Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth has filed an appeal against a decision by fellow trustees that she breached the board’s code of conduct.
The decision to sanction Kaplan-Myrth, which included a ban on attending the board’s January meeting, was made Dec. 19 by the other trustees; she is also barred from sitting on five committees for the next three months.
Kaplan-Myrth and two other colleagues, Donna Dickson and Donna Blackburn were all under investigation by the board’s integrity commissioner, Suzanne Craig, based on several complaints against them.
According to a 185-page report released on Dec. 15, Craig found that Kaplan-Myrth and Blackburn engaged in a “yelling match” during and after a meeting last September.
Craig determined Kaplan-Myrth had violated the code of conduct when she ignored a security plan created by school staff so that she could speak with reporters following the meeting. Craig also found Kaplan-Myrth’s social media account to be one which “discredits and compromises the integrity of the board and has contributed to conflict rather than resolution of issues with her trustee colleagues.”
The investigation into Dickson and Blackburn did not lead to evidence that either of them breached the code. Dickson has since called for Kaplan-Myrth’s resignation.
Kaplan-Myrth filed the appeal on Monday, with her lawyer, Mark Freiman, citing incorrect and incomplete facts within the report.
According to Freiman, complaints against Kaplan-Myrth were treated “in radically different ways,” compared to those of Dickson and Blackburn.
In the past year, Kaplan-Myrth has been under two separate investigations regarding her conduct.
She was investigated in early 2023 for seeking support for a temporary masking mandate for students, accusing Dickson, who is black, of siding with “white supremacists” for not supporting her motion.
Kaplan managed to beat the board’s vote on that incident, as at least eight out of the 12 trustee votes were required to find her in violation of the code of conduct. Only seven voted in favour of a breach while four abstained.
The second incident revolves around the Sept. 11 yelling match during and after a board meeting, wherein Blackburn accused Kaplan-Myrth of being a “white woman attacking a black woman.”
Kaplan-Myrth interrupted Blackburn and responded by saying, “I object, you will not characterize me as a white woman. I am a Jewish woman who has received daily antisemitic death threats for standing up for health and safety. You have been out to get me from Day 1.”
Following the yelling match, all three women who were under investigation gave media interviews.
Frieman argues in the appeal that Craig’s report doesn’t adequately address Kaplan-Myrth’s complaints regarding antisemitism, which she feels have “been ignored or swept under the rug,” and that the board’s lack of action on this matter may have made Kaplan-Myrth more vulnerable to harm as a result.
Kaplan-Myrth filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on Dec. 14, alleging she has been the target of numerous antisemitic death threats and slurs from members of the public ever since her election to the board in the fall of 2022.
The complaint also claims that trustees and senior staff “dismissed the gravity of the situation.”
She requested a leave of absence as trustee on Dec. 20, however, as of Monday she has yet to receive any response, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Additionally, Kaplan-Myrth complained to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, claiming that internal board emails were given to Rebel News under an access to information request.
One of the emails released details of a staff member telling another about “concerns regarding Nili’s safety plan and her disregard for our efforts.”
Another email from a trustee claimed that they witnessed Kaplan Myrth “bate (sic) the Rebel News reporter by circling the path near the parking lot,” while a protest was taking place there in June.
Kaplan-Myrth said she was only made aware of the emails being released on Monday because of an article published by Rebel News about the exchange.
“The way it was done was not OK,” said Kaplan-Myrth. “The underlying message is that if I get death threats and my safety is jeopardized, then it must be my fault.”
Frieman believes that the code of conduct is being used inappropriately against Kaplan-Myrth.
“In this case, it’s being used to sanction someone who is saying things that are unpopular, or that make the board look bad. The Charter protects freedom of expression. People like trustees are supposed to advocate and speak their minds. They should be protected,” said Freiman.
