Big win for Mike Del Grande
To kick off the New Year, I’m delighted to share with you that Mike Del Grande just had his first major win in his lawsuit against the Toronto Catholic District School Board!
Del Grande is the courageous Catholic trustee who was canceled by his TCDSB colleagues and subjected to a media lynching for opposing the addition of “Gender Identity” and “Gender Expression” as protected grounds to the school board’s Code of Conduct.
A three-judge panel in the Ontario Court of Appeal recently ruled in favour of Trustee Del Grande, granting him leave to appeal the negative lower court ruling which had rejected his constitutional and administrative law arguments.
This is a big deal.
Why?
There are four reasons…
#1. Relatively rare result
First, only approximately ten percent of the cases which seek it are granted leave to appeal a negative decision. Roughly ninety percent of the time, the Court of Appeal agrees with the lower court. So, Mike’s factum was one of those rare few that was able to convince the higher court that the lower court made significant legal errors.
While the case is not over yet, this is a major accomplishment on the part of Del Grande’s legal team!
On January 13, 2023, the lower court, which included a “progressive”, Trudeau-appointed judge, had sided with the TCDSB, despite rock-solid constitutional arguments by Del Grande’s legal counsel.
The fact that the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed with Del Grande that the lower court made legal errors, and therefore an appeal hearing was merited, bodes very well for the future!
#2. Unanimous decision
Not only did a majority of judges on the panel reject the TCDSB’s request to dismiss Mike’s request to appeal, but all three judges agreed unanimously!
That's a pretty big endorsement for the strength of Mike’s legal case. But wait! It gets even better….
#3. Chief Justice of Ontario concurred!
Another powerful endorsement for the merits of the arguments presented by Del Grande’s attorney, Dr. Charles Lugosi, is the fact that one of the three appeals court judges was none other than the Chief Justice of Ontario, the Honourable Michael H. Tulloch!
While I cannot guarantee that Del Grande will be vindicated in the upcoming appeal, this endorsement of the merits of his arguments by the Chief Justice certainly bodes well for Mike’s chances!
#4. Costs awarded to Mike . . . without asking for them!
When Mike’s legal counsel submitted his factum to the Court of Appeal, he did not ask for costs. And yet, the decision published by the court ordered the TCDSB to pay Trustee Del Grande $5,000 in costs, “forthwith”!
Mike’s legal fees were many times that amount, but what’s important is that this signifies his case is very strong.
Even more good news is that this order effectively set aside the $140,000 cost award that the lower court had ordered Del Grande to pay the TCDSB!
The petty and vindictive cadre of pro-transgenderism TCDSB trustees who’ve been spearheading the persecution of Trustee Mike Del Grande must be in shock. To go from receiving $140K to having to pay $5K instead, will be hard for them to swallow.
To boot, they must now be quite worried that they could lose the appeal hearing and have their “misconduct” finding against Del Grande, and all related sanctions, overturned by the Appeals court. A sign of this uneasiness may be the fact that the TCDSB dumped the law firm it was using previously, and will go forward with a different, high-priced law firm.
stand up for free speech and parental rights
Will you help this faithful Christian servant, Mike Del Grande, to be vindicated in his right to defend and promote authentic Catholic teaching in Catholic schools, by donating to his legal defense fund, organized by Campaign Life Coalition, here?
I’ll be honest, Mike needs a lot more money to cover his legal costs than what has been raised so far. While his case is on solid ground, his financial footing to continue going forward is not.
I can’t overstate how important it is that Mike wins this case.
It's a precedent setting case for the free speech rights of all elected school board trustees across the country, which are being trampled underfoot by the weaponization of Code of Conduct policies to cancel those who speak up for parents against LGBT indoctrination.
I’ll go so far as to say it may even impact the free speech rights of democratically-elected City Councillors, who also are being cancelled at an alarming rate, in the same manner Del Grande was cancelled, via the weaponization of municipal Codes of Conduct.
Mike is well short of legal defense funds.
Are you in a position to make a large donation of $500, or perhaps $1,000? Click here now to make the most generous contribution you can and put Mike in a strong position to keep battling on in the courts!
But make no mistake, we appreciate donations of any amount, no matter how small. Even a $5 contribution will help.
Get into the fight! Stand with Del Grande! Let’s make 2024 a year of justice and victory for this brave Trustee!
P.S. The leave to appeal ruling granted by the Appeals Court was very short. Only two lines long, and the judges did not explain their reasoning. However, you can read it here if you wish. Please note that although the decision was signed in September, it was only made public in December, hence our delay in reporting to you about it.