Waterloo Catholic School Board (WCDSB) trustees declined a motion that would have banned flags from all schools in the district, including Pride, Black Lives Matter, Every Child Matters and more.
On Apr. 28, a crowd of over 200 people showed up to the public WCDSB meeting to protest a motion introduced a month earlier by Conrad Stanley, WCDSB trustee, that proposed a ban on all flags except for the Canadian, Ontarian and school board flag. The motion argued these flags were representative or everyone.
The motion quickly became a controversial topic, and sparked concern from many local advocates who argued the ban would cause harm to youth.
Acer Bonaparte, organizer with Queer Youth Defence, said students within the WCDSB came forward to initiate coordinating protests against the motion since the motion was first introduced.
“It was a really beautiful thing to see this event go from something that [Queer Youth Defence] had planned for the youth and in defence of the youth, and instead becoming something the youth have control over,” Bonaparte said.
“The youth are often spoken for. They’re spoken about and they’re spoken to, but they’re not really usually involved in the conversation or listened to and I think that was something that really set this rally apart,” they said.
Ahead of the board meeting, WSCDB students walked out of their final period classes to protest against the motion.
Students and community members met at Kitchener City Hall to rally together before marching to the school board headquarters in Kitchener where the meeting was taking place.
During the meeting, Stanley brought forth an amended version of the original motion. The revised version left out specifics regarding the Pride flag.
The amended motion was dismissed—which trustees stated was significantly different from the original.
In the end, the initial motion failed by a vote of five to four.
During the rally, some students gave speeches and some played music.
“It was a celebration of expression, where people across sexuality, gender and all the other marginalized identities showed up,” Bonaparte said.
“They showed their anger, they showed their joy, they showed their fear. It was a really, really beautiful day,” they said.
Bonaparte said many WCDSB students vocalized their concern regarding the impact of the proposed motion.
“Black and Brown kids were saying that having Black Lives Matter [flags] or stuff expressing solidarity with the long history of racism helped them know that the teacher was safe and that they felt that they were welcome,” Bonaparte said.
Similarly, queer students said that the presence of a Pride flag in a classroom helped them feel safe with teachers.
As well, there was concern that organizations such as OK2BME, whose logo includes the Pride flag, would be prohibited from reaching students with vital services.
“It is a truly an intersectional issue. It is an issue that would affect all people who rightfully don’t feel represented by the Canadian flag,” Bonaparte said.
“It’s using the culture war tactics of hating queer people to push a motion that would exclude, invalidate and make those who do not feel represented by the Canadian flag feel unwelcome and unsafe in all Catholic schools across Waterloo region.”
Aislinn Clancy, Green party MPP in Kitchener-Centre, is demanding accountability from the Ontario minister of education.
After the board meeting where the motion was declined, Clancy asked that WCDSB be investigated at Queen’s Park.
“A recent [Freedom of Information] request shows that the board has spent over $200,000 in the past two years to silence opposing trustees,” Clancy said in a video she posted on Instagram of her speaking at Queen’s Park.
Looking forward, Bonaparte noted that with a municipal election taking place next year, they hope that community members use their vote to voice their opinions.
“I say that the trustees who voted for this motion, the trustees who enabled this behaviour and who enabled the behaviour of silencing dissenting voices, need to think about the election and how this will impact their election,” Bonaparte said.
The Community Edition reached out to the Waterloo Catholic District School Board for a comment but did not hear back at the time of publishing.
Acer Bonaparte is a contributor with The Community Edition.
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