It has been four years since we started this petition.

Mike Del Grande is still a trustee at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and has still not acknowledged the impact of his actions while protesting TCDSB alignment with the Ontario Human Rights Code legislation.

He has been found to have a Code of Conduct violation by his peers for the incident that started this petition, but refuses to comply with sanctions. The Divisional Court held that the board acted lawfully, but he is holding this up further via an appeal. We have yet to see the appeal brief, but attorneys have commented that the decision seemed air tight. Del Grande is also in the cross examination stage of his public OCT hearing, where they will decide if he should be able to continue to promote himself using a teacher's license.

How contentious debates like these are even allowed to happen at school boards, where parents and the community expect nothing but professionalism, is an issue that must be addressed.

The Ontario Human Rights Code, which Catholic boards are not exempt from, allows for staff and trustees to use their professional judgement to activate mechanisms that hold people accountable when an issue is brought to their attention. So, why do our decision makers so often not speak up to correct people, or hold them accountable when a contravention is suspected? We contend that it is all political influence - not about student success - and we intend to expose and put an end to this harmful practice.

Since nobody of authority in Ontario education has unequivocally made it clear that Catholic beliefs are not "superior" to the law (as Mike Del Grande continues to repeat as recently as a few weeks ago), we have moved our advocacy to a larger forum.

We are now seeking an official provincial Competing Rights Analysis in education (Personal Catholic Beliefs v. Student Human Rights in school), possibly through a public interest Inquiry by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, with Ministry of Education involvement.

We will be closing this petition as we join forces with other well-known advocacy groups, and take our asks to the next level. If you would like to stay in touch, please connect via our website, which also serves to collect resources to debunk dangerous falsehoods about queer students that are littering our eduction system.

ProtectOurYouth.ca

Or sign our main petition with over 32K supporters for updates on Ontario education situations like these: https://www.change.org/ProtectOurYouth