Bill Dennis lasted barely an hour at an equity session given by the KOJO Institute before pushing back on the sheer inanity of it all.
During a recent telephone interview, the Sarnia city councillor said the session for eight council members was “cut short” by Kike Ojo-Thompson when he accused her of pushing “critical race theory” and wasting their time.
“She’s very very militant,” he said.”She was very self-righteous, smug and condescending.”
Her session was no help “whatsoever,” he said.
In fact, it was sold to councillors as training to help welcome the great number of international students coming into Sarnia. But it ended up being nothing of the sort.
“It was turned into a radical (session) and if you’re white, you should feel ashamed of yourself,” said Dennis.
“I had a heck of a time with her…it was a horrible experience.”
The sessions – that were supposed to be for city staff, council and the Sarnia police – cost $6,000, he said.
She never did the police and cut council short but kept the $6,000, he added.
I spoke to the councillor in the wake of the news that celebrated Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal took his life last week after feeling intimidated and harassed at two equity sessions given by Ojo-Thompson in April and May of 2021.
Bilkstzo had recently filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the TDSB alleging breach of contract, defamation of character and reprisal by the board’s senior bureaucrats following the two KOJO sessions during which he says he was berated, repeatedly labelled a “white supremacist,” shamed and humiliated by Ojo-Thompson.
The lawsuit alleges the race “expert” took great exception to Bilkszto’s attempts to politely challenge her assertions that Canada is more racist than the United States.
She even suggested in a subsequent session that the TDSB take action against the 24-year principal for choosing not to “unlearn” his white supremacy.
A week after Dennis and another trustee pushed back at their session, KOJO sent a letter refusing to complete the contract because of the alleged “hostility” of some councillors.
“She didn’t feel safe even though we were on a Zoom meeting… which was a real joke,” he said.
He said, like she did with Bilkszto, she plays the race and woman card with those who push back on her.
“She has a chip the size of a mountain on her shoulder,” he said.
An unnamed person from the KOJO institute responded by sending an Integrity report penned by Paul Watson, a former Kathleen Wynne candidate, that Dennis had harmed the trainer.
Dennis said council opted not to mete out punishment. The report cost $6000-$7000, he said.
Sarnia council’s two-hour training was an in-camera session allegedly because Ojo-Thompson was concerned about releasing “trade secrets.”
She was recommended to Sarnia council by the Ontario Municipal Association.
“If the general public had seen what she was teaching and heard some of the vitriol and the absurd ideas coming out of her mouth …” Dennis said.
He said they heard many of the same ideas relayed in Bilkszto’s statement of claim such as Canada being a racist country and how Canada’s institutions are all racist including the police.
“She’s a huge police hater,” Dennis said..
He said the letter from KOJO got leaked to the local paper to try to disparage his reputation before the 2022 election but he got re-elected with the highest vote count of all councillors.
Nevertheless he had to endure having his car keyed, angry calls on his cellphone, “horrible messages on his cellphone” and a letter sent to his house saying his Golden Retriever was going to be killed.
He got called racist too many times to count.
“The cancel culture mob… these people are nuts,” he said. “It was absolutely brutal.”
He said he felt “sick to his stomach” when he heard about the Bilkszto tragedy.
“As far as I’m concerned Richard is a hero … to take a stand like he did,” said Dennis.
He added that he hopes Richard’s family continues with the lawsuit.
