Growing up as a black child within a majority-white school system is often fraught with obstacles. This experience has been all the more traumatic for two black kids at Cambridge Community public School in Ottawa, who, have endured more than their fair share of racially charged discrimination and abuse.

The Principal of the school, Caroline Theriault, and teacher Stacey Budel are those at the center of these distressing claims. An incident involving physical harm which was choking and putting full body weight on a 8-year-old black girl has sparked outrage, and a subsequent incident involving the unfair suspension of this girl and another black student. As a concerned member of our society, it is heartbreaking to bear such events. 

Sadly, instances of racial abuse or discrimination are not isolated instances. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, 38% of reported human rights violation incidents from 2015-2016 were racially motivated. A more recent analysis published by Statistics Canada reveals a 7% increase in hate crimes against black people between 2017 and 2018 (Statistics Canada, 2019). This only strengthens the urgency for swift and uncompromising action against any form of racism, discrimination, and abuse within our educational institutions.

We hereby request that Caroline Theriault and Stacey Budel be held accountable for their alleged actions. We seek an immediate and unbiased result into the incidences at Cambridge Community Public School and demand that suitable consequences be meted out of the incident. Corrective steps are pivotal in ensuring such dreadful events don't recur, keeping the promise of equal treatment for every student black or white.

Sign this petition to demand fairness, protest against discrimination, and help make Cambridge Community public School a safe space for all students.