Subscribe to our newsletter:
The Ontario Ministry of Education's investigation into the Toronto District School Board's (TDSB) policies on school outings, announced on October 18, has reignited the debate on teachers' freedom to address sensitive and political topics. After students participated in the Grassy Narrows River Run, negative reactions and calls for disciplinary action overshadowed the event's message.
On September 18, 2024, yellow school buses lined the streets surrounding Grange Park, where high school students from fifteen TDSB schools joined thousands for the Grassy Narrows River Run. The march to Queen's Park was led by Grassy Narrows First Nations community members and presented urgent demands to the provincial and federal governments around their ongoing water and health crisis.
Almost immediately following the event, a significant media backlash fuelled by complaints from parent groups voiced anger around the field trip that “turned into a protest”. The connections made between the impacts of colonialism in Grassy Narrows First Nation and Palestine were condemned, and the chants were denounced for being “dangerous” and “anti-Israeli”.
On September 24, the TDSB issued a formal apology, agreeing to suspend its internal investigation and fully cooperate with the Ontario Ministry of Education investigation, which was announced on the same day.
It promised to revise expectations and standards around field trips. It also cancelled an upcoming trip to the Legacy Gathering for Truth and Reconciliation Day that many schools had been planning to attend and for which permission slips had already been sent out.
One day prior to the Ministry’s announcement, Premier Doug Ford announced his support for the investigation, calling the TDSB a “disgrace.”
The Ministry of Education has asked schools to begin interviewing teachers whose students attended the River Run. Teachers involved may be put on mandatory suspension while the board investigates, a process which could take several months. Teachers may also be investigated by the Ontario College of Teachers, which is the licensing body for teachers in Ontario.
The TDSB has recently mandated a course of equity studies for teachers. It claims to be committed to the calls to action set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
The North Star sat down with a TDSB teacher, who prefers to remain anonymous and whose students attended the Grassy Narrows River Run, to hear recent updates about the investigation: “They’re all about wearing orange t-shirts, but God forbid you call for clean water for Indigenous communities or be vocal and visible in your support for Palestinians who experience similar colonial violence.”
This is not the first case of censorship of educational staff and teachers because of their solidarity with the Palestinian movement. The suspension and investigation into Javier Davila and Nadia Shoufani are only recent examples of Israel lobby groups pressuring school boards and government ministries to end teachers' careers.
B’nai Brith Canada and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) are examples of Canadian lobby groups involved in this silencing campaign.
At the Grassy Narrows River Run, teachers noted that their students were engaged and passionate. They were chanting and holding signs about clean water justice. Their teachers encouraged them to make curriculum connections and learn about the current and historical realities, as well as the ongoing resistance of Indigenous communities in Canada.
“There’s so much that’s gotten lost in this whole media backlash; number one has been the voices and demands of people from Grassy Narrows,” shares the anonymous TDSB teacher, “but also what’s getting lost is the solidarity between Indigenous and Palestinian communities.”
“This relationship between Indigenous and Palestinian communities is not a coincidence. There were Palestinians who showed up in big numbers to also say, 'We support you in your struggle for self-determination and justice' in the same way that there’s been an Indigenous presence at Palestinian demonstrations.”
Teachers' right to freedom of expression in the course of their work has been consistently recognized by the Supreme Court. Although partially limited by the country's existing academic curricula and freedom of speech laws, teachers are also entitled to a certain amount of pedagogical freedom.
So, while taking students to a rally plays with the limits of the law, discussing these issues in class and using pedagogical tools like field trips to better understand them is acceptable within the legislative framework. Rather, it seems to be the TDSB's investigations that cross the line, influenced by political interests.
Now, teachers are being told to keep politics out of the classroom. As the anonymous teacher pointed out, behind this belief is the assumption that what is currently taught in schools is politically and ideologically neutral, which is simply not true. For them, the education program only “acknowledges the voice of a small group of people who have power.”