OCDSB Trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth files appeal to board sanctions against her

Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth is pictured in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth is appealing a December decision from the board to bar her from some meetings for three months after it found her in violation of the OCDSB's code of conduct.

Kaplan-Myrth was sanctioned by the OCDSB in December following a 10-1 vote, which barred her from attending the regular board meeting on Jan. 30 and restricted her from sitting on five committees for a period of three months.

The sanctions applied by the board were based on a 185-page report by Integrity Commissioner Suzanne Craig, which stated Kaplan-Myrth's conduct and statements, in particular on social media, had a ‘negative impact’ on fellow trustees as well as discredited the integrity of the board. Craig recommended the school board bar Kaplan-Myrth from attending the next board meeting and from attending committees, including Committee of the Whole.

In a lengthy appeal written by Kaplan-Myrth's lawyer Mark Freiman on Monday, Freiman says Kaplan Myrth believes the integrity commissioner's report was based on 'faulty or incomplete findings of fact' and 'fundamental errors.'

Freiman says the report did not take his client's allegations of antisemitism and online hate seriously and claims the board then sought to blame her for causing the problems by raising the issues of hate against her publicly.

"The findings about Trustee Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s statements and conduct cannot be reconciled with its findings about Trustees Blackburn and Dickson’s statements and conduct, except by an inappropriate invocation of the controversial theory of “Intersectionality” which appears to be condoning a different standard based on the identity of the speaker," the appeal said.

"The report can be seen to illustrate Trustee Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s central complaint that the Board has not taken seriously her concerns about antisemitism or its impact on her own safety so that instead of assuming any responsibility for these matters or of acknowledging any obligations of "allyship," it has instead sought to blame her for causing the problems and/or for making the Board look bad by raising these issues in public."

Kaplan-Myrth, a family doctor who was elected to the OCDSB in 2022, has been an advocate for public health measures, including masking, and has been a target of racist and sexist remarks for her Jewish identity online and in-person.

She faced two code of conduct investigations last year with the first occurring in September after she asked Trustee Donna Dickson, a Black woman, not to 'side with white supremacists' on a vote to institute a temporary mask mandate for the school district.

Dickson subsequently filed a code of conduct complaint against Kaplan-Myrth for her comments, which was discussed during a special board meeting on Sept. 11.

During the Sept. 11 meeting, Kaplan-Myrth interrupted Trustee Donna Blackburn by saying, "you have had it out for me since day one," and accused Blackburn of racism for referring to her as a "white woman", which she said was an antisemitic comment that was dismissive of her Jewish heritage. Craig deemed the outburst to be a "personal and demeaning" statement that violates part of the code of conduct.

Kaplan Myrth's lawyer writes in the appeal states that the integrity commissioner failed to understand the 'relevance of antisemitism as a form of racism' and dismissed Kaplan Myrth's claims she was being discriminated against by applying the theory of 'intersectionality' to her disadvantage.

"The Report discusses Trustee Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s claims with regard to Jewish identity (and therefore antisemitism as a manifestation of racism) by immediately invoking Intersectionality and then dropping the topic. There is no discussion of Trustee Dr. Kaplan-Myrth’s complaint that the antisemitism issue has been ignored or swept under the rug," Kaplan-Myrth's laywer wrote.

"In short, antisemitism is not discussed at all in the report as an aspect of the problem under review, but rather as somebody else’s responsibility, perhaps Trustee Kaplan-Myrth’s own."

Kaplan-Myrth's lawyer also said the sanctions applied by the board were 'grossly disproportionate and inappropriate' because the original penalty suggested by the board to suspend her for six months indicates the goal of the sanctions were 'purely vindictive' and was not based on any 'rational principles.'

Kaplan-Myrth has filed a human rights complaint against the OCDSB alleging that she has been subjected to antisemitic treatment online and in-person because of her role as an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and public health policies.

She is requesting a leave of absence from the board, though it's unclear if the board can grant it.

The board will have 14 days to hold a meeting to decide whether to uphold their decision to lay sanctions against her or to accept the appeal.

The OCDSB would not comment on Kaplan-Myrth's appeal.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond