A grandma denied her say at a Chilliwack School Board meeting will now have her say in court.Ms. Di Armani, a former school employee and grandmother, launched legal action against the board October 6 with the help of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The Justice Centre withheld her first name in the press release announcing the suit.In a video of a June 13 school board meeting, the board’s chair and vice-chair repeatedly interrupted di Armani and muted her microphone as she stood at the podium.Di Armani attended the board meeting to express her concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving an elected board member. She began by saying Trustee Teri Westerby, a self-declared transgender, had brought forward a motion that the Board support the Pride Month of June and raise a pole to fly the Pride flag.As di Armani began to point out Westerby was also the director of marketing for the local Pride society, she was interrupted by the Chair, Willow Reichelt. Vice-Chair Carin Bondar claimed that di Armani’s remarks were “discriminatory” to Westerby.Reichelt also told di Armani that trustee’s names are not to be used during meetings and there could be no conflict of interest because there was “no pecuniary interest.” Reichelt further stated, “when you are talking about a human right, there is no conflict of interest.”Di Armani was interrupted four times over the next two minutes and had her microphone cut off. At times, the audio for the entire meeting was muted and there is simply silence on the public record.In addition to this violation of her own Charter-protected freedom of expression, di Armani also objected to the board policy of not allowing members of the public to make their own recordings of these public meetings. As she entered the meeting, she was required to sign an undertaking stating she would not record anything.Because the school board controls the only recording of the meeting and chose to mute the recording, di Armani alleged the board is violating the Charter-protected right of other people to hear, listen and consider alternative viewpoints.The board was created by British Columbia’s School Act, which requires the board to hold public meetings and to create bylaws to regulate those meetings. While the chair is authorized to cut off the remarks of speakers who don’t comply with their bylaw, the chair is not allowed to silence people simply because the chair disagrees with what someone is saying.Di Armani seeks a court declaration that the board exceeded its authority and infringed on her Charter rights. She is also asking for court orders to prevent the board from similar censorship in the future and to allow members of the public to make their own recordings of these public meetings.“Elected officials exercising government power must respect Canadians’ Charter freedoms,” stated Marty Moore, counsel for di Armani.“The Chilliwack School Board’s actions in this case show complete disregard for the freedom of expression, not only of my client, but also of the listening public, who have a right to hear the views of others at board meetings." "Unfortunately, this kind of censorship is a regular occurrence at Chilliwack School Board meetings. We will be seeking court orders to put an end to these violations of Charter rights and freedoms.”Read more: Craziness and conflict surround Chilliwack School Board
A grandma denied her say at a Chilliwack School Board meeting will now have her say in court.Ms. Di Armani, a former school employee and grandmother, launched legal action against the board October 6 with the help of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The Justice Centre withheld her first name in the press release announcing the suit.In a video of a June 13 school board meeting, the board’s chair and vice-chair repeatedly interrupted di Armani and muted her microphone as she stood at the podium.Di Armani attended the board meeting to express her concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving an elected board member. She began by saying Trustee Teri Westerby, a self-declared transgender, had brought forward a motion that the Board support the Pride Month of June and raise a pole to fly the Pride flag.As di Armani began to point out Westerby was also the director of marketing for the local Pride society, she was interrupted by the Chair, Willow Reichelt. Vice-Chair Carin Bondar claimed that di Armani’s remarks were “discriminatory” to Westerby.Reichelt also told di Armani that trustee’s names are not to be used during meetings and there could be no conflict of interest because there was “no pecuniary interest.” Reichelt further stated, “when you are talking about a human right, there is no conflict of interest.”Di Armani was interrupted four times over the next two minutes and had her microphone cut off. At times, the audio for the entire meeting was muted and there is simply silence on the public record.In addition to this violation of her own Charter-protected freedom of expression, di Armani also objected to the board policy of not allowing members of the public to make their own recordings of these public meetings. As she entered the meeting, she was required to sign an undertaking stating she would not record anything.Because the school board controls the only recording of the meeting and chose to mute the recording, di Armani alleged the board is violating the Charter-protected right of other people to hear, listen and consider alternative viewpoints.The board was created by British Columbia’s School Act, which requires the board to hold public meetings and to create bylaws to regulate those meetings. While the chair is authorized to cut off the remarks of speakers who don’t comply with their bylaw, the chair is not allowed to silence people simply because the chair disagrees with what someone is saying.Di Armani seeks a court declaration that the board exceeded its authority and infringed on her Charter rights. She is also asking for court orders to prevent the board from similar censorship in the future and to allow members of the public to make their own recordings of these public meetings.“Elected officials exercising government power must respect Canadians’ Charter freedoms,” stated Marty Moore, counsel for di Armani.“The Chilliwack School Board’s actions in this case show complete disregard for the freedom of expression, not only of my client, but also of the listening public, who have a right to hear the views of others at board meetings." "Unfortunately, this kind of censorship is a regular occurrence at Chilliwack School Board meetings. We will be seeking court orders to put an end to these violations of Charter rights and freedoms.”Read more: Craziness and conflict surround Chilliwack School Board
