Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Justice Cheryl Arcand-Kootenay has ruled the decision by the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) Board to sanction former trustee Monique LaGrange over a meme insulting Pride education was correct. In accordance with the Education Act, the RDCRS Board has developed policies applying to all trustees. “The reasons given by the Board in finding that these policies were breached are logical, thorough, and grounded in the facts that were before the Board at the time of their deliberations,” said Arcand-Kootenay in a Thursday ruling. LaGrange said in 2023 her Facebook story equating teaching students about Pride to Nazi indoctrination was about protecting children..EXCLUSIVE: Trustee says her post was about protecting children, involving parents.“I posted a story on social media that received a lot of attention,” said LaGrange. “The Chair of the Board called me and asked me to take it down, which by then the story had expired and was already down.”The RDCRS Board reprimanded LaGrange for sharing the meme in 2023..Red Deer trustee sanctioned over meme.“As a result, as of today’s date and up to and including the Trustee’s Term of Office (‘End Date’), the Trustee is censured from being part of any and all Board Committees and is censured from attending and participating in all Board Committee meetings, including any part thereof,” it said. “This also includes any and all ASBA (Alberta School Boards Association) and ACSTA (Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association) meetings and conferences.” .Clause One of Board Policy Three describes the obligations of trustees to fulfill their role as stewards of education within the division. Meanwhile, Clause 6.18 requires trustees contribute to a positive, respectful learning and working culture within the board and division. Because the written reasons of the board do not outline how LaGrange breached those provisions, she said the finding was unreasonable. Arcand-Kootenay said it “is entirely within reason to conclude that the Applicant failed in her duties as a trustee by communicating a broad comparison between sexual identity and orientation training and the indoctrination of the Nazi Party.” In doing so, she said it was possible she contributed negatively to the division’s perception of the board and to the respectful learning environment it is mandated to foster. She rejected the argument made by her lawyer that restricting the meme posting could not be found to be contributing in an active sense to any matters. The board did not determine disqualification or removal had been warranted. Instead, it passed a resolution with various sanctions against her. LaGrange argued the board had no ability to issue various sanctions, as they were not based on the Education Act or code of conduct. Arcand-Kootenay disagreed with her, saying a violation of the code of conduct can lead to it imposing multiple sanctions. The only sanctions she found were unreasonable were those about having LaGrange do sensitivity training related to the Holocaust, challenges and discrimination faced by sexual minorities, and professional school trustee boundaries and appropriate use of social media, cultural sensitivity, and human rights. Although these sanctions were unreasonable, she said they were redundant, as the board had resolved to participate and engage in similar training as a group. She struck the word sincere from the sanction about the apology, but upheld requiring it. Additionally, she said whether or not an apology is sincere is unmeasurable by any objective standard. She said the other sanctions were fine. This is because they were consistent with the concerns of the board and division members. LaGrange alleged the proceedings were unfair because it did not follow its procedures in the correct order and demonstrated bias by prejudging the matter. The core of the issues was the letter sent to the Alberta education minister requesting assistance in dismissing her. This letter was sent before the complaint process was triggered and was based upon a misunderstanding of how a trustee’s conduct was reviewed. Upon receipt of the formal complaint, Arcand-Kootenay said the procedure set out in the code of conduct was followed properly. Prior to the code of conduct hearing after the formal complaint letter, all board members conducted a serious self-assessment of their ability to hear the matter without bias. Ultimately, Arcand-Kootenay said the decision was not the same as the sanction referenced in the letter, demonstrating there was no prejudgment amounting to procedural unfairness.She concluded by saying she found the board’s decision reasonable and confirmed the sanctions with a few exceptions. “All other sanctions are confirmed and should remain,” she said. “The parties may appear before me to speak to costs.” RDCRS trustees voted three to one to kick LaGrange off of the board over matters related to the meme she posted equating Pride education to Nazi indoctrination in 2023..UPDATED: Controversial Red Deer trustee Monique LaGrange removed .“A fellow trustee submitted a second complaint that Monique had violated the Trustee Code of Conduct (and the September 26 Motion the Board passed to discipline her for her earlier posting of the ‘brainwashing and brainwashing’ meme) by speaking to the media (specifically Laura-Lynn [Tyler Thompson] and Talk Truth) about what the Board did and about gender ideology,” said Kitchen Wells LLP lawyer James Kitchen. “I was her lawyer throughout the hearing of this second complaint.”
