Saturday, February 11, 2017

Nancy Elgie must resign over racial slur: York board chair

Rob Davis, a former Toronto Catholic school board trustee and city councillor,
has started an in-your-face social media campaign urging York Region trustees
to vote to suspend fellow trustee Nancy Elgie.
After months of privately pleading with Trustee Nancy Elgie to “do the right thing,” the chair of the York Region school board is now publicly urging her to step down for using a “horrific slur” that has caused such upset among parents, students and staff.

“I have called on her for months to make this right, and I feel now, clearly, the only way to do so is for her to resign,” Loralea Carruthers told the Star. “While I do believe her apology was heartfelt, it is clear that doing all that is necessary in this situation requires Trustee Elgie to resign.”

Elgie has come under increasing pressure to step down after admitting to — and saying sorry for — referring to a black parent as a n----- after a public meeting late last year. Earlier this week, her family announced she is taking an indefinite medical leave, saying she misspoke because of a head injury she suffered last October.

“The use of such a horrific slur, even if inadvertently, has caused undue pain to parents, students and staff of colour in our communities,” Carruthers said. “Trustees have heard from parents directly about how this has hurt them. While we do not have the authority to force a colleague to resign, I strongly urge her to take responsibility for what this has done to our board and the community we serve.”  (more...)


More coverage:
Two mothers affected by racism in York Region schools, Jacqui Testoni, left, and
Charline Grant, wiping away tears, during a board meeting in Aurora last month.
Grant recently received an apology from trustee Nancy Elgie, who used a racial
slur when referring to her at an earlier meeting.

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