Anti-hate rally planned for school division board meeting

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/08/2023 (805 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents across the Louis Riel School Division are planning an anti-hate rally ahead of a suspended trustee resuming her duties after a three-month penalty related to anti-LGBTTQ+ activity on social media.

“We will show that any bigoted views are not welcome in our community, and we will stand up for diversity, love and respect,” said organizer Kay Wojnarski, who is a resident and teacher in the division that encompasses St. Vital, Sage Creek and surrounding areas in southeast Winnipeg.

Wojnarski is calling on community members to wear pride colours, carry flags and join a peaceful gathering outside LRSD headquarters (900 St. Mary’s Rd.) at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 5.

Around the same time, trustees — except for St. Boniface representative Francine Champagne, who has been barred from participating in board activities until Sept. 6 — will get together for their first public meeting of 2023-24 at 50 Monterey Rd.

The meeting will mark the first of its kind since a group of Champagne’s supporters, including a handful of high-profile “freedom fighters,” descended upon the Windsor Park boardroom to demand answers about the disciplinary action taken against her.

Police sent officers to the scene after receiving several disturbance calls.

One trustee, who recently came out as bisexual, reported being subjected to derogatory comments and homophobic slurs throughout the tense event.

“What happened on June 20 was horrible and uncomfortable … That level of hate shouldn’t be tolerated in any way, shape or form,” said Jay McGurran, president of the Louis Riel Teachers’ Association.

The union leader categorized claims that his members are pushing an agenda related to grooming students — an accusation that elicited cheers among attendees at the spring event — as “baseless, unfounded, unsupported and unsubstantiated, and untruthful.”

“What happened on June 20 was horrible and uncomfortable … That level of hate shouldn’t be tolerated in any way, shape or form.”–Jay McGurran

In the weeks leading up to her June 6 suspension, rookie board member Champagne took to Facebook to write: “The sexualization of our children in schools is all part of the agenda (insert angry face emoji),” in a post that linked to a conspiracy theorist website.

“To identify as = To live a lie,” states another recent post on Champagne’s personal page.

The board unanimously voted to suspend her for three months without pay for violating the code of conduct.

Trustees must “refrain from expressing opinions and/or sharing information through social media that would discredit, undermine or compromise the integrity of the board,” per LRSD policy.

Champagne has repeatedly declined to comment.

“It should worry everybody that an elected official can be removed for freedom of speech … and for having a different opinion,” said Patrick Allard, a father in the Winnipeg School Division who gained notoriety for opposing COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates.

“It should worry everybody that an elected official can be removed for freedom of speech … and for having a different opinion.”–Patrick Allard

Allard was one of about two dozen individuals who showed up to the June 20 meeting in solidarity with Champagne and to echo the perspectives she has shared online. Supporters have signalled plans to help her out and attend subsequent meetings.

Board chairwoman Sandy Nemeth said trustees have no plan to move their upcoming meeting to a larger space.

LRSD is anticipated to announce changes to its board meeting registration process for members of the public.

The internal probe continues into a $2,000 donation sent to Champagne via Things That Matter, a group run by Winkler-based “freedom fighter” Karl Krebs.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.