Kaplan-Myrth: Why I resigned as a trustee from the OCDSB
On June 3, I resigned from the position of trustee for Zone 9 (Capital and Alta Vista) at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. 'If you resign, please tell people why. Don't just leave,' said a fellow trustee.
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So here I am. This is the story of my three years as a trustee. It is a cautionary tale about the ways in which public school boards in Canada are under siege.
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Following my medical advocacy during the pandemic, I was approached by neighbours in July 2022 to run as a trustee in Ottawa. As a progressive voice in the community, I was tasked by my constituents with the responsibility to keep social justice issues on the agenda, and to advocate for academic supports for students with disabilities, neurodiverse students, 2SLGBTQ students, Indigenous and racialized students.
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School board trustee is a part-time position with hundreds of hours of work, board or committee meetings, sometimes twice a week, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It comes with a $17,000 salary, no support staff, a flood of emails from angry constituents and very little political esteem. It is nevertheless an important position. Trustees develop strategic plans, shape elementary and secondary school programs, oversee budgets (for the OCDSB, more than $1 billion), and develop and revise policies that affect every student and educator in the school district. Most trustees have no background in education, economics, urban planning, management, policy analysis or disability.
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Sadly, school boards are also particularly vulnerable to political manipulation. In the United States, there is a well-established pattern of MAGA-inspired takeovers of school boards by people whose agendas include banning books, removing topics such as sexuality, gender identity and sex ed from curriculum, and even erasing the science of evolution. In Ontario and across Canada, this is a very difficult time, in general, to run a Board of Education, with chronic underfunding from the ministry, staff shortages, over-crowding of classrooms, unprecedented dysregulation of students, and the concomitant challenge of increasingly radicalized groups that seek to influence us through an avalanche of emails, petitions and disruptions of our board rooms and schools.
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More 'soft power signals': On heels of King's visit, Prince Edward takes week-long trip to P.E.I., Ontario
Hello, royal watchers. This is your regular dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox. As Prince Edward visits Canada, his travels are taking him from drumming with members of a First Nation in Prince Edward Island to the red-and-white waving of flags for Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa. The week-long visit comes relatively soon — in royal terms — after the whirlwind, 24-hour sojourn to Ottawa by his elder brother, King Charles, last month. The visit offers the 61-year-old Duke of Edinburgh an opportunity for a more official focus on issues he has made a priority on lower-profile visits to Canada over the years, whether it's support of young Canadians or the military. It will also focus on issues that have become a priority for the Crown in Canada and send signals of the soft power the monarchy can try to wield. 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Little says the award is "going to be building that out in areas like Peel, Brampton, Halton, Windsor and other areas, as well as colleges." Little would like Edward "to see what we're doing from an innovation lens, how we are looking at the award being more than just a CV/resumé builder, but it's actually a life-builder and it can directly tie to ... maybe demystifying trades, or destigmatizing, perhaps, is a better word," along with supporting youth to also see college as a post-secondary possibility. "So many people think you've got to have a degree nowadays and you've got to have a high GPA. There's more to life than only that," Little said. "Hopefully [Edward will] see those things and maybe take a few nuggets that he can then share what we're doing with other countries around the world. And then maybe we get some people that are interested to learn from us in the same way that we've learned from many others." The Duke of Edinburgh's award was founded by Edward's father, Prince Philip, in 1960. More than 500,000 young Canadians have taken part in the program, which has promoted community service, skills development, adventure and fitness. Edward's involvement is "very much a continuation of his father's legacy," Hamilton-based royal historian Justin Vovk said. "It feels germane ... and it feels like a very natural way for the monarchy to be engaging with young Canadians in a non-controversial, non-partisan way." The events connected with the Duke of Edinburgh's award are part of a visit that Vovk sees taking on a very different and more official tone than the previous times Edward has been in Canada. (He was last here in 2023.) "We're