Oakville Beaver, 16 Sep 2021, p. 2

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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 16 ,2 02 1 | 2 Ask us about Alcohol TakeOut/DeliveryTakeOut/DelivereOut/DeliveryeOut/Deliver $14.00 PP $6.00 PP $3.50 PP $90.00 PER PIE $5.50 PP $6.00 PP $20 1L $15 1L $6.00 PP $6.00 PP $6.00 PP $31PP $29PP $27PP $43PP $41PP $39PP $53PP $50PP $47PP for all orders - please place MIN 5 days IN advaNce - saMe day orders wIll Not be avaIlable. for all tIers, the prIces & portIoNs are subjected towards the couNt of people. INdIvIdual prIces are Not related to the tIer packages. for aNy chaNges, ModIfIcatIoNs aNd allergIes, please gIve us a call. taxes applIcable. (pp-per persoN) 438 KERR STREET, OAKVILLE MeNu avaIlable startINg froM october 9th - 11th boNaNZa or behaviour. "Having listened to over 50 hours of board meetings, I do not share trustee (Pe- ter) DeRosa's sense that the chair has acted in a man- ner that is unfair or unbal- anced," reads the report. "He has stayed calm and re- spectful in emotionally- charged debates and has sought to ensure that all trustees have the same op- portunity to express them- selves." Bresner stated, "The al- legations of bias or improp- er conduct by the chair must be viewed in context." He refers to the fact that trustees Vincent Iantomasi and DeRosa -- from whom the allegations emanate -- are both former board chairs, and that Iantomasi was defeated for that posi- tion by Murphy in Decem- ber 2020. The investigation sought to answer two other questions: whether the conduct of trustees was compliant with board poli- cies regarding civil beha- viour, and whether there has been behaviour in gen- eral that has not been in the best interest of the board and student achievement. The report concluded that while behaviour may have become heated at meetings, it rarely crossed the line. The report credits much of the "dysfunction" at the board to what it describes as its factionalism, which regularly sees trustees vot- ing as a bloc "regardless of the issues." As a result, many decisions before the board are decided by a vote from the chair, which re- sulted in allegations of bi- as. The extensive break- down of meetings finds that while clashes are common at the board meeting, they have not extended into name calling, direct insults or other seriously disrup- tive behaviour. It does identify that the minority group of trustees have used parliamentary procedures to frustrate and delay the majority's agenda that is "arguably in breach of the trustees' du- ties under the Education Act." For example, at the April 26 meeting wherein the question of raising a Pride flag at schools was discussed, trustee Tim O'Brien made a number of amendments to the motion, including a proposal to strike out an almost full page of action items from it. He attempted to postpone the motion indefinitely twice, and unsuccessfully proposed an "objection to the consideration of the question," which would have removed the flag rais- ing motion entirely. However, the report states this does not neces- sarily constitute a breach of decorum or civil beha- viour. "There is no magic bul- let which will remedy the divide between the majori- ty and minority at the Board. It will take goodwill and, most importantly, mu- tual respect to put their philosophical differences aside for the greater good. Each of the trustees has something positive to bring to the table," reads the re- port. The report concludes with a number of recom- mendations for the board. They include retaining le- gal council to review the board's procedural bylaws, advising trustees to refrain from actions they know will only irritate other trustees and addressing technical issues that have come up during meetings. Addressing the report's findings after the meeting, Murphy said he hopes the investigation gave trustees a chance to reflect on their conduct during meetings. "It is my hope that my colleagues will use this re- port as a mechanism for personal reflection and professional development. As noted so eloquently in the report, there is no mag- ic bullet. The remedy is goodwill and mutual re- spect," said Murphy in an interview. "All trustees are ac- countable to the communi- ty. We each have a choice what we want our legacy to be." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Following months of disputes among Halton Catholic trustees at board meetings and subsequent criticism from the commu- nity, we wanted to examine the findings of a third- party investigation into their conduct. NEWS Continued from page 1 A report on the conduct of Halton Catholic District School Board trustees found that chair Patrick Murphy had not demonstrated bias in his decisions. Graham Paine/Metroland BEHAVIOUR HEATED BUT RARELY CROSSED THE LINE: REPORT

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