The OCT Blackballs Jim Black

And Justice Is Not Served. The Man Is A Hero

So, when I wrote about a little silly decision from the Ontario College of Teacher Disciplinary Tribunal recently, I didn't think too much of it. I didn't imagine that they were really a corrupt body that was self serving and hit with the "Power Corrupts" bug. Well, I was wrong.

Take the case of Jim Black for example.

Here's what the record of James Arthur Black says on the Ontario College of Teachers website:

On October 23, 2008, member found guilty of professional misconduct. On July 27, 2009, Certificate of qualification and registration suspended for twenty four months. Reprimand. Member to pay fine of $1000. Publication in Professionally Speaking.

Isn't that good? They are policing their own and got a bad one, so they nicked him.

Well, not so fast there, gentle readers.

Jim Black is one of the good guys. Impossible you say. Read on.

Here is a little about Jim Black from the Canadian For Accountability web site:

A retired Ontario teacher with 30 years of experience, he appears to have an excellent reputation amongst his peers: in 2002 he was nominated for the Prime Minister's Award in teaching and he served on the Ontario College of Teachers Council from 2002-2003. We evaluated his situation and determined that he fit the criteria of a whistleblower in difficulty.

Here is a bit from the LifeSite News article about Jim from June 17, 2009:

James Black, who was a teacher in Ontario for 30 years, was elected to sit on the OCT Council from 2002-2003. While on the Council, he served for a time on the Discipline Committee, which is in part responsible for deciding whether to reinstate the licenses of sex offenders. In 2006, Black told CTV News that he thought parents would be surprised to find out that sometimes licenses are reinstated. “Even people that have been convicted ... have the opportunity to become teachers again by making a presentation behind closed doors,” Black said.

While on the Committee in 2003, Black participated in a hearing for Rodney Palmer, a teacher who, in 1990, was convicted of sexual exploitation and imprisoned for 15 months. Palmer had made sexual advances on a 16-year-old student at Brockville Collegiate public school, and, after moving to St. Mary’s Catholic School, brought a 17-year-old student home several times to have sex. After his conviction, Palmer’s license was suspended indefinitely.

At the hearing, Palmer sought a reinstatement of his teaching license, which the OCT granted him. According to CTV News, the only evidence they heard was from Palmer himself, and Black was the only member to vote against his reinstatement.

That, of course was not the end for Mr. Black. Later on things began to happen as the LifeSite item stated:

In 2004, Black was asked by the Ministry of Education to submit a critique of the OCT, a new body that completely oversees the teachers of Ontario, one of only two such governing bodies in Canada. Troubled by his time with the OCT, Black submitted a highly-critical four-page report addressing his concerns, particularly regarding them allowing sex offenders back into the classroom.

After submitting his report, Black says that he was subject to escalating reprisals, and in 2006, he opted to retire, which he says was largely due to the stress of having to deal with the actions being taken against him. In the same year, while running as a candidate for board trustee, Black made his report more public, resulting in media attention.

Palmer filed a complaint with the OCT in 2007, and, after a year-long investigation, Black was found guilty of breaching confidentiality in October 2008. Black is now awaiting a decision regarding his punishment, having just completed hearings.

Here is a CTV Whistleblower report from 2006.

In this wacky world we live in, a teacher who abuses students can get reinstated and if another blows the whistle on him because some morons at the OCT cannot see the danger he poses to the students in his care, the whistleblower is suspended, and fined, for breaching the privacy of a convicted criminal. Is this a crazy country we live in or what?

Jim Black is a hero. The OCT is no better than our HRCs. They all are cut from the same cloth, and it sucks.

Barb's Powers Over Other Bodies' Decisions

Section 45.1

The Other day, I was doing a piece on the Ontario College of Teachers Tribunal, and opined at the end as follows:

If Barbara Hall had gotten this at the Ontario HRC, she could have spent a lot of tax dollars fixing this guy's little red wagon. If she gets wind of it now, she will probably try to set up a mechanism that allows her to Appeal OCT tribunal decisions to the OHRC, so she can get her pound of flesh out of them. Actually, I see a new special project for Barb's Boys coming here.

