(Cour' file I /O.

ON7i llIJO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

B ET WEEN:

DAV ID HARVEY

Appli ca nt

and

HA LTON CATI-IOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

Responde nt

AP PLICAT ION UN DER subsection 6(2) of the .JudiC-·illl Rel1iew Pmcedure Act R.S.O. 1990 c.J. l

NOTI CE OF APPLI CATION FOR ,JUD I CI AL REVIEW

TO THE RESPONDENT

A LEGAL PROCEEDING I-Ill S IlEEN COMMEN CED by Ih e "pplican!. The claim mad e by Ihe
appli cant appears on the fo ll owing pages.
qt'-
'1'1-1 IS APPLI CA n ON for j udicial rev iew wil l come on for a hearing 0 11 Wednesday. Ma ~ . 20 18. at
10:00 AM. at the Milton Cou rthouse. 49 1 Steel es Ave E, Milton, ON L9T ' Y7.

IF YO U WISH TO OPPOSE T I-II S APPLI CA TION, to receive not ice of any step in the applicat ion
o r to be served with any docu ments in the applicatio n, you o r an Ontario la wyer acti ng lor YOLI must
forthwi th prepare a noti ce of appearance in Fonn 38A presc ribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure. serve
it on the applicant 's lawyer or, where the appli ca nt docs not have a lawyer, se rve it on the applicant , and
fil e it, with proof of service, in thi s courl offi ce. and you or your la wye r mu st appear al the hearin g.

IF YOU WIS H TO PRESENT A ITIDA V IT OR OTHER DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE TO TI IE

COURT OR TO EXAMINE OR CROSS-EXAM INE WITN ESS ES ON THE A PPLICATION, YO li or
your lawye r must, in addition 10 serv ing yo ur not ice of appearance, serve a copy or the evidence on the
applicant's lawyer or, where the applicant docs n OI have a lawyer, serve it on the npplicanl, and fil e it.
wi lh proo f orservice, in the court oflice where the appli cation is to be heard as soon as poss ible. bUI at
least four days be rare the hearing.
IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR ATTHE HEA RING, JUDGM ENT MAY BE GIVEN IN YOUR
ABSENCE AND WITHOUT FURTH ER NOTIC E TO YOU. IF YOU W ISH TO OPPOSE TI·IIS
APPLICAT ION BUT ARE UNABLE TO PAY LEGAL FEES, LEGAL AID MAY BE AVAILABLE
TO YOU BY CONTACTING A LO CA L LEGAL AID OFFICE.

Date ......... ......... A.p<.;.\. ... \.J.\ . ~~ I.:" .. ............. ...... Issued by
Loea cglslrar
491 Steeles A venu East
Milton. Ontario
L9T IV7

TO: THE HALTON CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

802 Drury Lane
Burlington, ON
L7R 2Y2

AND TO: Attomcy General of Ontario (as required by subsection 9(4) of the Judicial Review
Procedure Act)
Crown Law Office - Civil
720 Bay Street 8th Floor
Toronto , Ontario
M5G 2K I

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 APPLI CATION

I. The applicant makes application for:

a. Leave to bring this application before a judge of the Superior Court of Justice pursuant to

subsection 6(2) of the Judicial Review Procedure Ael R.S.O. 1990 c.J.1 on the ground s

that the delay in seeking a hearing date before the Divi sional Court would likel y involve

a failure of justice;

b. An order quas hing Resolution 61 / 18 passed by the Respondent on February 20, 2018;

c. In the alternative, an order prohibiting the Respondent from enforcing the substance or
Resolution 61 / 18 until it has completed a meaningful process of community consultation

and adopted a revised Fundraising Policy;

d. Costs of thi s application;

e. Such further and other relief as the Applicant may request and thi s Honourable COllrt

permit.

2. The grounds for the application are :

a. The applicant is a resident of the City of Burlington, and is the parent of a child who

attends a school within the jurisdiction of the respondent, the Halton Catholic District

School Board.

b. On February 20 , 2018 , the Halton Catholic Di strict School Board, by a 5 to 4 vote, passed

Resolution 61 / 18, whkh amended the Board's policy with respect to charitabl e

fundraising done by the Board, including school s, School Council s, pare nts and students.

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 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Halton Catho lic District Schoo l Board (HCDSB),
because it is a Catholi c Insti tution, will not provide or facilitate allY financial
donation s to any charities or non-profits that publicly support, either directly or
indirectly, abortion, contraception, sterilization, euthanasia, or embryonic stem
cell research. For the purposes of this motion, "public support" for the issues
listed above ( i.c. abortion, contraception clc .... ) is not support when privately
expressed but is support when publically expressed on a website, in press material
or found in some other public area.

C. Reso lution 61118 significantly restricts which charities sc hools, school councils, parents

and students are permitted to raise funds for. The language "directly or indirectl y" is

vague. The Board has an approved Fundraising Po lic y and an approved Administrative

Procedure on School Fundraising Activities, but neither provide any guidance on how to

approve or reject charities based on Resolution 61118. Clearly, Reso lution 61/18

constituted a change in the fundraising policy of the Board, which would require

amendment to the approved Fundraising Po licy and the approved Adm inistrati ve

Procedure on School Fundraising Activities.

d. Section 19 of Regulation 6 12100 under the Educafion Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.E.2 provi des:

19. (I) In addition to its other obligations to solicit the views of school councils
under the Act, every board shall so licit the views of the schoo l councils
established by the board with respect to the following matters:

1. The es tablisluncnt or amendment of board policies and guidel ines that relate to
pupil achievement or to the accountability of the education system to parents,
including ,

iv. po licies and guidelines respect ing the fundraising activities of school council s.

e. Section 23 of Reg ulation 612/00, SI/pm, provides:

23. A schoo l council shall consult with parents of pupil s enrolled in the school
about matters under consideration by the co uncil.

