Teacher had felt ‘cheated’ over race
The first time Francis OmoruyiOdin lost out on a promotion, he knew something was wrong. He suspected it was his black skin. It seems he was right.
Since moving to Canada from Nigeria 20 years before as an automotive engineer, OmoruyiOdin had embraced teaching, leaving the auto shop behind to teach hundreds of Scarborough high school students in such subjects as business, math, machine shop and English. He had been drawn to this country since the time he ran an auto shop in Nigeria where Canadian diplomats would bring their cars and rave about home. By 1993, with 15 years of experience and a fistful of added credentials — a diploma in technical education from the University of Toronto and specialist certificates in business studies, special education and technological studies — he felt ready to be considered for assistant head of the technical department at a Scarborough high school. But he lost out to a white teacher with fewer credentials. Omoruyi-Odin filed a grievance with his union and won, but the school board then eliminated the job.
This was to happen three more times over four years, losing bids for promotions to lesser qualified candidates at schools across Scarborough, including his dream of becoming a principal at a time when Scarborough had no black principals.
“ It came to the point he wouldn’t tell me when he applied for a promotion, because the outcome would always be negative,” recalls wife Rosaline, who sat at her husband’s side through 155 days of hearings this year by the Ontario Human Rights Commission into his complaint of racial discrimination by the old Scarborough school board.
His case was settled in August with the amalgamated Toronto
District School Board agreeing to ensure it hires and promotes fairly, and to track its progress by collecting race- based statistics on principals, vice- principals, department heads and their assistants. The largest, most diverse school board in Canada already is working on a survey of all 30,000 employees in the new year that will ask them to state their job rank and identify themselves by racial background if they wish.
It is part of a number of equity programs approved by trustees last February, says board lawyer Tony Brown.
“Regardless of what the old Scarborough board did, the TDSB is doing all sorts of wonderful things to ensure equity: we have a new equity plan, an equity department, a human rights policy and, to some extent, mentoring of minority teachers. Through this settlement, we’re giving the assurance that we will continue much of what we’re already doing.” But there was no such focus on racial fairness in Scarborough when Omoruyi-Odin was trying to climb the career ladder.
Today, at 63, having reached a deal that requires the Toronto board to ensure that people promoted to senior positions show a proven commitment to equity, Omoruyi–Odin feels pleased, but bitter.
“ I feel cheated, you know, for all the opportunities that were denied to me, but I want young people to see that you should stand up when you believe in something and point the finger when something is not right.”
In the back row yesterday of Omoruyi-Odin’s news conference sat another black technical teacher who applied for some of the same jobs, and also lost out.
“ At the time, I was reluctant to think it was because of discrimination, but I changed my mind over time,” recalled Eric Coates, now retired. “ But if almost one out of two people from Toronto are now visible minorities, we should be able to see that ratio teaching in our schools.”