Geoff Horsman is speaking out about his decision to launch a legal challenge against the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) over the requirement to include land acknowledgments at school council meetings. The father of three, who is also part of the school council at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School (KCI), raised concerns with the rule earlier this year. He asked for the matter be put on the agenda for discussion by school council. He was first told no by the council chair, then the school principal, and eventually the school board’s System Administrator of Equity and Inclusive Education. “I was told that, ‘Well, we can’t really even have a discussion about this because it could be a violation of human rights to even discuss it,’” Horsman said. So, he turned to the courts. “I thought, this can’t really be that parents and taxpayers who fund the board are supposed to sit through political statements or recitations of this sort, and we cannot express any dissent, and no discussion is permitted,” Horsman explained. “I don’t think this is how a free society should operate and it’s not good for an education system for our children.” Horsman and constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir have asked for a judicial review, arguing the WRDSB’s mandate on land acknowledgments is outside of its purview, as school councils are supposed to be an arm’s length advisory body. “I think… this pushback can help remind them of what council is for,” Horsman said. The Waterloo Region District School Board declined to comment on the situation while it is before the courts. The documents prepared in this case quoted the board’s System Administrator of Equity and Inclusive Education as telling Horsman, “Discussions that question or challenge established equity-focused practices, including territorial acknowledgements, fall outside the scope of school council business. These expectations are in place to ensure that all participants experience school council as a safe, respectful and inclusive space.” Horsman believes codes of conduct can make people wary of stepping out of line. “I think they’re speech suppression tools, in my opinion, a lot of these codes of conduct,” he explained. Horsman and his lawyer would like a judge to overturn the school board’s mandate, leaving decisions on land acknowledgments up to the individual school councils. The case is still in the early stages, and it could be months before it is heard in a courtroom.
