Ottawa-area parent Nick Morabito was a mere 35 seconds into a four-minute speech about his concerns surrounding transgendered washrooms when he was rudely interrupted by trustee and rabid masker Nili Kaplan-Mryth.
She claimed his speech — given at a meeting of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) this past week — created “an unsafe environment for people who identify as gender diverse” and asked him to end it.
When Morabito asked how his words create “an unsafe environment” Kaplan-Myrth ignored him and ordered a two-minute recess.
Several attendees were heard yelling that he has a right to speak as a “member of the public” and the trustees “aren’t even listening to him.”
The board’s chairman Lyra Evans, who is trans, had already walked out — unable to stand any criticism of a controversial policy that allows young transgendered students (who are still biological males) to share the washrooms unsupervised with young females.
It was an immature and rude act by someone who constantly asks for tolerance.
All the father of four said was that while he fully believes in the “safety and inclusivity” of all students (including transgendered ones), he’s concerned about a policy that may not have “appropriate and safe boundaries” nor be “in line with the parental community’s wishes.”
His concerns were and are valid. However, this is what substitutes for free speech at Ontario’s woke school boards during these terribly divisive times.
If a deputant (most often a parent) doesn’t follow the right progressive script, he or she is shut down, cancelled, intimidated and treated as if they are hateful and intolerant.
I’ve seen it repeatedly south of the border and now, as parents start to speak up, here in Ontario.
This is happening, I might add, as Premier Doug Ford and his weak education minister Stephen Lecce stand idly by and allow progressives to trample on the rights of parents.
One wonders how they can still claim to be Conservative.
Certainly their values appear to be progressive.
It happened to dad David Todor who spoke out about the obsession with gender ideology at a Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) meeting in January. A few days later, late on a Friday afternoon, education director Jeewan Chanicka and his minions posted an open letter on their website claiming Todor had been inaccurate and that his words were inflammatory and bordering on transphobic.
When questioned at a subsequent board meeting by trustees who had no idea about the letter until it was posted, Chanicka refused to take responsibility for it. Instead he had six bureaucrats stand up and claim they were involved in the crafting of the response.
Trustee Mike Ramsay countered with his own open letter that the board’s response could have a “chilling effect” on other parents who want to come to the board to express valid concerns.
The OCDSB has refused to post the meeting on YouTube so far, claiming the video has been removed “temporarily” as it contains content harmful to trans and gender diverse people.
The only harm, in my view, has been what Evans and Kaplan-Myrth did to the rights of parents to express their points of view.
Their behaviour is available for all to see, despite their attempts to cancel the video of the meeting.
It should not be taken lightly.
