The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is facing legal scrutiny after suspending a parent from her elected role on a school council for requesting that her objection to land acknowledgements be recorded in the meeting minutes.
Catherine Kronas, an elected member of the Ancaster High School Council, made a polite and measured objection to the mandatory recitation of land acknowledgements at the start of council meetings. She voiced her objection at the April 9 meeting, after the land acknowledgment had been read, and requested that it be recorded in the minutes. The meeting then proceeded without incident.
But on May 22, the board issued a letter informing Kronas that her role on council would be “paused” while it reviewed allegations that she had “engaged in conduct that caused harm.” No specific examples of such conduct were provided. As a result, Kronas has been barred from attending further meetings.
There is no school board policy mandating the use of land acknowledgements during council meetings. Kronas has stated that she considers imposing them in public institutions amounts to compelled political speech.
On June 4, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms issued a legal warning to the board, calling for Kronas to be reinstated immediately and allowed to carry out her elected duties without further retaliation.
“The Board’s decision to suspend her from the council, which she has a right to sit on as an elected parent member, is an act of censorship that offends the right to freedom of expression,” said constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir, who is representing Kronas.
True North attended the most recent school council meeting in person. Unlike previous meetings, no virtual link was made available to the public. The published agenda included an item to approve the minutes from the April 9 meeting, where Kronas had made her objection.
True North was met with unease from council members, who paused the meeting for approximately 30 minutes to consult with the board’s communications team and relevant policies. One member commented that it was “unusual” for media to attend and said they needed to “verify” whether it was permitted. When asked why no virtual link had been offered, council members declined to answer. Eventually, it was determined that media could remain in the room, provided no questions were asked.
When the meeting finally resumed, council members voted to strike agenda item 2 — the approval of the April 9 minutes — without explanation or discussion.
The move raises serious questions. Parent council meetings are intended to be open to the public, even when uncomfortable issues arise. In this case, the only dissenting voice was removed from the process, preventing further discussion of logging the objection. The meeting was held with no virtual access and minimal public oversight.
Kheir spoke with True North, saying that the board’s decision to suspend Kronas “particularly egregious” because they effectively imposed speech restrictions that prevent her from expressing her views at council meetings going forward.
Parent councils are meant to be transparent and democratic, giving parents a formal voice in shaping their school communities. But according to Kheir, the board and council have undermined that process.
“If the school council refused to approve the minutes from the April 9 meeting as a way to avoid noting Ms. Kronas’ statement, it would be a further sign that the content of Ms. Kronas’ expression is being limited,” he said.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom is demanding her full reinstatement and warns that continued attempts to suppress legitimate dissent may violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
True North reached out to the council after attending the meeting but has not received a response. Questions remain about why the board is treating polite disagreement as harm, and whether the exclusion of Kronas and removal of her comments from the official record were deliberate attempts to silence her, effectively keeping the public in the dark.
True North will continue to follow this developing story.