WRDSB releases Integrity Commissioners Report three years after trustee’s suspension

We’re learning new details about the 2022 suspension of Mike Ramsay, a trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board. CTV’s Jeff Pickel has the details

The Waterloo Region District School Board has finally released the Integrity Commissioner’s report on the events leading up to the suspension of Trustee Mike Ramsey, more than three years after the board originally reviewed its findings.

It was submitted to the WRDSB’s board of trustees in May 2022. They then voted 6-3 to suspend Ramsay for breaching the trustee code of conduct.

The report remained sealed until this week. The WRDSB only released it because a private citizen successfully filed a Freedom of Information request.

The report described a board of trustees divided along ideological lines, one faction progressive and the other conservative.

“That divergence of viewpoints has led to the minority feeling somewhat marginalized in their opposition to what is perceived as the ‘woke’ agenda of the majority,” the report explained. “While having a diversity of opinion on the board can be healthy, it also runs the risk of creating a negative dynamic; some of which is evident in the events underlying the complaint.”

The instigating event was the board’s decision to halt teacher Carolyn Burjoski’s presentation about the age-appropriateness of library materials on Jan. 17, 2022.

Trustee Laurie Tremble accused Ramsay of breaking the code of conduct, citing what she described as “a pattern of concerning behaviour.”

The complaint alleged Ramsay breached the code of conduct by:

• The refusal of the respondent to accept and respect the decisions of the chair and the board
• Accusations by the respondent of unlawful conduct by fellow trustees
• Disclosure of confidential information by the respondent.

The report, delivered in May 2022, did not offer a recommendation. It only outlined the complaint and compared it to similar cases for trustees to review.

Refusal to accept board’s decision

The report said, in a board meeting following Burjoski’s presentation, Ramsay interjected several times to demand an apology from then-Board Chair Scott Piatkowski for the “moral panic” he allegedly created.

The debate continued over social media when Ramsay retweeted a post from conservative journalist Jonathan Kay. It said: “wow it gets better. Our dude @ScottPiatkowski, the social-justice champ who throws women out of wrdsb meetings if they give him lip, is the only white guy in the group. (Conveniently, he’s also the chairperson!) The trustee publicly opposing him is -yup- the only non-white trustee.”

Ramsay retweeted that message and commented: “Dear @wrdsb parents, students and staff I encourage you to read this entire thread. It discloses a lot of relevant information.”

The report said Ramsay’s Twitter handle was @Trustee_Ramsay at that time, giving the impression that he was writing in his capacity as a trustee with the board.

The integrity commissioner’s office called the initial message unfair, explaining: “The tweet does not accurately portray what occurred at the meeting, unfairly insinuates that the chair is misogynist and racist, and fails to note that the majority of the other trustees, all of whom are female, supported that decision.”

The complaint also noted Ramsay showed a lack of respect for the board’s decision in a series of emails with members of the public.

“In my opinion, the current chairperson of our board trampled on the rights of one of our staff, and more importantly, one of our neighbours,” said Ramsay’s email from Jan. 17, 2022.

Following the controversy, hate messages and death threats were sent to Piatkowski and other trustees, including “an anonymous tweet on January 21 threatening to kill the chair in his sleep and suggesting he will ‘die in agony.’”

Accusations of unlawful conduct by trustees

The report said Ramsay accused trustees of making decisions outside, and prior to, board meetings.

On Feb. 14, 2022, he said: “The question is, are a group of trustees determining a course of action prior to it being discussed at the board table? And, I would suggest, that is a valid concern that I’m certainly hearing from the community. I don’t have an answer for them, but it does appear as if decisions or matters are being discussed prior to it being discussed at the board table.”

The report also outlined several other instances where Ramsay appeared to question the legality of actions by the board of trustees.

“It is important to note that the issue for the board is whether Trustee Ramsay breached the code of conduct by raising the issue and alleging unlawful activity in a public meeting. The issue is not whether there was any merit to his allegations.”

