TORONTO – Over the last three years, what has been happening to Ontario’s education system, and more specifically its Catholic component, is nothing short of a travesty. Yesterday it culminated in the undignified letter of resignation submitted by Principles Integrity, the Integrity Commissioner (IC), as the guardian of civility and probity at the TCDSB. They walked away from their “relationship” in a snit. 

The letter came as close to exemplifying the maxim, “do not spit in the plate from which you eat” as anyone can come. Apparently, the Integrity Commissioner cannot brook a difference of opinion on fundamental legal issues: the procedural right to know and face one’s accuser and one’s rights to defend one’s reputation against scurrilous allegations designed to tarnish the individual’s personal or professional reputation.

Principles Integrity’s letter complains that it had a duty and a right to present and defend its Report on its “investigation” into the allegations against trustee Di Giorgio by four of his colleagues (now identified as Rizzo, Di Pasquale, De Domenico and Li Preti) and an un-named “a member of the public”. The IC gratuitously added trustee Del Grande into the mix and made his “finding of guilt”.

No matter what his/her finding, the board of trustees have the sole authority to dispose of the consequential recommendations. When the Report was listed on the Board’s Agenda for the Public meeting of the Board on May 16, his task had essentially ended.

From that point on, his/her views on their recommendations would be relevant only insofar as their process for arriving at the recommendations was comprehensive and legitimate – in other words, all players in the investigation were named and their input transparently weighed and weighted.

Trustees evidently decided that the IC did not satisfy those conditions. After close to four hours of deliberation in private session, trustees resolved back into Public and voted to defer consideration of the Report until the Board hired a new, independent investigator, some time in the future.

We do not know if the IC was given an opportunity to address the objections presented by Di Giorgio and Del Grande in Public session. We do know that the next day, May 17, Principles Integrity penned its notice of resignation. Someone, most probably under the advice of legal counsel and the instruction of the Director of Education, caused the TCDSB to scrub (efface) the website of any trace of the Report – all 45 pages.

Not once, in public session, did either Staff or the IC reference the rights of Catholic parents to oversee the Administration’s obligations to uphold their rights under the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Education Act and the Human Rights Code.

Our researchers have discovered the name of the unidentified member of the public and is in the process of verifying the veracity of the information while respecting privacy issues.

Yet, Principles Integrity decided to whine publicly about a Board which had been placing “food on its plate” since 2020. One guesses its concept of legal righteousness takes precedence over Constitutional Rights of, and Duties to, Catholic parents, their clients.

Principles Integrity did not respond to requests for comment.