Waterloo Region District School Board Chair, Scott Piatkowski

The Waterloo District School Board (WRDSB) isn’t giving up in their efforts to cancel now-retired teacher Carolyn Burjoski, even after she was vindicated by an Ontario Superior Court ruling last November.

The WRDSB, and its former chairman Scott Piatkowski, are appealing that decision, given by Justice James Ramsay, in which Ramsay dismissed their attempt to have Burjoski’s $1.7-million defamation suit against them thrown out.

Burjoski’s lawsuit was filed after Scott Piatkowski, then chair of the WRDSB, cut off Burjoski’s presentation questioning the age-appropriateness of some of the books available at elementary school libraries. 

Piatkowski claimed that Burjoski had violated the Human Rights Code of Ontario by raising the questions.

In later interviews, Piatkowski said he stopped the presentation because Burjoski’s comments were “transphobic”. 

Justice Ramsay’s ruling allowing Burjoski’s lawsuit to continue argued that Ontario’s Human Rights Code “does not prohibit the discussion of anything”, and that Piatkowski’s labelling of Burjoski’s comments as “transphobic” was, in his opinion, defamatory.

Has Ramsay’s ruling brought any humility or sense of accountability to the WRDSB? 

Sadly, it has not.

In fact, the board and Piatkowski have applied to appeal the Ontario Superior Court’s decision, and once again to have Burjoski’s defamation case dismissed.

Rather than accept a ruling which amounts to an emphatic endorsement of free speech in defense of young children, the WRDSB is using taxpayer money to fund a “lawfare” campaign, presumably in hopes that Burjoski won’t be able to afford to continue.

On her website CancelledTeacher.com, Burjoski states that she is committed to “fighting this to the finish”.

“This battle is a crucial stand for the right of Canadians to speak out and challenge inappropriate content in education as we advocate for the well-being of our children.

-Carolyn Burjoski

Burjoski is fighting at great financial cost to defend her right to raise the alarm about books that make it seem “simple or even cool to take puberty blockers and opposite sex hormones” being freely available in elementary school libraries.

Her legal fees so far have come to over $90,000, and it is estimated that additional appeal defense costs will total another $85,000.

The Burjoski saga clearly illustrates how activists in authority abuse their power to make life difficult for anyone who dares to stand up and do the right thing.

These radicals aren’t interested in accountability to the courts, to the taxpayers who fund them, or to anyone else! And they certainly don’t care about children!

They want us to give up, give in, and stop resisting their installation of the gender nonsense agenda that will warp the minds and souls of children.

That’s why it’s so crucial that the targets of their wrath, brave people like Carolyn Burjoski, are fully supported when they stand up for the children.