The Ford government has selected the reviewer it will task with investigating a controversial field trip that saw students at Ontario’s largest school board attend a protest in downtown Toronto.
In mid-September, students from 15 Toronto District School Board schools went on a field trip to a demonstration in support of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, whose community river was impacted by years of mercury poisoning, to learn about the story.
The trip, however, didn’t go as planned, according to the school board, and saw students in the thick of the protest, where some said unrelated issues, including the Middle East conflict, were mentioned.
The province announced a review of the trip and the board’s policies soon after the controversy first broke, with Premier Doug Ford claiming some teachers were trying to “indoctrinate” students.
“I think it’s disgraceful — you’re trying to indoctrinate our kids,” he said, claiming the protest had been a “Palestine rally” in Toronto.
“I’ve said this about indoctrination for years. And I don’t want to paint a broad brush for all the teachers because it’s not all teachers, it’s a minority (of) teachers. … There needs to be an investigation and we’ll be all over this, and make sure people are held accountable.”
The review was announced shortly after, and welcomed by trustees who apologized to parents at a special meeting and demanded answers from administrators.
On Friday, the government confirmed former education official Patrick Case will lead the review of the Toronto District School Board’s field trip policies and how they’ve been implemented.
“Publicly funded schools should never be used as vehicles of political protest, ideology or discrimination,” Education Minister Jill Dunlop said in a statement.
“We have a responsibility to act when a school board fails to take appropriate action. Through this review, we are helping to ensure that schools across the province prioritize the health, safety and inclusion of all students and their learning environment.”
Case has previously been involved with high-profile government interventions at school boards. He has worked as an equity officer for the government and was one of two reviewers who investigated York Region District School Board in 2017.
Most recently, he worked on the review of Peel District School Board that found severe issues with racism and discrimination that led to trustees being sidelined for years.
A timeline has not been published for the investigation into Toronto’s field trip policies and plans but the ministry said its conclusions would “determine next step.”