From Campaign Life Coalition
Last year, LGBTQ activists brought in heavyweights like former Premier Kathleen Wynne, Mississauga City Councillor Alvin Tedjo, and the Peel Regional Police in the hopes of pressuring the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board to fly the “Pride” flag.
The DPCDSB refused. In fact, they voted 9-1 to ensure flag neutrality inside and outside schools and board offices. It was a much better year for students because of it.
But we knew the activists weren't done.
This time around, at a meeting on Tuesday night, they recruited former Mississauga mayor/former leader of the Ontario Liberal Party Bonnie Crombie, Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Markus de Domenico, and First Vice-President of the Toronto Elementary Catholic Teachers Robert Bauer as star players in their line-up of pro-"Pride" flag delegates.
The meeting was only held as lobbying from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association prompted Education Minister Paul Calandra to instruct the board supervisor to order the DPCDSB trustees to re-examine their neutral flag policy, which has been in effect for well over a year now.
And once again, despite enormous political pressure, the trustees almost unanimously refused.
My trustee, Brea Corbet (Mississauga Wards 9 & 10), the only dissenter, put forward a motion to fly the “Pride” flag and she didn’t get a single seconder. No seconder, no vote. Status quo remains.
Hallelujah!
I’d like to ask you to thank the trustees for their courage and steadfastness. You can find their contact info below.
Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, centre, surrounded by CLC staff and other supporters
I’d also like to ask you to thank His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo as well. The spiritual leadership and episcopal direction from the Cardinal were invaluable and an answer to many prayers.
Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, delegated on his behalf at this meeting, reading a statement explicitly supporting the DPCDSB’s current flag policy.
To quote just a couple of portions of it:
“A Catholic Board cannot contradict the faith dimension when important decisions such as these are to be made—it would mean not being in communion with the Catholic Tradition and belief system. It is logical that Catholics should not promote symbols that are antithetical, contrary or not in conformity with the Catholic faith . . . We need to look for symbols within the Catholic Tradition which convey what needs to be conveyed without running the risk of confusing the youth and of presenting morality in a way that is disconnected from the truths of Christ and the Church. Why would we even turn to and rely on secular symbols to communicate what we as Catholics believe and stand for especially in such crucial and critical issues as the quest for identity and the sense of belonging?”
The statement concludes:
“…the Cardinal Archbishop of Toronto unequivocally supports the current flag raising policy of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board. It is imperative that we show deference and respect to his leadership and his ministry and accept this position as our own.”
The Cardinal’s voice made all the difference.
As I argued in my own delegation, if the provincial government is only asking trustees to reconvene because it recognizes this matter as denominational, then there is nothing to reconsider, because the Church has made its position clear.
The trustees were really given a choice—submit to their
Please take a moment to express your gratitude to His Eminence. Please also send a message of thanks to the trustees who did the right thing:
His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo
archbishop@archtoronto.org
Trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi (Caledon/Dufferin)
pauladamettogiovannozzi@gmail.
Trustee Anisha Thomas (Brampton Wards 1, 3, 4)
(647) 444-2738
anishathomas@hotmail.ca
Trustee Darryl D’Souza (Brampton Wards 2, 5, 6)
(416) 528-8515
darrylbcd@yahoo.com
Trustee Shawn Xaviour (Brampton Wards 7-10)
(416) 705-1030
shawnxaviour@gmail.com
Trustee Mario Pascucci (Mississauga Wards 1 & 3)
(416) 230-3611
mariopascucci@rogers.com
Trustee Herman Viloria (Mississauga Wards 2 & 8)
(416) 452-9345
hviloria@rogers.com
Trustee Stefano Pascucci (Mississauga Ward 4)
reelectpascucci@gmail.com
Trustee Thomas Thomas (Mississauga Ward 5)
(416) 845-8225
trusteethomas3@gmail.com
Trustee Luz Del Rosario (Mississauga Wards 6 & 11)
(416) 726-7614
luz_del_rosario@hotmail.com
Trustee Bruno Iannicca (Mississauga Ward 7)
(905) 270-0536
bruno.iannicca@3web.com
What’s next?
One of the meeting’s delegates, Rob Bauer, is First Vice-President of the Toronto Elementary Catholic Teachers and a member of the TCDSB’s "2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee." He was asked by Trustee Brea Corbet if His Eminence had ever weighed in on the TCDSB’s flag policy. He responded, “Not that I can recall.”
Surely, he knows that the Archdiocese of Toronto opposes the flying of the “Pride” flag, but nobody should be able to say “Not that I can recall” ever again.
No trustee, especially, should have any wiggle room when it comes to this issue.
The Catholic school boards in Toronto and Durham still fly the “Pride” flag and others still celebrate “Pride” month.
The Archdiocese’s direct intervention in the DPCDSB has proven to be pivotal. Thanks to it, over 70,000 students in Ontario’s second largest Catholic school board will be protected from ideological indoctrination this June. We need to encourage similar intervention in other boards, and from other bishops.
Maybe “Catholic” trustees in other school boards will continue to defy the Church, but I think it would be much, much harder to do so if they had to look the Cardinal or their respective bishop in the eye as they did so.
Green-lit Trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi (Caledon/
Also, Ontario municipal elections are rapidly approaching.
When it was apparent the LGBTQ activists weren’t going to get their way at the end of the meeting on Tuesday, they started chanting “Shame!”
They said “Vote, vote, vote!” and “Get them out!”
If they’re going to be politically engaged, we need to be too. We need candidates of our own to run. Look at what the DPCDSB trustees were able to accomplish. Imagine we had good, solid trustees on every board.
Please prayerfully consider putting your name forward. We need you.
In Christ,
Josie Luetke
Director of Education & Advocacy
Campaign Life Coalition
P.S. Don’t forget about National "Pride" Flag Walk-Out Day and the pray-ins taking place next week! We will send out an email tomorrow with locations.
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