(RDCRS)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

ASSERTION BY BOARD WAS "FLIMSY"

Dismissed former trustee taking school board to court, hopes to be reinstated

Dec 20, 2023 | 5:05 PM

Ousted former school trustee Monique LaGrange, with help from The Democracy Fund, is officially taking Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools’ board to court.

The process leading up to LaGrange’s removal from the board, and why she was in that situation in the first place, has been well documented since the start of September.

rdnewsNOW has covered it from the beginning, last reporting Nov. 24 when the division released its official report into LaGrange’s Nov. 14 dismissal.

BACKGROUND

• Red Deer Catholic releases official report on former trustee’s dismissal
• After second Code of Conduct complaint, Red Deer Catholic removes trustee
• Red Deer Catholic trustee invoked Holy Spirit in explanation for posting controversial meme
• Lawyer: Red Deer school trustee likely won’t follow through on training & apology
• Monique LaGrange won’t be removed as Red Deer Catholic trustee
• Trustee LaGrange removed as ACSTA director, Minister of Education also speaks
• Red Deer Catholic writes Education Minister on dismissal of trustee who posted Nazi, 2SLGBTQ+ comparison
• Red Deer Catholic school trustee likens Pride movement to Nazism

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Her removal came after two Code of Conduct complaints, the first of which was related to a meme LaGrange posted to her social media.

“Brainwashing is brainwashing,” the meme was captioned, with one image of kids waving Nazi flags and another featuring children with rainbow Pride flags.

The second complaint came after LaGrange was alleged to have breached conditions laid out by the first complaint’s resulting consequences, handed down by the board. The breach, the board alleged, involved giving media interviews despite being barred from doing so. The board cited the Education Act as justification for her removal.

Along the way, it was reported multiple times that LaGrange’s legal counsel would be applying to the courts for judicial reviews, one for each Code of Conduct decision, but those applications had not yet been made, until recently that is. One was filed Dec. 11 and a second Dec. 18 with Alberta Court of King’s Bench in Red Deer.

A minor hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2024 but LaGrange’s counsel James Kitchen says it’ll likely be uneventful, and then several months, perhaps into 2025, before a decision is rendered. Kitchen provided rdnewsNOW with the court applications (seen below) on Dec. 20.

“We want the decision [of the school board] overturned. We want the court to say the school board was wrong, to explain how and why, and to ultimately quash the sanctions and reinstate her as a trustee,” Kitchen told rdnewsNOW on Wednesday.

“I’m sure you can guess that she and people who support her have broader societal or political goals, which is part of the reason it’s important to publicize these cases. Those are related to encouraging an open conversation about this stuff, regardless of how uncomfortable people find it.”

Kitchen’s fees and ultimately LaGrange’s court case are being taken care of by The Democracy Fund, whose website notes it was founded in 2021 and is dedicated to constitutional rights, advancing education and relieving poverty.

The organization is currently funding the highly publicized trial of Tamara Lich, who faces charges related to the ‘Freedom Convoy’ which travelled to Ottawa in early 2022.

Kitchen advised on another case earlier this year paid for by The Democracy Fund. That case, which involved Edmonton’s Church in the Vine, which defied COVID-19 restrictions, was won in October, with the church and its pastor acquitted.

In a brief statement to rdnewsNOW on Dec. 20, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools says:

“We are aware that former Red Deer Catholic Regional School Board Trustee Monique LaGrange has filed for a judicial review of the board’s Code of Conduct hearings. The board is actively working with our legal team to navigate through the judicial review legal process.”

Kitchen goes on to say that LaGrange is passionate about what she believes.

“She’s not just virtue-signalling to get a bunch of accolades from right-wing people. She actually believes in this stuff. She’s a Christian, was raised in the Catholic church, and sincerely, honestly holds these beliefs, as offensive as some people find them,” Kitchen shares.

“If you hold a belief and you’re that serious about it, you believe that you’re right, and that it’s not a belief you should merely hold to yourself, and hold in your closet. It’s not for personal use only; it’s to be disseminated to improve the world. Jesus didn’t say, ‘Follow me quietly,’ he said, ‘Go tell the whole world.'”

Kitchen says LaGrange also cares about parental rights and good education.

“Some people run for school board because they’re petty tyrants and like having control,” he adds. “I do see that in some of the left-wing people who get on these school boards, but most of them, they just care about education and children. It’s not a glorious job.”

Among other things, the first court application uses the word ‘flimsy’ (in section 50) to describe the assertion that a community within the school division has been made to feel unwelcome and safe. It says this is also unproven and unsupported.

Below are the two court applications:

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