The DPCDSB is under pressure to change its flag policy again
It took a couple of years of hard work, but the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board finally has a truly neutral flag policy in place—a reflection of a growing trend towards neutrality in schools.
That policy establishes a fair and clear standard: only the Canadian flag, the Ontario flag, and a flag with the DPCDSB logo may be displayed inside and outside schools and other board properties.
Who could have a problem with that?
Well, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) does.
Since Ontario’s takeover of the DPCDSB, OECTA has persistently lobbied the board supervisor to undemocratically overturn the flag policy, which is grounded in the board’s Catholic identity and the governance authority of elected trustees.
As per this CBC article, Education Minister Paul Calandra has said that the matter of whether or not to fly “Pride” flags is a denominational (i.e. religious) issue, in the sole purview of the Catholic trustees.
However, if you look beyond the headline, you’ll read that he has instructed the board supervisor to tell the trustees to meet to review the flag policy once again.
That’s right—after being sidelined and barred from fulfilling their duties for almost a year, DPCDSB trustees are being summoned back for the sole purpose of reversing their perfectly legitimate vote to remove any and all contentious flags from schools.
Trustees haven’t asked to revisit this policy. It is one they themselves created, overwhelmingly endorsed by a vote of 9-1, and implemented—over a year ago.
Like school children, they’re being forced into a room to reflect upon what they have done and given the opportunity to correct their perceived mistake.
Talk about pressure. This is so coercive and unjust. This is bullying.
The government is essentially ordering trustees to reconsider their position on what the government admits is a constitutionally-protected DENOMINATIONAL issue.
The Archdiocese of Toronto has already made its position clear, so what is there to reconsider?
His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo wrote just last year:
“We need to make sure that the symbols we use are consistent with our Catholic faith and not borrowed from ideological fora, promoted by lobby groups and endorsed by political movements. We ought to honour and respect our traditions and not compromise the integrity of the faith by using symbols that are contrary to God’s divine revelation. We do good to use our own symbols to tell our own story without resorting to trendy, misguided and inadequate symbols that do not represent us as Catholics but rather contribute to confusion, distortions and ambiguities about what the Catholic faith truly teaches regarding the human person, human nature, and natural moral law.”
Friends, we must return to our battle stations once again!
1) Please contact your trustee and ask them to keep the flag policy as is. Ask them to listen to voters and tell them we won’t re-elect them this Fall if they won’t defend the Faith. More importantly, ask them to listen to the Church.
Because the board has been placed under provincial supervision, trustees no longer have access to their official board emails, so please refer to the personal contact information listed below, which was obtained from their election campaigns (either past or present).
Trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi (Caledon/Dufferin)
[email protected]
Trustee Anisha Thomas (Brampton Wards 1, 3, 4)
(647) 444-2738
[email protected]
Trustee Darryl D’Souza (Brampton Wards 2, 5, 6)
(416) 528-8515
[email protected]
Trustee Shawn Xaviour (Brampton Wards 7-10)
(416) 705-1030
[email protected]
Trustee Mario Pascucci (Mississauga Wards 1 & 3)
(416) 230-3611
[email protected]
Trustee Herman Viloria (Mississauga Wards 2 & 8)
(416) 452-9345
[email protected]
Trustee Stefano Pascucci (Mississauga Ward 4)
[email protected]
Trustee Thomas Thomas (Mississauga Ward 5)
(416) 845-8225
[email protected]
Trustee Luz Del Rosario (Mississauga Wards 6 & 11)
(416) 726-7614
[email protected]
Trustee Bruno Iannicca (Mississauga Ward 7)
(905) 270-0536
[email protected]
Trustee Brea Corbet (Mississauga Wards 9 & 10)
(905) 301-9373
[email protected]
2) Please show up at the special board meeting next week, on Tuesday, May 26, at 6 pm. Your presence is one of the best ways to hold trustees accountable. Your presence says: We still care. Please consider wearing red for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Canadian flag.
3) Please consider delegating at this meeting to voice your support for the current neutral flag policy (and inform us of your intent to do so). Email your delegation registration form to [email protected] as soon as possible. You’ll need to submit your speaking notes by Monday.
I know how tiresome it is to keep re-hashing this. I know we all live busy lives.
And yet, what will happen if only OECTA is there? And the trustees crumble to the pressure?
Could we face the students of the DPCDSB knowing we could have done more to protect them from ideological agendas?
“But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary of doing good.” ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:13
See you on Tuesday.