CLC Blog

There are new twists in the saga of a local school board trustee who infuriated parents with her anti-Christian, racist, and misandrist social media posts …

And local parents played a key role in bringing about these latest developments.

We’ve been keeping you up to date on what’s been happening with Wendy Ashby …

She’s the Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee who made headlines with her inflammatory posts on Twitter about the Christian faith.

She also described white, Christian males as being “the most dangerous creature on the planet.”

Well, that outrage boiled over at a recent school board meeting in Kitchener, and Campaign Life Coalition was there to capture the whole thing on camera.

CLC’s video of what happened went viral and was covered by a variety of news organizations, including Newsweek, The Cambridge Reporter, and The Toronto Star. CLC has just published a longer video report about the meeting. Please watch it by clicking here.

Then, following the mounting pressure and public backlash, Cambridge Trustee Marisa Phillips broke her silence on the controversy, publishing a scathing condemnation of her colleague’s statements, characterizing them as "hateful" and "unacceptable.”

Trustee Phillips’ hard-hitting statement was quickly followed by the WCDSB releasing its own statement “condemning” Ms. Ashby’s social media posts, although not nearly as directly – or forcefully –- as was required by the gravity of Ashby’s racist, anti-Christian views!

The Board’s statement comes up short for a couple of reasons.

First of all, there is no real consequence or penalty here for Ms. Ashby. Certainly lacking was the one thing that parents and grandparents have been asking for: the Board to call for Ashby to step down!

Secondly, the board’s statement doesn’t’ “condemn” her racist, anti-Christian, man-hating tweets. It merely says that it "does not support statements made by Trustee Wendy Ashby.”

Not supporting something does not quite rise to the level of actively condemning it.

The Board’s “condemnation” statement was accompanied by an “apology” (if you can call it that) from Wendy, but, in my opinion, she didn’t actually apologize for holding or expressing vile views.

She’s only “apologizing” that people were "offended" and "impacted,” and that’s not really an apology …

To me, it sounds more like an expression of regret that the Catholic community didn’t agree with her views. And by the way, Ashby’s so-called apology makes it fairly evident that she still holds these views! It actually contains a defense of them.

From her “apology”:

“Conversations about inequality are often uncomfortable. As a Métis woman and in my professional role, I encounter these discussions regularly and part of these discussions is to challenge our existing systems. A great deal of my education and advocacy work is around understanding and furthering diversity, equity and inclusion.” (Emphasis added.)

On top of all that, there’s also the hypocrisy of the Board’s statement implying the protests at the recent Board meeting were somehow motivated by “hate” (which is ridiculous), while failing to label Ashby’s comments as hate speech.

Now, Phillips isn’t alone in her condemnation of Ms. Ashby. Another trustee from Cambridge, Robert Sikora, released his own online statement, condemning Wendy’s social media posts.

Sikora said he was “especially aggrieved” by Ashby’s tweets, and, based on the conversations he’s having with constituents, he says “it is clear there are a large number who have similar feelings and concerns.”

You can read Sikora’s comments for yourself by clicking here.

Everything that’s happened at the WCDSB proves one thing to me, that parents matter.

We’re winning some small victories here, but we need to keep up the pressure – Ms. Ashby must resign!

This is why I’m encouraging you to attend the upcoming board meeting on May 1st.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m., but anyone who is interested in going should make plans to show up by 5:00 p.m. to protest outside the board office.

Location: 35 Weber St. W., Kitchener, ON, N2H 3Z1. (Get directions here.)

The May 1st meeting is open to the public, once again, and we need to have a solid crowd in the gallery of faithful Catholics and other concerned citizens.

We also have word that parents who are on the side of truth and sanity will be making more Delegations to the trustees, and they’re going to need your support, especially with all the media attention this story has been getting.

So please, consider showing up at the WCDSB office on May 1st, being as respectful and prayerful as always, holding your signs and demanding Ms. Ashby's resignation. Sign suggestions include:

• Wendy Ashby must resign
• Bigoted, anti-Christian Trustee must go
• Students unsafe with Trustee Ashby
• Ashby hates white male Christian students

If you haven’t done so already, please sign our petition calling for Ashby to step down.

Also, please keep Ms. Ashby and her supporters in your prayers. As much as we must engage in the political process, we’re involved in a spiritual battle here, too, and the devil loathes everyone on both sides. As always, our efforts must be rooted in prayer, love, and charity.