The Songhees Nation has joined the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association in speaking out against the recent suspension of two Greater Victoria School Board trustees.
The Songhees are calling for the entire board to resign, said Chief Ron Sam.
Trustees Diane McNally and Rob Paynter were censured and suspended until October — when the next municipal and school board elections will be held — following allegations of misconduct that include bullying and harassment of staff.
The board was made aware last summer of two formal complaints linked to disparaging comments made in public, the district said in a statement. A third-party investigation by a lawyer/mediator followed and substantiated the claims, the district said.
The teachers’ association, which took a vote of no confidence in the board, has said that it is withdrawing from future board meetings until it is satisfied that the suspension process was appropriate. “We are deeply concerned by the suspensions of two democratically elected trustees and the secrecy surrounding it,” GVTA president Winona Waldron said when the group’s concerns were announced.
Sam said the Songhees also have concerns about the process, adding their issues with the board date back a year and a half. In August 2021, then-board chairwoman Jordan Watters resigned at the request of the Songhees Nation, Esquimalt Nation, Métis and the urban Indigenous community. Watters said at the time that she was ultimately accountable as chairwoman of the board for a public survey and presentation that drew accusations of systemic racism.
Sam said Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside called the turmoil on the board “a local governance matter” and said she is hopeful the board will listen to the Songhees’ concerns. That suggests the province is not going to get involved, he said.
“We have community members that are going to get vocal.”
At the time the suspensions were made public, board chairman Ryan Painter said the Greater Victoria School District had “zero tolerance for bullying or harassment.”
