Carolyn Burjoski was an elementary school teacher with the Waterloo Region District when she became concerned about the culling of books from school libraries and teachers’ personal collections, while books about “trans kids” and other inappropriate themes were being added. She was granted delegation at the Board of Trustees meeting on January 17, 2022, but was cut off less than four minutes into her presentation and ejected from the meeting, told her comments violated the Ontario Human Rights Code. Burjoski was ordered to stay home from work while then-board chair Scott Piatkowski labelled her “hateful” in the media.
She refused to stay silent, and brought a defamation lawsuit against the Waterloo Region District School Board and Piatkowski, which they attempted to have dismissed, by filing an Anti-SLAPP motion. Burjoski won, with Ontario Superior Court Justice James Ramsay confirming that human rights legislation “does not prohibit public discussion of anything,” adding, “What happened here should not happen in a democratic society.”
Determining her claims did indeed have merit, Burjoski’s case will proceed.
I spoke with the ex-teacher about why she spoke out, the way she was treated as a result, and her case.
Carolyn Burjoski was censored and libeled after speaking up about gender identity books in school libraries