HWDSB trustees named in racism probe shouldn't have voted on it too, former chairs say

Two former Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) chairs say it's concerning that three current trustees votedto deny themselves sanctions after a report concluded they lacked anunderstanding of equity, diversityand inclusion.

Trustees Carole Paikin Miller, Kathy Archer and Becky Buck all voted during a special board meeting on Tuesday to not issue sanctions or reprimands against themselves.They also voted to keep their names out of the public copy of a third-partyreport that says theycontributed to a dynamic that marginalized and silenced a former student trustee.

Alex Johnstone, the othertrustee connected to the report,declareda conflict of interest and didn'tvote. Some former board leaders say that was the right course of action.

It's "beyond concerning" that the other trustees didn't declare a conflict, saidTodd White, a former board chair.

Conflict of interest rules laid out in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, which trustees follow via the Education Act,only deal with financial conflicts. But White says one could argue that being sanctioned could affect re-election, which could impact a person's finances.

Trustees have to declarea conflict ofinterest ifthere's a complaint against a trustee through the board's code of conduct, White said. In this case, it was through a third-party investigation, which means there could be an argument that the trustees didn't need to declare it per the rules. Still, White thinks it's a "no brainer."

"If the legislation requires you to declare a conflict and not vote when the sanction is against you through a code of conduct complaint, you should do the same when it's a third-party investigation," he said.

'Beyond disappointing'

"Legally, you could make the argument you do not have to declare a conflict of interest. Common sense says of course you should declare a conflictof interest ... it's beyond disappointing."

Archer, through paralegalJoseph Kazubek,said in a statement that she didn't think she had a conflict.

"The third-party investigator has made suggestions on additional training to be mandatory among all board members in regards to racism. I co-operated throughout the entire process to ensure transparency to the public," she said in a statement emailed through Kazubek.

"To maintain public trust, and to ensure full transparency of the events occurred, I supported the releasing of documents as they were to avoid delay of access to justice. I had no input on the report so I do not feel there is any conflict."

CBC News is pursuing comment from Buck. Paikin Millerdid not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday or Friday. The board didn't comment on Friday either.

The report, published Wednesday, came six months after former student trustee Ahona Mehdisaid some trustees silenced her and made racist statements.

Mehdi described itas the "most patronizing experience of my life."

On Thursday, shecalled for the trustees to be removed for comments contained in the report. Those comments, which didn't apply to all of the named trustees, included "overtly anti-Muslim and racist remarks" and phrases such as "all lives matter."

Mehdialso wantedJohnstone, the former chair,removed after the investigation foundJohnstone urged Mehdi to remove her personal experiences from a statement to a safe schools panel. The report says Johnstonealso sidelinedMehdi'seffort to introduce a motion to scrap the police liaison program.

Johnstone apologized on Thursday.

'Grey area'

As for whether the othersshould have declared a conflict, former HWDSB chairJudith Bishop says it is a legal "grey area."

But it is "concerning," she said, to hear that thetrustees voted anyway.

"Voting on whetherto have sanctions on yourself, I don't think you should be voting for that, no," she said.

The Ministry of Educationand numerouspolitical leaders called the report's findings "disturbing" on Thursday.

On Friday, Steven Del Duca, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, told CBC News thatHWDSB owes a sincere apology to the entire province. The findings in the report were"disgusting," he said.

Liberal leader says trustees should resign

"I personally think the four trustees should resign," he said. "It's just unconscionableto me that they wouldn't have already offered their resignation given what we see in the report."

"I believe the community should make it clear they should resign.I believe their colleagues should make it clear they resign."

Del Ducasaid thetrustees votingon motion to prevent sanctions shows "how deep the rot is in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board ... that is completely beyond the pale."

He also said there shouldbe consideration tomaking legislative changes to ensure something like this never repeats itself.

"This case with Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is not the first time we've seen issues relating to very inappropriate, unacceptable, things taking place on issues relating to xenophobia and racism ... a provincial government should take whatever steps are possible to make sure this does not happen again."

Current chair Dawn Dankoacknowledged trustees "failed" Mehdi, but saidthere will not be any further sanctions.

Board will improve, chair says

The board is determined to become more progressive, she said, and pointed to its decision to adopt the 12 recommendations.

"One of the challenges with systemic racism they can be invisible and when they're brought to light, we have to act. And one of the things trustees are committed to doing, (that) we voted to do, is to adopt and act on the recommendations provided by our independent investigator," Dankosaid on Wednesday.

"There is a decision not to proceedwith further sanctions or actions against trustees. However, one of the things we are doing and continue to do is having trustees engage in anti-racism and anti-oppression training.

"We're already doing a governance review, and I think this report and the recommendations help us refine that review and whatthose changes need to be."

The recommendations include annual governance training, more support and mentorship for student trustees and mandatory ongoing EDI training for all trustees.

Read the full report here: