Catholic school board reverses its decision and will now fly the Pride flag

By Pepper Parr

January 19th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

After hours of rancorous debate the Halton District Catholic School Board voted 5-3 to allow the flying of a Pride flag outside schools in Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills during the month of June – Pride month.

The inability of many of those taking part in the debate to follow rules of procedure and the attempt to revise the agenda was a sad example of how adults resolve their differences.

Those opposed to the flying of the Pride flag were argumentative, petty, and disruptive but failed in their effort to keep the flag off the flag poles.

The students were very good in making their point.

It was not a debate for the board to be proud of – the beliefs might have been strongly held but that does not excuse the behaviour seen last night.  It was most unfortunate.

The 5-3 vote in favour of flying the Pride flag was necessary.

Voting for the motion: Trustees Brenda Agnew, Patrick Murphy, Nancy Guzzo, Peter DeRosa and Janet O’Hearn-Czarnota.  Trustees Tim O’Brien, Helena Karabela and Vincent Iantomasi voted against.

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8 comments to Catholic school board reverses its decision and will now fly the Pride flag

  • Joe Gaetan

    Grassroots should never be underestimated. The real theatre was watching the various self interest groups crawl out from under their predictable rocks.

  • Carol Gottlob

    I left the HCDSB only weeks ago for several reasons, one of them being that in good conscience, I could not continue to work for an employer who showed such lack of compassion and understanding. I did not see this coming, but now that it has come to pass, I truly commend the parents, teachers, students and trustees who did not give up the good fight. Bravo!

  • Robert Missen

    This sort of conversation should not be happening at all. We should have created a unified public school system a very long time ago. Public tax dollars should not be funding any kind of parochial schools, especially those which, in a human rights issue, weigh in for patently religious reasons. Unfortunately no given political party is ready to risk alienating a huge number of its potential supporters over the issue. Meanwhile legions of Ontarians seethe with quiet rage.

    We could save hundreds of millions of administrative dollars by merging public and Catholic separate schools. All of which could be dedicated to reconstituting our pathetic arts programs for starters.

    To hell with the paleological BNA Act.

    • Fred Untermeyer

      To which many of us mutter, in quiet but fervent rage, “Amen”!!!

    • Mary Hill

      I don’t disagree with you. But I must say in this time of political correctness and dumbing down our Christian heritage, if my kids had gone to a Catholic school they would have at least been taught that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ and not of Santa Clause, or that Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ and not the hoppety hop of the Easter Bunny.

  • Carol Victor

    The right decision…it is 2022!!! Good for the kids!!!