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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Ottawa's school board censured a trustee after antisemitism complaint—but stopped short of suspension
Description: Donna Blackburn, a long-serving trustee on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, has been formally censured by her peers and must take antisemitism training. The vote came on Nov. 26, following an official complaint accusing Blackburn of using slurs about Jews being powerful bullies.
While the OCDSB stopped short of suspending Blackburn outright, as others in similar situations have been, Jewish leaders are applauding the school board’s somewhat unexpected stand against antisemitism. The OCDSB has long been accused of treating Jewish students and staff differently than other equity-seeking groups. In this latest example, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a trustee on the bo...