WRDSB facing legal challenge over land acknowledgment mandate

The Waterloo Region District School Board is facing a legal challenge over land acknowledgements. CTV’s Krista Simpson reports.

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is facing a legal challenge by a parent who says the board should not require land acknowledgements at school council meetings.

Geoffrey Horsman is a father of three and a member of the school council at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School (KCI).

School councils, which have been called parent councils in the past, are advisory bodies made up of parents, guardians and caregivers. They meet at least four times a year.

Horsman and his lawyer are arguing that the school board is overstepping its boundaries by requiring those meetings start with a land acknowledgment and by not allowing debate on the matter.

Horsman said he raised concerns at his school council earlier this year, and when he asked that the issue be put on the agenda for discussion at a meeting, the request was denied.

“So he’s asking the court to step in and review the board’s decision, alleging that the decision infringes his right to freedom of conscience because it’s imposing the practice of the land acknowledgment, it’s infringing his right to freedom of expression because it’s preventing him from engaging in debate on the council on that issue,” Horsman’s lawyer Hatim Kheir told CTV News. “It’s also overstepping the board’s jurisdiction because the councils have an arm’s length existence and they’re able to operate autonomously.”

The application for judicial review describes Horsman being told by the school council chair to take his concerns to KCI’s principal, who in turn informed him that the WRDSB requires land acknowledgements at all school council meetings and that the topic was not up for debate.

The court documents say that Horsman eventually met with the school board’s System Administrator of Equity and Inclusive Education, Vinay Tiwari, who said “territorial acknowledgements will continue to be part of school council and WRDSB gatherings.”

In response to Horsman’s question as to why it could not be discussed at a council meeting, the court documents state Tiwari replied, “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.”

Kheir said the board is overstepping its jurisdiction.

“The school council is supposed to have an independent existence so that it can actually give a voice to parents. It’s one of the few ways that parents do have that voice. And so by the board stepping in and dictating what the council is and is not allowed to discuss, they’re violating the statutes that give school council their existence.”

Kheir said the situation is different than the board mandating land acknowledgements at its schools and events.

“Schools are run by school staff who are board employees and they’re under the board’s authority. But the school council is something different. They’re created by a regulation under the Education Act and that regulation gives very specific and limited roles to the board and to board personnel. So, for example, principals are allowed to sit on the council, but they’re not given a vote.”

Kheir is asking the court to overturn the school board’s mandate.

“The school council would then be free to handle this issue on its own terms according to its own procedure.”

CTV News reached out to the Waterloo Region District School Board, who proved a statement saying, “As this matter remains before the Courts, it would not be appropriate for us to provide further comments.”