Minister says trustee should ‘do the right thing’ and resign
The troubled York Region school board cannot get past all of its challenges until trustee Nancy Elgie steps down, warns Education Minister Mitzie Hunter.
“Someone who uses a racial slur of that nature should not be representing the students of a diverse region,” Hunter told reporters before a Liberal caucus meeting at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, regarding Elgie’s use of the N-word to refer to a black parent.
“The use of a racial slur of that kind is completely unacceptable and is not tolerated at all.”
Hunter also said it is apparent “this issue is impeding” the board’s efforts to move forward after a string of controversies, including complaints that inci- dents of racism and Islamophobia were not dealt with properly.
“Everyone has to operate on behalf of the best interests of the students of York Region and to do the right thing and to do the responsible thing,” she said.
In November, after a public meeting, Elgie was overheard referring to a black parent as a n-----. The board subsequently hired an independent investigator and Elgie later admitted to, and apologized for, uttering the slur.
Now that the education minister has weighed in, observers believe it will be difficult for Elgie to hang on as trustee.
Her family has blamed a head injury suffered last October, and the resulting concussion, for the episode.
But the explanation has not sat well with parents and community members, who continue to call for Elgie to resign, as has Ontario cabinet minister Michael Coteau and Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.
“It should now be abundantly clear, having heard from the community, myself as the new chair and now a majority of trustees, MPPs and the minister of education, that she needs to resign immediately,” board chair Loralea Carruthers said. “Our board needs to be able to tackle the serious issues we face beyond this one incident.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath also told the Star that Elgie must go.
“I just feel bad for the community,” she said. “There’s just so much pain there . . . and to have to fight this battle too is just unbelievable.” When the community “has made it really clear that there’s no other way of fixing it other than stepping down, and letting the community heal, it seems very obvious” that’s what she needs to do, Horwath added.
So far, Elgie has resisted all calls to give up her seat. At an emotional board meeting Monday night, Elgie’s family spoke, saying the 82-year-old trustee is herself proposing a suspension of three to six months.
When reached by the Star about Hunter’s comment, Elgie’s daughter Allyson Harrison said, “There are many different views on what is the appropriate remedy here. Some have called for suspension, some for resignation. Others, like the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, have opposed punishment and called for a process of investigation, understanding and learning.
“She wants to do the right thing, and set a good example. When you do something that causes harm, even if it was not intentional and you apologize and take responsibility, there still should be some consequence. She believes there should be a sanction, one that reflects all the circumstances here, as well as a process to promote learning, healing and restoration.”
The fact Elgie didn’t resign at the outset of the controversy has stunned public relations experts.
“The sad thing about all of this is that it seems to me, that on behalf of Mrs. Elgie and her family, the response has almost entirely been based on self-interest — in other words, let’s save her job, let’s save her position,” said Bill Walker of Midtown-PR and author of Crisis Communications in the 24/7 Social Media World.
“In the court of public opinion, the first thing you need to do to reassure people is to make sure you are putting the public interest first, not self interest,” he said. Now, however, the main message is her “clinging to a position of power, and that really repels the public.”
There are other ways for her to serve her community, he added.
“This should have all been dealt with in one day. It’s the old story that you always talk about in the world of crisis communications, which is when you are in a hole, stop digging. It’s a big cliché, but still, there’s a lot of truth to it. People just want to see someone do the right thing.”
Typically, when school board trustees are in trouble, fellow trustees determine the discipline — either a public statement of censure or suspension from meetings, following a code of conduct investigation. In this case, Elgie was dealt with through an employee investigation.
The veteran trustee cannot be forced out. Fellow trustees could file a code of conduct complaint against her but have said it would be a costly and long process, with many of the findings discussed in private.
Several trustees on the board publicly stated at Monday’s meeting they want Elgie to step down: Carruthers, Susan Geller, Corrie McBain, Juanita Nathan, Carol Chan and Allan Tam.
Last week, Elgie’s family announced she is taking an indefinite medical leave after seeing a head injury specialist.
The controversy is just one of several for the York board, after numerous complaints that incidents of racism and Islamophobia were ignored, as well as questions about trustee spending and conduct.
Last month, Hunter appointed two investigators to speak to parents and staff to get some answers and provide some direction. They are expected to report back in April.
Although both Coteau and Brown urged Elgie to quit on Feb. 2, Hunter had been more circumspect because she wanted the troubleshooters to do their work.
But a damage-control effort by the Elgie family appears to have backfired, leading to renewed calls for the trustee to step down.
Elgie’s son, Stewart, said his family has not hired a public relations firm, but has gotten “free advice from lots of different people about this whole thing.”
Walker said he doesn’t know of any public relations expert in North America who could “flip this toothpaste back in the toothpaste tube.”
The situation must be causing a lot of stress for the her and family, he said, “and you have to ask yourself, is this really worth it? These things don’t get better, they only get worse.”
Elgie has admitted to using the Nword in public when referring to parent Charline Grant, who had launched a human rights complaint about the discrimination her son faced at his high school.