Toronto Catholic District School Board locks out ratepayers, refusing to let them deliver petitions calling on Trustee Maria Rizzo to resign
Toronto, Nov 26, 2019 – Dozens of concerned parents, grandparents, clergy, and other deeply concerned citizens peacefully rallied today outside the Toronto Catholic District School Board, calling on Trustee Maria Rizzo to resign. In addition to the demonstration, CLC’s David Cooke presented thousands of petition signatures to a TCDSB staff member, but not without controversy. The school board security locked the front doors to the building, preventing CLC’s two representatives from hand-delivering the petitions. After police intervention, CLC was able to hand over the petitions to an employee outside of the building.
“Our message today was simple: On behalf of the 2,200 citizens who signed our petition, we respectfully called on Maria Rizzo to resign from her position as Trustee with the Toronto Catholic District School Board,” said David Cooke, Campaigns Manager for Campaign Life Coalition. “Rizzo’s vocal promotion of the unscientific ideology of gender theory, culminating in the acceptance of “gender identity” and “gender expression” into the board’s Code of Conduct, has put youth at risk, and has undermined the constitutional right to keep Catholic Schools Catholic.”
Leading up to the rally, Maria Rizzo threatened ordinary stakeholders with legal and police intimidation, sending out cease and desist letters to parents and ratepayers who emailed her with their concerns and criticism.
“Because of her promotion of gender ideology, which the Toronto Archdiocese has stated is incompatible with the Catholic Faith, Maria Rizzo is unfit to be a Catholic school board trustee,” said Jeff Gunnarson, National President of Campaign Life Coalition. “By sending out cease and desist letters to her critics, Maria Rizzo is also showing that she isn’t even fit to be an elected official. She should do the right thing and resign.”
For full coverage of the rally and speeches, watch CLC’s Facebook Live video: https://www.facebook.com/CampaignLifeCoalition/videos/1414654952022362/.
About Campaign Life Coalition
Campaign Life Coalition is a national, non-profit organization involved in political action and advocacy for legal and cultural change in Canada with respect to protecting human life and the family. It is non-partisan and encourages voting based on principles, not party. For more information visit www.campaignlifecoalition.com.
Media Contacts:
Jack Fonseca, Campaign Life Coalition, 647-638-5433
David Cooke, Campaign Life Coalition, 416-204-9749 ext. 250