Matt and Nicole Alexander in a handout photo. Courtesy Matt and Nicole Alexander
Two Ontario teachers who say they were fired for not celebrating LGBT pride at school will have their case heard before the provincial labour relations board.
Matt and Nicole Alexander allege they were suspended and then fired from the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) in October of 2023 for declining to participate in and affirm LGBT events and policies at their schools, according to the non-profit Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which is providing them with legal aid.
Upon being terminated, the Alexanders filed a human rights complaint against the school board as well as a separate complaint against their union, saying the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario did not represent them sufficiently by bringing their complaint forward to arbitration and ignoring their charter-protected rights and freedoms.
The school board and the union tried to have the couple’s case dismissed, but the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has now rejected the request.
The case against the union and the school board will now move forward to a hearing before the OLRB where lawyers provided by the JCCF will argue the case from the Alexanders’ side. The human rights complaint against the school board is deferred until the conclusion of the OLRB case, constitutional lawyer Darren Leung told The Epoch Times by email.
“We are pleased that the Board has rejected the attempt to shut this case down at the preliminary stage,” said Leung, adding, “The Alexanders deserve the opportunity to have their concerns fully heard, and today’s decision ensures that will happen.”
“What we’re seeing is a culture where if you don’t actively affirm certain views, you’re at risk,” Matt Alexander said in a Sept. 8 JCCF press release.
The Alexanders say they’ve been financially devastated by the loss of their jobs and have had to sell their house. They say their troubles started when their son Josh was suspended from Grade 11 in 2022 after saying there are only two genders and organizing a walkout to protest against biological males using the girls’ washroom.
Matt Alexander was suspended on April 17, 2023, from his job teaching Grades 7 and 8 due to comments made about him on social media, even though he says he did not have any social media accounts at the time. Nicole Alexander says she was suspended the next month after taking down an LGBT poster that had been taped on her classroom door without her consent.
On Oct. 26, 2023, after a six-month investigation, the school board fired them both “for not celebrating and affirming LGBTQ issues,” according to the JCCF.
The Epoch Times attempted to obtain comments from the OLRB and the Alexanders’ union, but did not hear back.
An unrelated post on the union’s website states support for pro-LGBT policies in Ontario schools and says “the erasure of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in jurisdictions across Canada through regressive policies and legislation is deeply concerning.”
Chandra Philip contributed to this report.
Paul Rowan Brian is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.