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| OECTA president James Ryan |
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), which represents 45,000 Catholic teachers, passed a motion at its recent Annual General Meeting to march in the June 29 Pride Parade in downtown Toronto. About 800 delegates attended the meeting.
OECTA president James Ryan said the union’s presence is a sign of support for those teachers, staff and students of the Catholic school system who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender (LGBT).
“What will happen is teachers, probably primarily from the Greater Toronto Area, who choose to do so will assemble and they will march in the parade,” he said.
Ryan plans to march but said “there will be no float or anything like that.”
Collins said a distinction should be made between the union and the teachers.
“I am always inspired by the thousands of Catholic teachers in classrooms throughout Ontario who know their Catholic faith, and whose faith shapes the loving way in which they care for their students, especially any who are facing personal struggles,” Collins said in a statement.
“OECTA, however, is not the Catholic teachers; it is a union. Its competence is limited to collective bargaining, and the services any union provides to its members.
“When it goes beyond those areas, it can easily go wrong, as it has in the decision of the OECTA delegates to participate in this event. This decision shows that they and the OECTA leadership have an inadequate and mistaken understanding of their faith.”
Collins and St. Catharines Bishop Gerard Bergie expressed their opposition to OECTA’s decision in a meeting with Ryan. (more...)
Another knot that needs unraveling:
Post by Barona Barona.
@ETFOcb 2yrs ago we #ETFO #PrideTO marchers made room for 2 #OECTA marchers who just turned up. Welcome anytime! pic.twitter.com/1DIIpRi129
— Gordon Nore (@GordonNore) April 20, 2014
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