(LifeSiteNews) – A member’s suspension from a local school council in Canada after she respectfully objected to going along with indigenous land acknowledgments was reversed.
After legal pressure, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board decided to “reverse” its suspension of Catherine Kronas from her position as elected School Councillor in “a significant victory for freedom of expression.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews recently, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board was issued a legal warning from the JCCF after it suspended Kronas from a local school council over her objections to making indigenous land acknowledgments.
The JCCF said that on July 16, after a review from the Board’s Human Rights Office, it informed Kronas in writing that her personal statement had not breached its Code of Conduct.
“She is now free to resume her elected role on the school council,” the JCCF noted.
The school board, however, pointed out that despite reversing the ban, there still remains “a concern around the school council climate.”
JCCF-affiliated lawyer Hatim Kheir said about Kornas’ case, “We are pleased to see that the Board has lifted its unconstitutional and unfair suspension of Ms. Kronas’ participation in her child’s school council.”
“The suspension should never have been imposed in the first place, but it is good to see it brought to an end,” he said.
Kronas responded to the decision by noting that the outcome vindicated her position.
“The Board has acknowledged I did not violate any Code of Conduct and has lifted my suspension. Nevertheless, the Board chose not to respect the council’s bylaws and conflict resolution process, and continues to impose a land acknowledgment,” she said.
“School councils must be free to determine their own meeting content; denying that freedom undermines the autonomy of parent-led governance,” she added.
The JCCF noted that “There are no further legal proceedings expected, and the matter is considered closed.”
On April 9, Kronas, who is a concerned parent with a child enrolled at Ancaster High Secondary School in Ancaster, Ontario, was told that her objection to land acknowledgments would be noted in the official school minutes. Kronas was re-elected to serve on her school council in October 2024.
There was no drama or disruption at the meeting. Kronas simply requested that her viewpoint be noted.
On May 22, the school board informed Kronas that her being on the school council was “paused” due to her allegedly violating a code of conduct policy. She was then banned from attending the school council’s next meeting.
Indigenous land acknowledgments have become common in Canada and have increased since the unproven claims that unmarked graves have been discovered at former residential schools gained media steam. Indeed, so prevalent that even King Charles III gave one recently while delivering the Throne Speech on behalf of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government.
Residential schools, while run by both the Catholic Church and other Christian churches, were mandated and set up by the federal government. They were in operation from the late 19th century until the last school closed in 1996.
While some children did tragically die at the once-mandatory boarding schools, evidence has revealed that many of the children passed away as a result of unsanitary conditions due to underfunding by the federal government, not the Catholic Church.
In 2021 and 2022, the mainstream media and federal government ran with inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran some of the schools. As a result, over 100 churches have been burned or vandalized across Canada in seeming retribution.
Instead of making clear that no bodies have been found, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and the mainstream media have seemed to sympathize with those destroying churches, as evidenced by a CBC report that appeared to justify the attacks, many of which took place at churches located on Indigenous land.
