A trustee candidate for the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board will decide this week whether to file an application with the Superior court to overturn the municipal election results.
Erie Renaud ran for trustee in last October's election and campaigned for one publicly funded school system.
He recently received a freedom of information request from the school board which he says is documented proof, the catholic board and diocese of London, interfered in the election.
The board handed over documents on January 11th that included copies of internal emailed and minutes.
Renaud points to an emergency meeting following Renaud's news conference and a letter distributed to Catholic parishes, although the letter does not directly name Renaud.
"It is obvious which candidates they were targeting as I was the only one from the Catholic school board side who was actually pushing this platform," he says.
School board candidates Alan Halberstadt and Eric Renaud are pushing for one publicly funded school system. October 3, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Renaud says the letter should not have been distributed.
"This letter was not approved by the board of trustees, there was no oversite, it was a bunch of people who were not elected by the voters deciding we want this and this is the way it is going to be," he says.
Renaud has until January 22nd to decide whether to file with the Superior court to challenge the results. and says following the documents he received, he is considering it.
In the meantime, he has filed a complaint with the province through the Ombudsman's office.
"I want a provincial investigation into the school board over the misuse of taxpayers resources, we have to make sure nothing like this never happens again in a publicly funded organization meddles in the democratic process," he says.
Bishop Ronald Fabbro (Photo by AM800's Kimberley Johnson)
In a written statement, the Catholic school board says "We stand by the original actions of our FACE committee, and believe we are well within our rights as Catholic education leaders to communicate our vision for publicly funded Catholic education in Ontario directly to our supporters."
Also Bishop Ronald Fabbro of The Diocese of London released a statement stating "In autumn of last year I co-signed a letter together with Director of Education Terry Lyons, Board Chair Barb Holland, and the presidents of the board teacher's unions.
As Bishop of the Diocese of London, and as a former educator myself, I believe in the right and the obligation to speak about the importance of Catholic education. The letter was part of the healthy sharing of ideas that typifies a democratic election. It certainly did not interfere in the voters' right to make an informed choice