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HB NEWS DETAILS RELEASED ON TRUSTEE CODE OF CONDUCT INVESTIGATION ROLAND CILLIERS. rcilliers@metroland.com A previously confiden- tial 110-page investigation report on Halton Catholic school board trustee Hele- na Karabela's code of con- duct violations was re- leased to the public on Oct. 11 following an Oct. 4 vote by trustee: The report documents a series of email newslet- ters sent out by the Oak- ville trustee from Febru- ary to July 2022. The emails touch on a wide range of topics and include titles like "Take Action Today to Remove Student Mask Mandates’ and 'The Vote Against Abortifacient Contracep- tion is Tonight!" The report claims that these emails violated a number of aspects of the Trustee Code of Conduct policy, including Section 4, which states: "A trustee may not make disparag- ing remarks about anoth- er Trustee or group of Trustees in expressing such mment or dis- agreement or speculate on the motives ofa trustee or group of trustees.” pen asked for com- aid she pelieved ther release of the report — at the time — was an attempt to influ ifthe m tions in the way they han- dled the Trustee Code of Conduct allegations, and even worse, with the delay sharing the details of the report with the public. They decided to release the report the week before election week," said Kara- bela. Representatives from the board disagree with the argument that the re- lease of the report was connected to Karabela's re-election campaign. HCDSB Cha: Duarte said the decision was made following sever- al requests to do so by nicipal election. "My colleagues are in- terfering with the elec- 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 RADARS! Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) [= 2022 i i WINNER spir- it of full transparency with the public. “If you look at the time- HALTON AUDIOMETRIC erates Georgetown's trusted choice tor hearing care 905.877.8828 Anmstrong Ave Guelph St. (Hwy. 7) E T i Bivd line, a normal thorough rocess was followed and there was no ‘intentional delay’ as being perpetrat- ed and the trustee's re- election outcome was nev- er a consideration in re- leasing the report. It should be noted from the evidence in the complaint at the frequency of Trustee Karabela's news- letters to ratepayers had ramped up in the months leading to elections, which led to a Code of Conduct complaint and investigation during this period," said Duarte. In one email Karabela titled 'Democracy is un. der Attack in the Halton Catholic District School Board,' sent out on July 2, Illuminated’De ecor Christmaslinens < > <a we ne ake ake An Exclusive Christmas Experience! Featuti Store Hours: Thursdays: 10AM - 7PM Fridays: 10AM-7PM Saturdays: }OAM-6PM = =~ Sundays: 1TAM-4PM 2 Dec. 19 - 23: cand Painted Ornaments < ~ Festive Accessories HCDSB photo HELENA KARABELA 2022, the trustee argues that her motion to fundraising to atone tions that support direct sterilization was led out of order for "biased and faulty reasoning." She goes on to speculate on the motives of the trustees who opposed the “Evel ery a authentic pro- life person would be hap- py to vote for my pro-life oe Pesie o 3 motions, yet the pattern of # o voting by the trustees has 3 3 shown that not only are x they anti- Alife, but they are anti-dem yy," read: the email ‘included i in th report = icarabela said she be- Z lieves she has the support ES 2 z 2 of her constituents. day with my re-election... » I look forward to the only 8 8 poll that counts, the vot- 8 ing of ‘the electors on Mon- day. Board meetings of the HCDSB over the last term have repeatedly included outbursts, interruptio: and trustees being re- moved from the meeting. A 2021 report from a third party on the board's con- duct highlighted multiple examples of factionalism and dysfunction around the board table. The full code of con- duct investigation report on Karabela is available on the HCDSB's website. NOW OPEN ~ i athru Saturday, December 24! eeedoccccccsccs aXe Ke Sat. Dec. 24: BY. aYe a¥n ae 10 AM -7 PM if 10 AM-3 PM~ 14155 aledont King ftaesnine Go ° Bolton, ON For more info, CALL: 905-859-8077 www.thesisterstoc.com