Well, silly me, I didn't have to keep quiet about it. Barb Hall already has the power in Section 45.1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code:

45.1 The Tribunal may dismiss an application, in whole or in part, in accordance with its rules if the Tribunal is of the opinion that another proceeding has appropriately dealt with the substance of the application. 2006, c. 30, s. 5.

It says the Tribunal MAY dismiss a Compaint if some other body in the Tribunal's humble opinion has appropriately dealt with it.

That also means that the OHRC will have investigated it first and messed with people's lives again in a second go around at least, on an issue.

I picked this up because of an article by Brian Wasyliw of McCarthy Tetreault, one of Canada's pre-eminent law firms on Mondaq to which I subscribe. I assume you will need your own login to access this article. He examined a few cases that had gone from another body like the Landlord and Tenant Board, Ontario Labor Relations Board, and had previously written about one that was before an Independent Placement Review Committee and Special Education Tribunal.

Mr. Wasyliw came to the following conclusions in his article:

These cases re-affirm the basic approach set out in the Campbell decision that the Tribunal will consider two points when determining whether to dismiss a claim under Section 45.1.

1. Had another proceeding taken place?
2. If so, were the allegations before the Tribunal appropriately dealt with in the other proceeding?
3. 1. In deciding whether the other proceeding "appropriately dealt with the substance of the application," the questions is not whether the complaint was decided correctly in the other proceeding. The Tribunal does not have to be satisfied that it would have reached the same conclusion.
   2. However, some type of examination of the decision from the other proceeding is necessary. This examination requires the Tribunal to consider whether, in essence, the complaint was dealt with in a suitable and proper manner.

So, isn't it nice to know that among the super powers that the Ontario HRT has is the right to look over decisions of "inferior" tribunals and boards and see if they at least did it right? Our Ontario HRC brings a new meaning to dhimmitude. They are like mould.

You Think You Got It Bad?

If The Ontario HRC Won't Get You the Ontario College of Teachers Might

My wife was a teacher in the Ontario school system for many years, and she still gets the publication of the Ontario College of Teachers every month, called "professionally speaking". It's cool to use lower case in your title.

They have their own Discipline Committee, a 3 member panel, kind of like a Tribunal to "conduct public hearings into cases of alleged incompetence or professional misconduct."

It says in the magazine that "If found guilty of professional misconduct or incompetence, a member's certificate may be revoked, suspended or limited. In cases of professional misconduct only, the committee may also reprimand, admonish, or counsel the member, impose a fine, publish its order in Professionally Speaking or order the member to pay costs."

Have any of you ever come across a really incompetent teacher that you wanted to either kick their rosy red ??? across the street, or do something? Well, maybe you can contact the OCT about them. Go to their web site at oct.ca and see if you can. I don't know. You can try emailing them at info@oct.ca.

On the other hand, you all know a teacher who busts his or her hump to make learning fun and good for the kids. Maybe you could contact them about him or her too. Hopefully, you'll send more good news stories than bad news stories.

However, that is not my point. Like any well meaning tribunal with more power and interest in political correctness than makes sense to thinking people, they carry on with their task. They unfortunately have to adjudicate some pretty egregious behaviour, but not always.

Here is a case in point, and fortunately for the teacher involved, his name was left out of the report in the magazine. The man in question had been a teacher for 29 years. The good news for him is that after this nonsense, he is probably close to the retirement 85 factor (you can retire as a teacher in Ontario when your age and years of teaching total 85).

He coaches sports and committed the following very serious offences (not in my opinion):
1) brushed his foot against the buttocks of a girl during a basketball practice, probably to get her to go where he wanted her to.
2) tousled a young boy's hair during a baseball game
3) put his hand on the shoulder of a female student while discussing a detention with her.
and 4) touched the back of a young girl during a dance practice to place her on her mark.

He was reprimanded, and required to take a course on appropriate boundaries and boundary violations.

In 29 years of exemplary conduct, this is what they zapped this poor guy for, basically for caring about the kids, and trying to reach them.

If Barbara Hall had gotten this at the Ontario HRC, she could have spent a lot of tax dollars fixing this guy's little red wagon. If she gets wind of it now, she will probably try to set up a mechanism that allows her to Appeal OCT tribunal decisions to the OHRC, so she can get her pound of flesh out of them. Actually, I see a new special project for Barb's Boys coming here. Better zip it.