ministry could legally do so.
The call for impeachment, made by the group Hamilton Students for Justice, comes in the wake of a board-commissioned report released last week that revealed evidence of racism among some trustees.
The advocacy group claims Alex Johnstone, Kathy Archer, Becky Buck and Carole Paikin Miller are at the centre of that report, which did not include names, and are the same trustees the group wants stripped of their roles.
“This is a fight that we are not going to give up,” said Gachi Issa, a member of Hamilton Students for Justice, in an interview Monday.
The group is calling on the school board to put forward an emergency motion at its Monday evening meeting to “impeach” the four trustees. As of Monday afternoon, HWDSB spokesperson Shawn McKillop confirmed nothing of that nature was on the agenda.
None of the four trustees have commented on the call for their impeachment. It also remains unclear if board trustees have the power to remove one of their own.
Marit Stiles, the NDP education critic, who is also a former school board trustee, said it is likely the trustees, who are elected, would have to resign for them to be removed.
“In my experience, boards have in the past been able to take certain actions to limit (a trustee’s) participation,” she said. “But they can’t kick out an elected official.”
Stiles is calling on Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of education, to intervene and speak with Hamilton Students for Justice.
Hamilton Students for Justice wants the ministry to remove the trustees. But Lecce does not have the power to remove an elected trustee from office, nor to impose sanctions if a trustee violates their board’s code of conduct.
In an email, Lecce’s spokesperson said the ministry expects “the board will take action to combat the very real and long-standing issue of systemic racism.” Last week the ministry said it would be “closely monitoring” the board’s next steps.
Hamilton Students for Justice say they won’t give up their fight, even in the face of a cease and desist letter issued by Archer’s lawyer Friday.
The letter from lawyer Joseph H. Kazubek asks the group to stop “publishing regarding this matter immediately” and to remove a post which includes “photos and statements meant to defame and slander our client.” This is in reference to an online post which includes a photo of Archer with an inserted speech bubble referencing her alleged use of the N-word when referring to Serena Williams.
Ahona Mehdi, the former student trustee who spoke out about her concerns over racism this summer, has alleged she had witnessed white trustees use “the N-word in reference to Serena Williams.” The board report found there was “insufficient evidence to support this allegation.”
“My office issued a request to the group to remove this widely shared post that included an image of my client, with a statement being portrayed as a quoted statement, that was never recorded or proven,” Kazubek wrote in a statement to The Spec Monday. “The request letter was an attempt to stop further damages for my client, but also to reduce any over shadowing of the main issue found in the public report.”
“We’re not going to be silent about any of this,” said Mehdi, also a member of Hamilton Students for Justice, responding to the letter. She maintains it was an attempt to “intimidate” the group.
As of Monday afternoon, the post remained up.
Meanwhile, questions are being raised about why three of the four trustees in question voted Tuesday to not only adopt the report recommendations but imposing no further sanctions and release the report in an “anonymized” format, with names excluded.
Before the vote, Johnstone declared a conflict of interest, and trustee Paul Tut was not present in the public session. Opposed were trustees Maria Felix Miller and Ray Mulholland. Trustees Archer, Buck and Paikin Miller voted in favour.
The Spec requested comment from each of the four trustees. Just Kazubek responded, saying neither he nor his client would be commenting.
Dawn Danko, board chair, said in a statement: “While we can confirm that the board’s legal requirements were fulfilled, it’s ultimately up to individual members to recuse themselves as they deem appropriate.”