Controversial WCDSB flag motion to be discussed during Monday's trustee meeting

Karis Mapp · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

While galore stay focused connected Monday's national election, others person a section schoolhouse committee trustee gathering beforehand of mind.

Trustees with the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) volition sermon a arguable emblem banning question Monday evening. 

The question was enactment guardant by trustee Conrad Stanley and if passed, would lone let Canada, Ontario oregon schoolhouse committee flags to alert oregon beryllium displayed connected WCDSB properties. 

That means different symbolic flags, specified arsenic the Pride flag, would beryllium banned. 

This has sparked outrage from people, specifically those who are portion of oregon enactment the 2SLGBTQ+ community. 

The Catholic committee archetypal raised the Pride emblem successful June of 2021.

According to trustee Stanley's motion, determination is "no request not tenable justification" for governmental oregon identity-based flags. 

The question has sparked protests and antagonistic protests up of trustee meetings astatine the Catholic Education Centre successful downtown Kitchener.

WATCH | Hundreds attend a rally up of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board meeting:

Those who enactment the imaginable question accidental it's much successful enactment with Catholic values.

"We conscionable privation to uphold those cardinal values of God that is household and past the procreation successful the marriage," said Joshua Hayek, a devoted Catholic and ratepayer who has attended the antagonistic protests. 

"We're acrophobic of losing our schoolhouse strategy due to the fact that erstwhile each of these antithetic ideas travel in, yet it'll beryllium secularized and they'll conscionable spell public."

However, those against the argumentation accidental it feels similar a idiosyncratic onslaught connected the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Raven Leach is simply a non-binary, fifth-year pupil astatine St. David Catholic Secondary School successful Waterloo. 

"I, myself americium Christian, person been raised Christian, my full household is Christian but I americium besides queer," they explained.  "Hearing radical usage religion arsenic an excuse to hatred others has been truly hard due to the fact that Jesus calls america to emotion everyone."

The question volition beryllium discussed and could beryllium voted connected during Monday evening's meeting, but committee Chair Renee Kraft says they are seeking a ineligible sentiment connected however to proceed. 

"I deliberation moving forward, we've got to absorption connected unity and what unites us," Chair Kraft told CBC K-W during an interrogation connected The Morning Edition. 

"We request to fig retired what we're doing with this and hopefully enactment it to remainder and past propel ourselves forward, focusing connected the things that unite us."

WATCH | 2nd rally held to protestation Catholic schoolhouse board's question to prohibition Pride flags:

Meeting location

With ample protests being held extracurricular anterior to the past 2 meetings, it's expected radical volition again beryllium gathered extracurricular the Catholic Education Centre. 

Monday's predetermination volition besides bring further people to the country arsenic determination is a polling presumption straight crossed the street. 

There were concerns astir disrupting voters astatine the polling station, truthful the committee had planned to determination the trustee gathering to Resurrection Catholic Secondary School.

But connected Tuesday, the committee said that "due to an oversight successful the director's office" the gathering would beryllium moved backmost to the Catholic Education Centre arsenic primitively scheduled.

Board leadership 

Kraft is caller to the presumption aft it was announced trustee Robert Sikora had stepped down from the presumption astatine the extremity of past month. 

He was replaced concisely by trustee and vice-chair Linda Cuff connected an interim basis. Then Cuff enactment her sanction guardant to service arsenic seat and tied with chap trustee Renée Kraft for the role. The presumption yet went to Kraft aft names were drawn from a chapeau to interruption the tie.

After Kraft was named chair, Cuff stepped down from her relation arsenic vice-chair of the board. Both Sikora and Cuff proceed to service arsenic trustees.