HB NEWS SANCTITY OF LIFE WILL REMAIN OUT OF CATHOLIC BOARD POLICY ROLAND CILLIERS. rcilliers@metroland.com A trustee made a fairly short-lived attempt to bring back a controversial policy from the past. Oakville trustee Hele- na Karabela put forth an amendment at a recent board meeting to change the Halton Catholic Dis- trict School _ Board's (HCDSB) policy around school fundraising activi- es. The ultimately-defeat- ed amendment stated that no school fundraising ef- forts could be directed to an organization that sup- ports advocacy, programs, financing or material sup- port for abortion, eutha- nasia or human embryon- ic stem cell research. Charities that could be included under that label include Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, as well as the Canadian Cancer Society and Halton Wom- en's Place. The direction was simi- Jar lar to controversial endnent from 2018 also ted by ‘abe! the Sanctity of Life policy. “If we say we uphold the tenets of the Catholic faith on sacredness of life, we need to make sure that we are not giving money, not even one dollar, to any charity or non-profit that does not uphold the sa- credness of life. If we did, then we would be in dan- ger of funding and promot- ing evil actions," said Ka- rabela. the similar Sanatity ot rite motion led to student protests, a court case against the board, months of debate and even condemnation from a for- mer education minister before it was ultimately i HCDSB photo HCDSB TRUSTEE HELENA KARABELA quashed by trustees later that year. it motion generated attention for the HCDSB throughout the province and is widely credited as being key to the turnover seen at the board table be- tween the current term and the previous one. Ka- Fane (TIAL Appts available Mon-Fri 12-5 at our temporary location (still in the Mall) beside Mark’s Work Wearhouse Proving y Ey ce 1990! AAWAWAIKS]AAIINAZ©) elaler=] Rete) Georgetown Bolton - Jelph + 905-873-3050 + 905-857-5556 NEW PATIENTS WELCOME EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS SAME DAY rabela is the only trustee from that term who was re-elected. “All life is beautiful. It is wrong to kill a human person. It is wrong to pre- vent human life from be- ing born. It is wrong to ex- periment on a human per- son in their earliest stage of development, and it is wrong to assist a vulnera- ble or sick elderly person with suicide. It is for these important reasons that I am amending this policy to include the statement as a guiding principle," said Karabela. ‘he amendment to add the principle was strongly opposed by the majority of trustees at the table. Op- ponents labelled the move as an attempt to get atten- tion, said it was a thor- oughly debated topic that the i ready tempt to control what stu- dents did with their chari- table donations. ville trustee Nancy Guzzo said she would nev- er agree to something like this and the fundraising policy is written to give school communities the latitude to put their sup- disappointed that this is making an appearance here and that this was done specifically here at the board meeting and not at policy to grandstan: And it is extremely disap- pointing, and I would nev- er, ever support anything like this," Guzzo. In a statement follow- ing the meeting, Karabela said she was not at the pre- vious policy meeting and bringing forward the at the board said they didn't want, and was an overreach to at- -HALTON meeting is part of normal procedure. Other trustees connect- ed their opposition to the = amendment with personal — T SiIH UoMeH- ll OUL | 6 Agnew son ona been supported by F a organizations that policy would forbid the & g students from donating to. 8 life and the life of others like him are no less important than anyone else's. And if we're not able to support the research and initiatives that keep something that I don't rant to dave a part of," said Agni Karabela Tim O'Brien ant ‘incent Jantomasi voted in favour of adding the sacredness of life wording. ew, Guzzo, Patrick Murphy, Peter DeRosa and Janet O'Hearn-Czarnota voted against the addition. It is April and time for the “Give Where You Live” campaign in support of Cancer Assistance Services of Halton Hills (CAShh). Please help us to continue to provide our vital services to those dealing with a cancer diagnosis in the community of Halton Hills. You can donate in a number of ways; © Online ‘single’ or ‘monthly’ donations through our website at © Mail a cheque to the CAShh office © Donation drop off at the CAShh Office Mailbox (contact the office for location) Did you know? © CAShh provides free transportation and practical home care support to our clients. © We do not receive any government funding nor are we associated with any cancer organization. © We rely on our April Campaign to generate a large portion of our income for the year. Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers and generous donors in the community of Halton Hills. We cannot do what we do without you! www.cancerassistance.org 222 Mountainview Road North, Georgetown, ON L7G 3R2 Phone 905-702-8886 © Email: helphope@cancerassistance.org Charitable Org #898404918 RROOO1 MARKETPLACE DENTAI PAORCN-)|o)amcia (10) eae Market Place) ow 905-877-CARE (er 3} towndental.com