Chilliwack – In a stunning post to social media, Laurie Throness announced ( February 26) that he has resigned his position as Trustee on Chilliwack School Board District 33, effective immediately.
QUOTE: After reading last week’s Human Rights Tribunal judgment against Barry Neufeld, which laid upon him a massive fine of $750,000 (plus interest) to be paid to an unknown number of individuals estimated statistically to be in the District, Throness decided that his freedom to speak to Board issues has been obstructed.
‘I can longer do my job,’ said Throness. ‘All democratically-elected officials must feel comfortable to speak their mind without worrying about accusations of workplace discrimination. Since I no longer feel safe in expressing myself on the Board in legitimate ways, the only proper course is to resign.’
Throness explained that, while the Tribunal judgment expresses support for freedom of speech, there is a fine line between speech that falls afoul of the Human Rights Code and speech that doesn’t. Few are qualified to make such subtle legal distinctions, particularly in the heat of public debate, and since no trustee wants to undergo a legal ordeal followed by a devastating fine as Neufeld did, no one will dare, in any school board across the Province, to remark on sensitive topics like gender or inclusivity, even when a trustee feels it would be in the public interest to do so.
Throness added: ‘The effect of the judgment is clear; it is a warning and a threat that places an absolute-zero chill upon public discourse and the freedom of speech of elected trustees. While affirming the freedom of speech on paper, the result of the Tribunal’s decision is to destroy it. For example, in the wake of Tumbler Ridge, I wanted to call for the suspension of SOGI as a teaching resource until an inquest could determine whether it had an impact in exacerbating a young person’s mental illness, but I felt I couldn’t do that as a trustee – so I’m doing it now.’
Finally, just as BC’s Legislature regulates the speech of its members through its Standing Orders, and voters decide the fate of MLAs at election time, so elected school boards and other elected bodies should be able to make similar judgments upon the speech of their own members, and have those members stand or fall before their own voters.
Accordingly, Throness said: ‘I call upon the BC Legislature to affirm the freedom of speech upon which democracy relies, and pass a bill placing the speech of school board trustees, municipal councilors and regional district directors outside the purview of the Tribunal.’
The School Act (Section 36(2)) states that if a Trustee resigns after January 1 during an election year, no by-election need be held. Since municipal elections will be held in October, taxpayers will save approximately $15,000 in Throness’s stipend.
