Melinda Rees, B.A., LL.B.
Telephone (705) 749-9355
Executive Director Fax
(705) 749-9360
Martha F. Macfie, B.A.,
LL.B.
Barrister & Solicitor
March 31, 2008
To the Chairperson and
Trustees of the
Re: Motion to Censure Trustee Gordon Gilchrist
I am writing on behalf of
the Board of Directors of the Peterborough Community Legal Centre to express
the Board’s abhorrence for the sentiments expressed by Trustee Gilchrist in a
letter he sent to Northumberlandtoday.com on February
12, 2008 using his Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPRDSB) email
address.
The Legal Centre’s Board
believes that Trustee Gilchrist’s conduct is sufficiently unbecoming that it
would be appropriate for the KPRDSB to call on him to immediately resign his
position with the Board. In the alternative, the Legal Centre supports the recommendation
of the Equity and Diversity Committee of the KPRDSB that the Board censure
Trustee Gilchrist and remove him from the Expulsion Committee of the Board.
The Legal Centre is a
community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid
The Chairperson’s Message on
the Board website states that “schools
need to be safe and welcoming environments for students and staff where
learning skills are nurtured, and the unique and diverse contributions of each
individual are valued and acknowledged”.
How can students and staff members who are new Canadians feel safe and valued
when a Board Trustee, using his official email address, publicly refers to
immigrants as “enemies” who take Canadian jobs, “reduce each Canadian citizen’s
share of this country’s wealth” , “congregate in ghetto-like enclaves” ,
“increase environmental pollution” and “make demands against the Canadian
establishment”?
Trustee Gilchrist wrote a further letter dated
February 19, 2008 which was published as a “retraction and apology”. In this
letter he claims that his remarks “lacked clarity” but were not racist because
they were intended as a commentary on citizenship by a private citizen.
There is nothing unclear about the racism of Trustee
Gilchrist’s remarks. His February 12th letter is a catalogue of
racially-based negative stereotypes and fear-mongering allegations. He must
have known that these statements would foster a climate of hostility and
disrespect for some students and staff members based on their race or ethnicity.
He cannot claim, after the fact, that his remarks were those of a private
citizen because he used his school board email address to forward the letter
and made no attempt to explain that the views put forward were his own and did
not reflect the opinion of the Board.
Trustee Gilchrist’s comments, regardless of
motivation, are in flagrant breach of the Board’s Code of Conduct. Whatever his
intentions, the impact on new Canadian staff members and students who may have
been exposed to them is profoundly negative. The faith of the community in the KPRDSB’s commitment to equity and diversity can only be
restored by his resignation from the Board.
There is a further concern
with respect to Trustee Roy Wilfong’s remarks.
Trustee Wilfong is quoted in the Examiner as saying
that “he [Gilchrist] is entitled to his own opinion on citizenship … I don’t
think his letter was racist.” Assuming
he was accurately quoted, Trustee Wilfong misses the
point entirely. Trustee Gilchrist is entitled to his private opinions however
distasteful, but in his public position, using the Board’s email address, he is
obliged to follow the policies of the institution he is representing. If either
Trustee Gilchrist or Wilfong disagree with the
Board’s policies on equity and diversity, they should resign from the Board.
Yours very truly,
Per:
Paul Atkinson, President
Board of Directors
cc. The Examiner,
Northumberlandtoday.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
March 5, 2008
Mike Ma, Co-ordinator
Community Race Relations
Committee
of
Dear Mr. Ma:
The Northumberland Community
Legal Centre strongly supports the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board’s
actions in condemning Mr. Gilchrist. We
stand with the Community Race Relations Committee in denouncing his words and
actions.
It is extremely discouraging,
but hardly surprising, that a person who could make the comments outlined in
Mr. Gilchrist’s letter to the editor would, when called to account,
categorically deny that those comments were racist. Yet all of his letters could be used as
examples of the dictionary definition of racism: a belief that race is the
primary determinant of traits and capacities.
His failure to acknowledge the harm that he has done, not only as a
school Board trustee but as an individual member of our community, only serves
as a further reminder of how entrenched racism is.
The community has suffered
greatly as a result of his letters. An apology will not repair the damage that
has been done, nor will his resignation, although those would evidence some
attempt on his part to make reparation.
What is needed from Mr. Gilchrist, and those in the community who
supported his views in their own letters to the editor, is a change in attitude
and beliefs based on an understanding of what racism is and what damage it
does. Only through education will there
be any chance that such dreadful words, actions and effects will cease, and
only through education will there be any hope for the elimination of racism.
As such, we believe that Mr.
Gilchrist should be required to undertake an anti-racism training program. However, since racism is a systemic issue,
that training should also be required of all the other Board trustees as well,
to ensure that the Board as a whole is working on eliminating racism within its
structure. Since we strongly believe
that education will be the key, the Board can, together with other community
partners, provide leadership in educating the public about racism to effect
positive change.
Yours
truly,
Lois
Cromarty
Barrister
and Solicitor
Executive Director
Northumberland Community Legal Centre