TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) –– In what appears to be a betrayal of the faith, the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) last night voted against trustee Michael Del Grande’s motion seeking to have pro-life flags flown on top of all district buildings in the month of May. The same board in 2021 voted in favor of flying the gay “pride” flags at atop its schools.
The vote against Del Grande’s pro-life motion happened during a regular board meeting Tuesday night, which was packed with supporters of his motion.
Del Grande, trustee for Scarborough – Agincourt, told LifeSiteNews after the meeting that “[a]nyone who watched it could see the inconsistency between my items and theirs.”
“The most irony of the night was [trustee Angela] Kennedy rising to acknowledge the Armenian holocaust and Turkey’s denial, but when it came to the holocaust of unborn children, she was in denial just like Turkey,” he added.
Del Grande’s motion was voted down in an 8 to 2 vote. Scarborough trustee Garry Tanuan was the only trustee other than Del Grande to vote in favor of the motion.
In total, trustees voted down Del Grande’s two pro-life initiatives, the first which proposed that the pro-life flag fly at all district schools in May, and the second that staff educate students about the pro-life cause on the same day as the Canadian March for Life.
When speaking in favor of his motion before the vote, Del Grande told the board there is “an opportunity to showcase ourselves as defenders of human rights in the greatest social justice battle of our day.”
“We are a pro-life board,” he implored.
After saying this, some 50-plus attendees at the meeting seated in the public gallery erupted in applause, which immediately drew the ire of TCDSB Chair Nancy Crawford.
TCDSB Maria Rizzo accused Del Grande and his motion of allowing “nasty politics” to worm “its way into our boardroom or into our classrooms.”
Rizzo claimed that the reason the board voted in favor of allowing the “pride” flag to fly in 2021 was because it was a “student-led” initiative, unlike Del Grande’s pro-life motion, failing to mention the Catholic Church’s unchangeable condemnation of what the LGBT flag represents, and the Church’s moral clarity that abortion is murder and ought to be opposed.
During the meeting and before the vote, several people were allowed to speak in support of Del Grande’s motion.
Multiple times public attendees in the gallery voiced their displeasure with the TCDSB for not supporting Del Grande’s motion. As a result, TCDSB Chair Nancy Crawford expelled the gallery attendees, after having given them multiple warnings to be quiet, observing that they could watch the rest of the meeting as they all had “computers.”
Soon after the vote, multiple people in the gallery started shouting, “shame, shame,” with one person saying loudly, “This isn’t a Catholic board.”
Crawford immediately stood up and called for “security” to “clear the building of our visitors.”
As supporters of the motion exited, one could be heard saying, “This is supposed to be a Catholic school.”
Catholic board ‘disgraced itself,’ ‘spit in the face of God’
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) Director of Political Operations Jack Fonseca told LifeSiteNews that the “TCDSB disgraced itself” by voting against Del Grande’s motion.
“Most of the trustees showed themselves to be unconcerned about making any serious effort to protect the lives of innocent and vulnerable unborn babies who are at risk of death from abortion,” he said.
“The eight trustees who voted to defeat this powerful and potentially culture-changing right-to-life motion have spit in the face of God, the author of life, who surely desires every Catholic to defend the innocent from being slain, and to speak out prophetically against their deliberate destruction.”
Fonseca observed that “possibly” these trustees have made “themselves personally responsible for many future abortions that would have been prevented if the motion had passed.”
He told LifeSiteNews that should Del Grande’s motion have passed it would have been a “beautiful pro-life symbol been allowed to fly over every school, and along with it, a full day of pro-life instruction.”
“I would encourage people who appreciate Mike’s prophetic voice, to email him a note of thanks,” he said.
As reported by LifeSiteNews last week, three TCDSB trustees Kevin Morrison, Maria Rizzo, and vice-chair of the board Markus de Domenico, all made comments to legacy media before the vote in which they voiced their opposition to Del Grande’s Catholic motion.
LifeSiteNews was also told recently by Neil MacCarthy Director, Public Relations & Communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto, that Archbishop Francis Leo will “not” be commenting on the matter at this time.
Despite the board’s decision, the Catholic Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life remains clear and unchangeable.
Pope John Paul II’s pro-life encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), affirmed the Church’s constant, traditional and historical teaching on the sanctity of human life and the gravity of the crime of abortion.
‘Sacredness of Life’ motion passed in place of Del Grande’s stronger pro-life motion
During the board meeting, vice-chair Markus de Domenico’s notice of motion titled “Supporting Student Learning on the ‘Sacredness of Life,’” which purports to be a pro-life motion but was put forth after he – and two other trustees – had come out in public opposition to Del Grande’s flag motion, was brought before the board.
This motion was supposed to not have been voted on at Tuesday’s meeting, however, the board decided to “waive the bylaw” which states that a notice of motion be discussed and voted on. After some back and forth, de Domenico’s motion was voted in. Del Grande and two others opposed to allow the motion to be voted on.
De Domenico’s proposed motion asked that the board, in an attempt to nurture its “Catholic Community,” provide “additional supports, resources, and special activities for schools on the sacredness of life during the ‘National Family and Life Week’ this May and every May following.”
While the motion itself seems to be in support of Catholic teaching and therefore unobjectionable, Fonseca warned LifeSiteNews that de Domenico’s recent opposition to Del Grande’s pro-life flag motion suggests a different goal is in play.
Fonseca told LifeSiteNews that he is of the belief that de Domenico’s motion’s entire purpose was to “undermine and sabotage Del Grande’s pro-life flag motion specifically, and more broadly, to undermine the National March For Life and the pro-life movement.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the TCDSB in recent months has seemingly had no issues with promoting a pro-LGBT agenda, as can be seen in an instance from earlier this year when it recommended its staff watch a pro-LGBT play about a little girl who thinks she is a boy.
As for Del Grande, he has been facing ongoing legal battles after being canceled for going against the LGBT agenda. He was tried before a tribunal of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) for objecting to the addition of transgender ideology into the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s policies and for defending the Catholic Church’s teaching that abortion is morally wrong.
CLC has asked that Canadians who wish to express their gratitude to Del Grande, demonstrate it by donating to his legal defense fund.
To respectfully voice your opinion regarding Del Grande’s pro-life motion and the vote against it, please contact:
TCDSB Trustees
Joseph Martino
Ward 1: Etobicoke
Phone: 416-512-3401
Email: [email protected]
Markus de Domenico (Vice-Chair)
Ward 2: Etobicoke
Phone: 416-512-3402
Email: [email protected]
Ida Li Preti
Ward 3: North York
Phone: 416-512-3403
Email: [email protected]
Teresa Lubinski
Ward 4: Parkdale-High Park, Etobicoke-Lakeshore
Phone: 416-512-3404
Email: [email protected]
Maria Rizzo
Ward 5: North York
Phone: 416-512-3405
Email: [email protected]
Frank D’Amico, CD
Ward 6: York
Phone: 416-512-3406
Email: [email protected]
Michael Del Grande
Ward 7: Scarborough-Agincourt
Phone: 416-512-3407
Email: [email protected]
Garry Tanuan
Ward 8: Scarborough
Phone: 416-512-3408
Email: [email protected]
Kevin Morrison
Ward 9: Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3409
Email: [email protected]
Daniel Di Giorgio
Ward 10: Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3410
Email: [email protected]
Angela Kennedy
Ward 11: East York, Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3411
Email: [email protected]
Nancy Crawford (Chair)
Ward 12: Scarborough
Phone: 416-512-3412
Email: [email protected]
Archbishop Francis Leo
Phone: (416) 934-0606
Email: [email protected]