Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association calls on Hamilton-area school board trustees to resign after racism probe

A prominent Black advocacy organizationhas joined a chorus of voices calling on four Hamilton-area school boardtrustees to resign after a recent report found theycontributed to a dynamic that marginalized and silenced a former student trustee.

Evelyn Myrie, president of the Hamilton-based Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA), said the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has lost the public's trustafter initially refusing to sanction the trusteeslast week.

"The actions ofthe school board trustees are egregious enough to step away from their dutiesand resign from their position as leaders in theeducation system," she said.

"Ifthey're serious about zero tolerance for racism and discrimination, that would be the best thing for them to do ... they have really lost confidence in the community, especiallyamong racializedpeople, to lead the education system that is supposed to set a good example for students."

As of Wednesday, hundreds ofpeople have signed an online petitionfor the trustees to resign or be removed.

Alex Johnstone, Becky Buck, Kathy Archer and Carole Paikin Miller arethe trustees referred to in the reportthat was spurred byallegations from former student trusteeAhona Mehdi.

Last week during a board meeting,Buck, Archer and Paikin Miller didn't declare a conflict of interest and voted againstissuingsanctions against themselves and in favour of removing their names fromthe public report. It led to intense public and political criticism.

This week, trustees passed a motion to reconsider the decision to not punishthem. Of the four,Paikin Miller was the only trustee to vote on that motion.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there areno special board meetings scheduled or items on the agenda of an upcoming board meeting related to the situation, so it is unclear when there will be an update.

Myrie says sanctionsshould have been swift and immediate.

"The community is not accepting that at all, so I'm glad they're reconsidering. To me, resigning is at the top of our recommendations, but zero [sanctions] is not even a conversation starter," she said.

Trustees could stay until 2022

Boardchair Dawn Danko previously said sanctions weren't issued because that wasn't one of the 12 recommendations from the third-party investigator who authored the report but calling for sanctions wasn'tpart of the investigator's mandate.

Asked why she didn't apply the recommendations to the trustees' code of conduct, which would have cleared the way for sanctions,Danko said by email: "We are committed to following a fair process that aligns with our Board Member Code of Conduct procedure regarding any actions that may constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct. In camera sessions are subject to strict confidentiality requirements and we will provide an update if trustees vote in favour of additional sanctions or disciplinary action in response to the report."

Danko added: "Trustee elections take place at the same time as the municipal election. In the meantime, work is underway to begin implementing the recommendations provided by the investigator to address the concerns raised by the former Student Trustee Ahona Mehdi, and to establish a better, more robust governance process across the entire board, with updated policies and regular training on governance practices, equity, diversity and inclusion, and clarifying and supporting the role of Student Trustee."

There is no process to remove trustees prior to the next municipal election.

Myrie saysthere should be a review of all the trustees, similar to a recent staff audit, and they should add a mandatory anti-racism, diversity and inclusion training into their orientation for all new trustees.

WATCH |Would there be less racism and extremism if we were better at teaching Black history?

Would there be less racism and extremism if we were better at teaching Black history?

4 years ago

Duration 32:54

Evelyn Myrie, president of the Afro Canadian Caribbean Association, and Rayanne Banaga, a peer support facilitator of a program aimed at improving access to mental health support for racialized youth, talk about how being better at teaching Black history might lead to less racist radicalization among young people.

She alsosaid it washypocritical for board members found to have maderacist comments about Black and Muslim people to be part of a board thatreleased a report on bullying in schools that highlighted a culture of fear.

"She's a brave, young woman who we need to stand with and support the action she took. I'm so proud of the leadership she's taken. She's worked with a young team who have been working alongside her to drive this change," Myrie said of Mehdi.

"She could have walked away and kept her mouth shut, but she didn't. She did the right thing."

Read the full report here:

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check outBeing Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.