Confidentiality questions

According to the complaint, Ramsay alleged leaked confidential information to a friend who then made a social media post that was critical of the Waterloo Region District School Board and Trustee Chair Piatkowksi.

It said: “@wrdsb & @ScottPiatkowski found & paid a lawyer outside of their vendors of record to retroactively cover their butt. Ask yourself why they had the ‘mens rea’ to shop around for a legal opinion after the &ct. @Sflecce [former Education Minister Stephen Lecce] needs to step in.” Ramsay denied sharing information from a closed-door meeting and the report said it could not conclude whether the information was supplied by the trustee.

There was also a second issue surrounding confidentiality. It involved the discussion of a personal matter at a public meeting on Feb. 14, 2022.

The report stated: “While Trustee Ramsay did not name the individual in the meeting prior to being ruled out of order, it was submitted that anyone familiar with the past history would have been aware of who was being discussed.”

The report found it was unlikely Ramsay violated a staff member’s confidentiality in the exchange.

“While some well-informed observers might have been able to put two-and-two together, the casual observer would not appreciate who or what was being addressed from the exchange at the meeting.”

Ramsay’s position

The report summarized Ramsay’s response. It said: “The respondent believes that the complaint is an attempt to stifle his right to freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by weaponizing the code [of conduct] to control the manner in which he carries out his ‘duty in good faith and reasonable diligence.’”

Ramsay, it continued, “denies any breach of confidentiality and disclaims any responsibility for the tweets of others. To the extent that he retweeted the tweets or postings of others, he did so for informational purposes and is not responsible for the original message or article.”

Report’s conclusion

The integrity commissioner’s report did not offer any findings. Instead, it offered several guiding conclusions.

“The charter does not allow an individual to say whatever they want, whenever they want, without regard for the rules of the forum in which they are speaking,” it said. “There are also distinctions to be drawn between vigorous debate on policy issues and ad hominem attacks on other trustees and between conduct during and outside of meetings.”

Based on this information, trustees with the Waterloo Region District School Board voted 6-3 to suspend trustee Mike Ramsay for two months.

Long wait for information

The integrity commissioner’s report was submitted to the board in May 2022 but kept confidential until November 2025.

Michael Teper was the private citizen who filed the Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

“If the Waterloo [Region] school board would have what it wanted, that report would never have been released,” he told CTV News.

Teper lives in Toronto and has no connection to Waterloo Region but said he was compelled to pursue answers following a similar situation at the Toronto District School Board.

“What was really weird is that the [Waterloo Region] school board didn’t tell us what [Ramsay] did wrong, they kept the integrity commissioner report secret, which is something that didn’t happen in Toronto,” Teper explained. “They even kept the name of the investigator secret, and they kept the name of the complainant, who was a sitting trustee of the Waterloo [Region school] board secret as well.”

He also claimed the report’s release was delayed because the WRDSB fought the FOI.

“We went to the provincial commissioner, went through mediation, they wouldn’t back down,” Teper recalled. “Then we went to adjudication.”

Delays, he said, are a major issue with the Freedom of Information system.

“The process took over three years,” Teper explained. “Three years after the fact we finally get this integrity commissioner’s report, where for many members of the public – perhaps almost everyone – they’ve forgotten about it, and it becomes ancient history.”

He felt the information needed to made public sooner.

“The whole point of Freedom of Information is that the information is produced when it’s still timely and relevant, and in a position to influence the debate,” Teper explained.

CTV News reached out to the Waterloo Region District School Board for their response to the report. They shared the following statement on behalf of Maedith Radlein, the current chair of the board:

“The Integrity Commissioner’s Report gives insight into the process followed in Trustee Code of Conduct complaints. When the report is shared with trustees, the decision as to next steps is informed by the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation. This process allows trustees to effectively deal with Code of Conduct issues so we can maintain our focus on advancing student achievement and fostering their well-being.”