York Region paramedic shouldn't have been fired over Israel comments: union, law experts

CBC

2 days ago

The Centre for Free Expression is calling for the reinstatement of a York Region paramedic whose union says she was fired over a social media post criticizing Israel's military operations in the Middle East.
An open letter from James L. Turk, the director of the centre at Toronto Metropolitan University, and a group of lawyers and professors, expresses "deep concern" that the dismissal of Katherine Grzejszczak violates her Charter right to freedom of expression.
The letter, addressed to York Region Paramedic Services and several Regional Municipality of York officials, says the municipality has an obligation to uphold that right – even if it disagrees with the paramedic's comments.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees says Grzejszczak, who has been a paramedic since 2010 and is a member of CUPE Ontario's executive board, was fired on June 20 over a Facebook comment that criticized Israel.
A screenshot of the comment on a union post shared by CUPE shows Grzejszczak criticized Israel's bombing of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and accused the country of starving Palestinian children and killing health-care workers. The post also hailed CUPE for organizing a demonstration against Israel's bombing of Iran.
Patrick Casey, a spokesperson for the Regional Municipality of York, says officials launched an investigation into an employee's "concerning comments on social media" on June 19 and that person is no longer working for the municipality as a result.
"York Region remains committed to fostering welcoming and inclusive communities, as affirmed by the Inclusion Charter for York Region," Casey wrote in a statement.
But Turk said people should not be losing their jobs for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
"We wanted to speak out to say this way of responding to disagreement about a political matter is an unacceptable way to do so in a democracy," he said in a phone interview on Monday.
He said some people might find Grzejszczak's comments "reprehensible" but they could challenge her views and offer the opposite perspective, instead of "summarily" firing her.
The paramedic did not engage in hate speech nor call for violence against any particular group, he added.
"We're always concerned when the constitutional limits are respected, but still people are penalized," he said.
Turk said he has seen an increasing number of people in Canada being penalized or fired over their comments since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, "and this seemed an egregious case of that."
The war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages.
Gaza's Health Ministry said that another 88 people had been killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, raising the war's toll among Palestinians to 56,500. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
The United Nations entity UN Women estimated in May that more than 28,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas.
CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn says the decision to fire Grzejszczak is "deeply problematic."
"It's clear to us that Katherine, as a paramedic, has dedicated her professional life to actually helping to save lives, to reducing harm, that's her job," Hahn said.
Hahn said Grzejszczak's case has broader implications, as it might deter other workers from freely expressing their views.
"When people speak out against injustice, and war and genocide, they ought not to fear for their own livelihoods," he said.
Hahn has faced criticism himself over social media posts related to the Israel-Hamas war but he rejected calls for his resignation last year.
He said the union has filed a grievance in Grzejszczak's case and believes the employer's "very wrong" decision will be overturned.