Local school board decision sets example on hate

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/06/2023 (852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How do you solve a problem like Francine Champagne?

A trustee of the Louis Riel School Division, Champagne was thrust into the public eye last week, after it was learned she had posted very hateful content on her Facebook page attacking the LGBTTQ+ community.

Champagne has not spoken publicly on the decision to post the content and, in fact, not much is known about her at all.

The LRSD website identifies her as a professional translator, volunteer at the Festival du Voyageur, and teacher at Saint Boniface University. This is her first term as a trustee.

Although she has a resumé worthy of an elected official, news of her Facebook content put the LRSD board in a difficult position.

Should she be punished at the risk of triggering a backlash from like-minded trolls? Would it be enough just to submit her to a public rebuke? Or perhaps would it have been best to just ignore her altogether?

The LRSD board had to be aware, right now, it has become so vogue for anti-LGBTTQ+ forces to lash out with all kinds of vile conspiracy theories and allegations. As a result, it would have been easy for the board to do nothing.

Thankfully, the board took a stand and suspended her without pay for three months. Although the decision is not unprecedented, it seems noteworthy given we live in a time when so many organizations fail to take a stand against blatant hate.

These are not easy dilemmas to navigate. When someone loudly and proudly embraces toxic and hateful ideas, the standard human resources playbook is rendered pretty useless. In the absence of clear strategies, many organizations tend to under-respond.

Consider the recent incident involving Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass, who used his Instagram account to share an offensive post calling on Christians to boycott retail chain Target for marketing Pride-themed clothing and other products.

The boycott is part of a Evangelical Christian campaign of hate against the LGBTTQ+ community and anyone that supports it.

Bass’s actions were objectively ignorant regardless of where they were made. They are particularly stupid to utter in a city like Toronto, where Pride is a very important part of the city’s identity and the LGBTTQ+ community wields enormous political and commercial clout.

To demonstrate its support for Pride, this weekend, the Jays are drenching the Rogers Centre stadium in rainbow colours. On Friday, when the Jays host the Minnesota Twins, the MLB team is giving away 15,000 rainbow-embossed replica jerseys.

What did the Jays do about Bass, who endorsed a campaign of hate against LGBTTQ+ people in a city that overwhelming supports Pride? They forced him to make a half-hearted apology.

In a prepared statement read to reporters at the ballpark, Bass said he was “truly sorry” and was committed to making “better decisions moving forward.”

The Jays’ response — to keep Bass on the team after making a hollow apology — has many scratching their heads.

Globe and Mail columnist Cathal Kelly said it best: “Bass is an average-at-best, middle-aged reliever making peanuts on an expiring contract. Players like Bass grow on trees. Getting rid of him is so easy it doesn’t qualify as work.”

Kelly is right; the work of trying to attach some fake nuance to Bass’s social media posts is heavy lifting. Releasing him was not just the right thing to do, it was the easiest course.

Lamentably, the Blue Jays were only following in the footsteps of other sports teams.

Several NHL players made headlines for refusing to participate in Pride-themed team activities, with some citing Christian beliefs as the determining factor. None of the players was subject to any form of team discipline — a decision that made the NHL look weak and less than genuine in its support for Pride.

This phenomenon is hardly limited to professional sports, and it’s hardly limited to issues affecting the LGBTTQ+ community.

We’ve entered a dark era, where opinion leaders in a variety of forums feel empowered to lash out at people because of their sexual orientation, race or gender. There just seems to be so much hate going around these days, and too few efforts to curb it or punish those who feel entitled to embrace it.

Remember the recent controversy at the Brandon School Division, when a citizen spewed a hateful tirade of unfounded conspiracy theories about trans people? Two members of the board applauded the presentation, and one of them ultimately voted in favour of a school library book ban based on the allegations.

Nobody posted anything on social media, but in supporting the hateful presentation, the example set by the board members was objectionable, to say the least.

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Could the LRSD board could have done more? Should it have done more?

Certainly, the thought Champagne will be back with a seat at the table, running one of the largest school divisions in the province, is very unsatisfying.

However, by doing something, board members demonstrated a courage lacking in so many other areas of society.

In doing that, they set an example others should be following.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com

Dan Lett
Columnist

Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.  Read more about Dan.

Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.