Carolyn Burjoski

On the heels of Carolyn Burjoski’s victory for free speech and parental rights in her defamation lawsuit against the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), judges have ruled against her in a separate suit she launched against the school board.

In late November Burjoski scored a significant legal victory when Ontario Superior Court Justice James Ramsay dismissed the WRDSB’s attempt to have her defamation suit thrown out. Watch PAFE’s video celebrating her victory here.

In addition to the defamation suit, Burjoski had asked for a judicial review of the WRDSB’s decision to eject her from the January 2022 meeting where she was voicing concerns about the age-appropriateness of sexual content in some children’s books in elementary schools.

Scott Piatkowski, Board Chair at the time, halted Burjoski’s presentation for what he alleged were comments that violated the “Ontario Human Rights Code” and ejected her from the meeting.

Burjoski had hoped the Court would overturn the WRDSB’s decision and allow her to appear before the school board again and give her presentation in full.

On November 29^th the court ruled against Burjoski, siding with the school board and declaring their decision “reasonable.”

PAFE strongly condemns the judges’ ruling which smacks of blatant disregard for freedom of speech in favour of gratifying the school board’s woke agenda.

Burjoski has stated that the goal of asking for the judicial review of the WRDSB’s decision is to set a precedent that will dissuade school boards from attempting to use Human Rights Codes to intimidate and silence voices that challenge their policies and ideology.

Burjoski says the new ruling is disappointing, but that she is undeterred by the setback and is appealing the decision with the help of legal firm, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

A statement on her website explains why Burjoski is appealing and is forging ahead in her legal battle: “The implications of this case extend far beyond my personal experience. They touch upon the very essence of our democratic society and how we handle free expression, especially in educational settings. If left unchallenged, the court’s decision could set a dangerous precedent, allowing school boards and other public bodies to silence any dissenting voice.”

Watch Burjoski’s video about the judges’ decision against her here.

This new decision by the Court stands in stark contrast to Justice Ramsay’s decision, in which the judge stated, “The chairman of the board acted with malice or at least, with a reckless disregard for the truth. He had made an embarrassingly erroneous and arbitrary decision to silence a legitimate expression of opinion…”

The judge further stated that human rights legislation “does not prohibit public discussion of anything,” and “what happened here should not happen in a democratic society.”

Despite this setback in her legal battle against the WRDSB, there is reason to remain positive about future rulings in her case. Justice Ramsay’s decision shows that common sense and justice can prevail in a system currently manipulated by woke ideology