seeing a ramp-up, I guess you could say, in the formal nature of the events in which the Duke will be participating," said Vovk, who is also a member of the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada. Edward's time in Prince Edward Island included a visit to the Abegweit First Nation on Thursday. WATCH | Prince Edward welcomed to Prince Edward Island: The Duke of Edinburgh, youngest brother of King Charles, in P.E.I. to help regiment mark anniversary 2 days ago Duration 2:34 Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, has received a warm welcome to the Canadian province that also bears that name. As well as meeting and drumming with members of Abegweit First Nation (shown), he visited the Cenotaph in Scotchfort, P.E.I. As CBC's Sheehan Desjardins reports, Edward has a regimental ball and a parade ahead of him before he leaves Charlottetown for Toronto. "It's a great pleasure to be here and also to honour and pay my respects to our ancestors and all those who have gone before," Edward told those who greeted him in Scotchfort. The fact that Edward went to Abegweit First Nation reflects "a level of formality and officialness to his presence on the First Nation as a representative of the Crown," Vovk said. "The Crown's relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada is strained — to put it one way — and there's certainly a great awareness from the current sovereign that Indigenous relations have to be treated with greater respect and recognition than they have in the past." Chief Roderick (Junior) Gould of Abegweit First Nation welcomed Edward's visit. "It was his own personal interest that brought him here," Gould told CBC News. "As a First Nation, we are very honoured that we were recognized." Edward's time in P.E.I. also included events to honour the 150th anniversary of the Prince Edward Island Regiment, for which he has been colonel-in-chief since 2005. In addition to a royal regimental ball, there was a freedom of the city parade in Charlottetown. Edward's focus on youth continued as he met Friday with air, sea and army cadets from across the Island. They explained their roles, what they have done and how they plan to be great leaders. WATCH | Prince Edward meets with cadets in P.E.I.: Duke of Edinburgh meets P.E.I. cadets during the 2nd day of his visit to Prince Edward Island 1 day ago Duration 2:01 Some young air, sea and army cadets on P.E.I. were thrilled to be able to spend part of a morning with Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh. He's been visiting the Island to help mark the 150th anniversary of the P.E.I. Regiment. CBC's Sheehan Desjardins has more. Edward gave the cadets some advice of his own, too, focusing on the importance of followership. Cadet Seanna D'Souza said the cadets loved speaking to Edward, who was "a lot more casual" than she thought he would be, and that it was a "great opportunity" for them. "Today was just a symbol of how this interaction with the Royal Family transcends the bond between traditions and tomorrow's leaders," she told CBC News. From P.E.I., Edward travelled to Ontario, where the military theme continues as he visits the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, of which he is also colonel-in-chief, as well as the naval reserve unit HMCS York and the CFB Trenton airbase. He will also take part in engagements recognizing public sector organizations, including the Toronto Police Service's marine unit and emergency task force. Members of the Royal Family have a long history of being in Ottawa on July 1. While Edward is in the capital, he will also visit with the RCMP. Vovk sees the Ottawa portion of Edward's visit playing out against the larger backdrop that surrounded Charles's recent trip here: sovereignty and the existential threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric, particularly earlier this year, about Canada becoming the 51st state. "The RCMP is so emblematic of Canadian law, rule of law, order, stability. So [Edward] meeting with them, in Ottawa no less, on or very close to Canada Day, these are all again soft power signals that the monarchy is supporting Canadian nationhood and the elements that make us a unique nation," Vovk said. "I think that the messaging coming from Buckingham Palace, at least for the foreseeable future and maybe even for the long-term future, is making these more concerted efforts to be showing Canadians that the monarchy stands with us in ways that we certainly didn't see under the previous reign, and we may not have seen if a different [U.S.] president had been elected." Catherine steps back from Royal Ascot The Princess of Wales has been making a steady return to public duties after completing chemotherapy, so when she pulled out of a high-profile royal event at the last minute the other day, it came as a surprise to many. Catherine was said to be disappointed that she was not attending Royal Ascot, an annual horse racing event just outside London that's a high point on the royal social calendar each spring. A royal source cited her need for balance as Catherine returns to public engagements following her preventative treatment last year after she was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. WATCH | Princess of Wales says she has finished chemotherapy treatment: Princess of Wales releases video, says she's finished chemotherapy 10 months ago Duration 3:02 Catherine, Princess of Wales, says in a video released by Kensington Palace on Monday that the last nine months have been 'incredibly tough' for her family, but she's now in a 'new phase of recovery' after completing chemotherapy that should allow her to attend some public engagements in the coming months. "Obviously this was unexpected, because we have seen a ramp-up this year of her returning to public-facing duties," Vovk said. "It was certainly a reminder ... that she is still recovering from six months of chemotherapy plus extensive abdominal surgery." It's also a reminder, Vovk said, of the priority Catherine and Prince William have been placing on their family. "It's 100 per cent family first, day job second. So if she's not well enough ... we're not in the era anymore of just toughing through it like [Queen Elizabeth] did. It's about thinking long term in terms of their health and wellness." WATCH | Prince William attends annual horse racing event: Prince William attends Royal Ascot alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla 11 days ago Duration 0:25 Prince William attended Royal Ascot, a multi-day horse race series, on Wednesday without his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales. A royal source cited a need for balance as she returns to public life following cancer treatment. There is little recent precedent within the Royal Family for how recoveries such as Catherine's will proceed and how public duties are managed when a senior member isn't carrying them out as they have been for a period of time. "We don't really have a precedent for this in part because for the last 70 years, the Royal Family was a relatively small unit," Vovk said. "The Royal Family, whether it likes it or not, is in uncharted waters moving forward, and I think most situations that come up in the foreseeable future are going to be unprecedented." Canadian horses on parade When members of the Royal Family took to horseback the other day as part of the annual parade marking the official birthday of the monarch, their long-standing connections with the RCMP stables were on full display. Princess Anne's mount, Noble, was presented by the RCMP to King Charles two years ago. Prince William's ride, Darby, was presented to Queen Elizabeth in 2019 to mark the 80th anniversary of the RCMP's breeding program and the 50th anniversary of the presentation of Burmese, the first of eight horses presented to her during her reign. Sir John, the horse ridden by Prince Edward, came to the royal stables in 2016 to mark Elizabeth's 90th birthday. Noble, a seven-year-old Hanoverian that stands 16.2 hands high, was intended to be the horse King Charles would ride on ceremonial occasions. And he did that for Trooping the Colour in 2023. But after Charles's cancer diagnosis early in 2024, he rode in a carriage for Trooping the Colour that year, as he did again a few days ago. Princess Anne also rode Noble in 2024, and her equestrian skills served her when the mare turned jittery. "If anybody can get a horse under control, it would be Princess Anne," Vovk said of the royal, who competed on the U.K.'s equestrian team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Buckingham Palace noted the royal horse connections with the RCMP prior to this year's parade. "It does seem that the Canadian connection, even among U.K. media, seems to be more pronounced," Vovk said. "I feel like in previous years it would have just been ... one- to two-sentence comments. But there's whole articles about the fact that these are RCMP horses.... It's something that is again underscoring that connection with Canadian culture." Royally quotable "Each observation, measurement and calculation you undertake adds to the world's understanding of the Earth's fragile systems." — King Charles, in a personal message to researchers in Antarctica celebrating a frozen Midwinter's Day — the first time a monarch has given the annual BBC broadcast to mark the occasion. Royal reads Buckingham Palace has confirmed an official state visit to the U.K. for U.S. President Donald Trump later this year, but there won't be a private meeting beforehand with King Charles. [BBC] Charles met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Windsor Castle, ahead of the two-day NATO summit in The Hague. [ITV] A translucent bridge will form the centrepiece of a U.K. national memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II. [The Guardian] Charles and actor Idris Elba are teaming up on a new Netflix documentary exploring the impact of The King's Trust, in celebration of the charity's 50th anniversary. [The Hollywood Reporter] A couple who have raised more than 1.2 million pounds ($2.2 million Cdn) for a cancer charity said it was a "huge honour" to be recognized by King Charles. [BBC] Ukraine is among the countries bidding to host the 2029 edition of the Invictus Games, which were founded by Prince Harry. [The Independent] A photo of Prince William with another generation — this time of puppies — was posted on social media by Kensington Palace to mark his 43rd birthday.
