Manitoba trustee suspended over posts targeting LGBTQ2S+ community, division says
A Manitoba school trustee has been suspended over social media posts the division says targeted the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Trustee Francine Champagne, who represents Ward 1 in the Louis Riel School Division (LRSD), has been suspended for three months, a division spokesperson confirmed.
"Her suspension is due to breaching the Board Code of Conduct, specific to social media use and disregarding Policy AC: Respect for Human Diversity," Emmalee Blackadar, the communications manager for the division, said in an email to CTV News.
"Trustee Champagne posted harmful comments on social media targeting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community."
Sandy Nemeth, the chair of the LRSD Board of Trustees, told CTV News she was concerned after finding out about the posts, saying they had a 'strong transphobic sentiment' and were disrespectful to the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Nemeth said she brought her concerns to the board.
"They are just not who we are in Louis Riel and certainly not who we are as a board," Nemeth said.
CTV News has not been able to view the posts in question, which appear to have since been deleted.
Champagne was one of two trustees elected in the ward during the most recent 2022 election. She received 2,817 votes.
Champagne's suspension will last for three months and is the strongest sanction possible under the Manitoba Public Schools Act. Nemeth said following the suspension, Champagne will resume her full duties.
However, part of a motion passed by the board Tuesday evening includes a commitment to professional learning for all members of the board.
"Over time we hope she's had a chance to reflect and think about how she's going to return to her duties and return to the community – and that is going to involve us having some conversations around respect for human diversity and what that looks like in Louis Riel," Nemeth said.
Nemeth said the board understood that whatever their decision was – it would send a message to the community.
"What we want everyone to take away is that we recognize the value of every student, staff member, teacher, administrator, community member to feel that when they are working and learning in LRSD, or enter one of our buildings, that they are welcomed, they are valued, they are respected, (and) we will care for them and support them," she said.
"It doesn't matter who they are or how they identify. They are people and human beings first."
CTV News has reached out to Champagne for comment, but has yet to hear back.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.