Ottawa school board sanctions trustee for code of conduct breaches

In a unanimous vote, trustees with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board voted Tuesday evening to sanction one of their own for breaching its code of conduct.

Trustees voted that colleague Nili Kaplan-Myrth breached six different sections of the code, which barred the trustee from the next meeting as well as prevented her from sitting on five different committees for the next three months. 

"This was not an easy decision, but it is important that the Board hold itself to the standard of behaviour the community expects and deserves," recently-appointed Chair Lynn Scott said in a news release sent out by the board. 

"As the Chair, I am committed to working with my fellow trustees to build trust and ensure the focus is on student learning and well-being."

It's been a contentious year for the often-divided board, with protests and fever-pitched meetings aplenty.

Similar investigation narrowly avoided in September 

In September, Kaplan-Myrth avoided a separate investigation after a close vote by her colleagues. The board had to decide whether texts to a fellow trustee asking for her support had constituted a breach.

The family doctor, who is a strong and vocal advocate for masking and vaccinations, had tabled a motion in November 2022 to mandate masking in schools as children's hospitals struggled with a wave of respiratory illnesses.

The trustee she texted told the board the stream of messages from Kaplan-Myrth asked her not to side with "white supremacists," which she said crossed a line. 

On Tuesday, the board's integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig detailed her investigation into complaints that trustees Nili Kaplan-Myrth, Donna Dickson and Donna Blackburn violated the code of conduct.

Craig's report focused on two complaints related to meetings in September 2023, including public comments related to those meetings.

Dickson and Blackburn weren't found to have breached the code.

Physician sends letter to education minister 

In response to Tuesday's vote, Kaplan-Myrth — who said she didn't attend the meeting in person because she felt her physical safety was threatened — sent a letter to Stephen Lecce, Ontario's education minister. 

The letter requests a leave of absence of a trustee "because of the persistent antisemitism that I have experienced in my tenure as an OCDSB Trustee and the reprisals of senior staff and OCDSB trustees for speaking about antisemitism."

"I ask that the Hon Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, intervene to put a moratorium on any further reprisals of me by the OCDSB for speaking out against antisemitism, and I ask that the Ministry of Education undertake an audit of the OCDSB's weaponization of the Code of Conduct process to silence equity-seeking groups," Kaplan-Myrth said. 

She also asked the ministry to investigate whether any of the death threats or harassment she received originated from staff or trustees. 

The physician also filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, citing differential treatment and reprisal based on religion and creed. 

In that complaint, Kaplan-Myrth said the gravity of her concerns about the vitriol she'd received was dismissed and she was subject to differential treatment, in violation of the Human Rights Code. 

The complaint seeks changes to the code of conduct, mandatory antisemitism training, $50,000 for a loss of dignity, and stopping trustees and the senior team from communicating or posting about her on the internet.

'Toxicity' within the board, trustee says

In an interview with CBC News, Trustee Donna Blackburn denied the claims of antisemitism brought against the board. She noted the original motion called for Kaplan-Myrth to be barred for six months, but trustees voted to cut that in half.  

"[I'm] hopeful that that gesture of goodwill may encourage some changed behaviour," Blackburn said, adding she's hopeful the matter is behind them.

"I don't want to be focused on code of conduct complaints," she said. "They are a diversion from our purpose. I want to get up every morning and fulfil my purpose."

In a separate Zoom interview, Kaplan-Myrth said she also wants the ministry to acknowledge antisemitism and she didn't ask for this process. 

"When I was asked to step forward as a trustee, I wasn't prepared for there to be toxicity within the board," she said. "Can we please get some mediators? Can we find a way to work together toward our common goal?"

Kaplan-Myrth said she won't resign.

"When I feel that the minister of education and the director and the chair have acknowledged the antisemitism, then I will consider returning," she said. "But not until then."

On Monday Ottawa police said they'd charged a B.C. man in connection to a telephone call containing "antisemitic, misogynistic and intimidating remarks, targeting a person working in the field [of] health care."

On X, formally Twitter, Kaplan-Myrth identified herself as the target of that harassment.

A Windsor, Ont., man was charged last year, while Kaplan-Myrth was running to become trustee, for similar alleged offences.