Newmarket Catholic trustee Theresa McNicol returned to a board meeting Oct. 30 despite a trustee vote barring her from meetings last month.
McNicol, who also represents Georgina and East Gwillimbury, was able to sit in for most of the meeting despite York Catholic District School Board trustees voting to boot her for the term after an independent report found comments she made regarding Italian heritage trustees to be discriminatory.
YCDSB senior manager of marketing, brand and communications Mark Brosens said McNicol has filed a request for reconsideration, which the board must consider, allowing the trustee to attend meetings until a final decision is made.
That meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 27, but the parties agreed to postpone to a later date.
"The reconsideration procedure states that a trustee’s sanction is stayed until a final vote occurs," Brosens said.
McNicol was barred from meetings for the rest of the term in a 5-4 decision after a report found she was discriminatory in her communications regarding Italian heritage trustees last year, though she has previously maintained she did not discriminate.
McNichol is challenging the matter legally. She has hired Weir Foulds on the matter, which said the board did not have the authority to bar her from meetings, due to both the Education Act and issues with its code of conduct.
“For all of these reasons, the board had no jurisdiction to issue any sanctions,” the letter said.
The letter also said that given McNicol has incurred legal expenses for this matter, she should be compensated.
Trustees did not discuss the issue during the public portion of the Oct. 30 board meeting. But during the meeting, trustees did vote to make changes to the trustee code of conduct and its policy regarding breaches of the code.
Changes made included the clause regarding legal expenses, with the code offering a clause that the board can at its discretion reimburse trustee for legal expenses incurred in their role. Trustees voted to add a clause that if a trustee obtains counsel directly from an investigator, the trustee is responsible for all expenses and will be subject to sanction.
Changes also included allowing the integrity commissioner to conduct investigations about conduct breaches, as opposed to just an independent third party.
The Ministry of Education has not publicly taken a position on McNicol's censure.
“The Ministry cannot comment at this time as this is a local matter,” a ministry spokesperson said. “We are confident that the board’s decision will be in compliance with the Education Act.”
