Judge upholds sanctions against Red Deer Catholic school trustee in judicial review

November 16, 2024 Canuck

A former Red Deer Catholic school trustee who was removed from her position has failed in her attempt to have a judge reinstate her.

Monique LaGrange argued board colleagues unjustly removed her from her position over social media posts and interviews.

In August 2023, LaGrange posted a meme on social media with two pictures, one on top of the other: one of children holding swastika flags, and the other of children holding Pride flags, with the caption, “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”

After the school board received a complaint about the meme, trustees held a meeting where they decided LaGrange had breached a code of conduct.

The board issued a series of sanctions, including telling LaGrange to refrain from making public statements about the LGBTQ community and to not publicly represent the board. They also asked her to apologize for the post and required her to take sensitivity training.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Cheryl Arcand-Kootenay concluded that the board’s decision was fair.

Arcand-Kootenay ruled most of the sanctions were reasonable.

“They are consistent with the concerns of the board and members of the division. It is clear that they are intended to prevent further harm and also reconciliation through education,” she wrote in the decision released Friday.

Documents the board released after the decision said LaGrange told her board colleagues the Holy Spirit told her to “go for it” and post the meme likening 2SLGBTQ+ pride to Nazi Germany.

An application for judicial review filed with the court said after the board’s initial sanction, LaGrange posted something else online depicting a wolf wearing makeup and captioned, “I just want to read some books to your chickens.”

She also appeared on an online talk show and a Christian podcast in October 2023 defending her online post from August.

The board voted last November to disqualify LaGrange as a trustee, saying she had violated the first sanction.

CBC has requested further comment from LaGrange’s lawyer James Kitchen.

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