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 f. The Respondent did not solicit the views of School Co uncils prior to passing Resolution

61 / 18.

g. Because the views of School Councils were not solicited, the School Councils did not

consult with parents concerning Resolution 61118.

h. The Chair of the Board of Trustees and the Director of Ed ucation of the Respondent both

admitted at the Trustees' meeting on March 20, 2017 that the Board is in violation of

Regulation 612/00 due to its failure to seek the input of School Councils.

1. The Resolution was also passed in contravention of the procedures set out in the Board's

own By~Laws and Policies.

J. Notwithstanding the lack of consultation and the lack of a revised Fundraising Policy and

a revised Administrative Procedure on School Fundraising Activities, the board began

enforcing Resolution 61118 using an ad hoc process to determine which charities would

be on an "approved list". Prior fundraising activities within the Board had provided

funds to over 100 charities. As a resu lt of the ad hoc enforcement of Resolution 6 11 18,

fewer than 30 of those charities were found to be eligible for fund raising within the

Board. Charities for which fundraising is no longer permitted include The Canadian

Cancer Society and The Hospital for Sick Children. In prior years, fund raising activities

within the Board have raised hundreds of thou sand s of' dollars for these charities.

k. At it s March 20, 2018 meeting, weeks after passing Reso lution 61118 and beginning to

enforce it , the Board agreed to seek the input of stakeholders regarding the amended

fundraising policy. That consultation process commenced on April 13. 2018 and has not

been completed. The Respondent has sent an email to parents seeking feedback on the

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 proposed revised fundraising policy with a deadline of June 1. 2018 . The feedback wi ll

be dealt with at subsequent board meetings, and the Board will vote on whether to

implement the revised policy, or further amend it. However, during the consultation

process the Board is enforc ing Resolution 6111S . A Note on the Board website slales:

Resolution 61/1S is still in effec t during this period of poli cy amendment and
stakeholder consultation. At this time school fundraising efforts may only be
directed to charities andlor non-profit organizations that meet the requirements in
this resolution.

I. Other than the email noted above, the Board has not commenced any process to

specifica ll y seck input from School Councils as required by Regu lation 612/00.

m. Some planned fundraising activities at schools have been cancelled . The proceeds of

other fundraising activities have been redirected from the originally inte nded recipients to

other organizat ions,

n. School Councils, parents, stafT and students prepare far in advance for many fundraising

activities. Some major annual fundraising events, such as the Relay For Life in support of

The Canadian Cancer Society, are scheduled to take place in the next few weeks . These

arc community events that arc organized by the chariti es in which students and staO'

partic ipate, therefore the School Council s have no power to postpone them. As of right

now, the participation of schools and slUdents in these planned events is prohibiICd by the

Board because of Reso lution 6I1 IS. The charities will miss out on significant sums

normally raised by the students as a resu lt of their participation in these events, and

students and staff wi ll mi ss out on participating in events that are important to them.

o. A t a meeting of the Board's Policy Co mmittee on April 10, 201S a proposal was made 10

postpone the implementation of any amended policy until September I, 20lS to allow

6
 schoo ls to complete fundraising events already planned for th is schoo l year, and allow

them to plan with knowledge of any new rules for the next school year. That proposal

was voted down with the same 5-4 split.

p. The ex istence of statutory duties to see k input creates a common law duty of fairness on

the Board, requiring that stakeholders be given a reasonable opportunity for meaningful

input before decisions are made and new procedures are implemented. Nevertheless, th e

Board is proceeding to implement a decision it made without any attempt to meet its

statutory duties.

q. On April 11 , 20 18, the Mini ster of Education wrote to the Board to "encourage the board

to pause implementation of its new po li cy and continue with its consultation to ensure the

various voices in the schoo l community are heard and considered." Notwithstand ing the

request of the Min ister of Education and simi lar requcsts from many parents and students,

the Board has refused to suspend its enforcement of Resol uti on 61118 until the

consultation process is complete.

r. subsect ion 6(2) oflhe Judicia! Review Procedure Act R.S.O. 1990 c.J. I ;

s. Scctions 19-23 of Regu lation 612/00 under the Education Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.2;

t. Reso lution 6 1/ 18 of the Respondent;

u. The fo llowing Policies of the Respondent:

I. Procedural By-Laws;

ii. I - Gove rnance of Policy

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 III. 1-36 Trustee Code ofConducl

IV. V-04 School Fundraising Activities

v. VI-59 School Fundraising Activities

VI. VI- 84 Catho lic School Councils and Catholic Parents Involvement Committee

v. Rule 14.05(3)(d), (g) and (h) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194

under the COIII'IS ofJllstice AC,I , R.S.O. 1990, c.CA3.

3. The following documentary evidence will be used at the hearing of the application:

a. The affidavit of Joesph Harvey.

b. The affidav it of Brenda Agnew.

c. The affidavit of Kristy Dickinson.

d. The affidavit of Laura Keating.

e. The affidavit of Ben Sabourin.

(Dale of issue) DAVID HARVEY

2046 PARK LANE CRESCENT
BURLINGTON, ONTARIO
L7M 3V6

Telephone: 905-315 -8600

Email: dharvey6@gmai 1.com

Applicant

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I IARVEY \' HALTON CATHOLIC DISTR ICT SCHOOL BOARD (COlirt fife I/o.)
b 'i'-1. "1 III
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT

PROCEEDiNG COM MENCED AT M ILTON

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW

DAV ID HARVEY
2046 I'ARKLANE CRESCENT
BURLINGTON. ONTARIO
L7M 3V()

Telep hone: 905-3 15·H600

Email: dharveyMilgmai l.com

Applicant