The trustees are banking on the short memory of the voting public. Members of the public at large may recall that the reason the province appointed Paul Christie as a supervisor, is because trustees, who turned in a $90-million deficit budget, are refusing to budge from that position.
Of 22 trustees, Nemiroff is the latest to gain public office as Etobicoke North’s representative. The turnout, which saw Nemiroff elected in a March 18, 2002 by-election, was about 10 percent of 51.000 eligible voters.
The by-election, held to replace former Trustee Basra, convicted of Immigration Act charges and forced under the Education Act to resign his seat, cost the board and its taxpayers a whopping $160,000.
In only eight months, the rookie trustee is part of the team launching a defence fund that is soliciting public support.
The history of the trustee’s pre-election legal background is documented by the stridently communist newspaper People’s Voice:… "Nemiroff told the Board that he had legal advice that it should either appoint him as the runner-up (from the last municipal election) or call a by-election to let the people decide. Combined with strong intervention from the community, Nemiroff’s action was enough to peel away two votes needed to force the by-election, preventing the Tories from appointing one of their own to replace Basra."
Before Nemiroff’s election, The Voice pointed out that the 22-member board is "split almost evenly between right-wing and "progressive" trustees. (Progressive is the latter-day description under which New Democratic and communist politicians like to hide).
"The election of another progressive trustee could finally enable the board to refuse to comply with the Tory underfunding formula which has already cut 25 percent of the TDSB budget since 1995," The Voice said, in a pre-election article on Nemiroff.
Toronto Free Press was unable to find any reference to the Communist Party of Canada on the election brochures of Paula Fletcher, who rode to election on the coattails of Coun. Jack Layton in the November 2000 municipal election.
Communist Trustee Elizabeth Hill has been a trustee since 1994.
Nemiroff’s campaign chairman in last March’s by-election was John Cartwright, Fletcher’s husband and President of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.
Among the first to endorse Nemiroff were the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the Toronto Teachers’ Federation (elementary panel).
The current defence fund launched by the trustees is being bankrolled by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation District 12, the Elementary Teachers of Toronto and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4400.
Meanwhile, it is commonly believed that communism died with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1983.
It may be flagging in Russia, but communism is alive and kicking down at the Toronto Board of Education.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement