Saskatchewan Teaching Assistant Fired for Online Post About Walkout Over Pride Month in Schools

An educational assistant in Saskatchewan has been fired for posting an article to a private Facebook group about parents keeping their kids home on June 1 in protest against Pride Month in schools.

Leah Maier worked with Kindergarten to Grade 5 students at P.J. Gillen School, an elementary school in Esterhazy, for five years prior to her dismissal on June 12. The school is part of the Good Spirit School Division (GSSD).

Maier lost her job over a post to the private Facebook group Sask Unified Neighbours, of which she is an administrator. She posted a Lifesite News article without comment, titled, “Canadian parents urged to keep children home from school on June 1 to protest ‘Pride Month.’” 

At a meeting with Maier on June 12, GSSD officials told her the post went against their social media policy.

“In this article that I shared, there was no comments, no anything, it was just a simple share of an article and see what happens,” Maier told The Epoch Times.

“So in my meeting, … they said that anytime anyone shares something on Facebook it basically means that you are in agreement with what you’re sharing. And I said, ‘I strongly disagree. That’s not true.’”

In a letter handed to Maier on June 12, GSSD Director of Education Quintin Robertson said her post was in “direct conflict” with division policies on social media and discrimination, “the Employee Code of Conduct, GSSD foundational beliefs and the core values that our organization upholds.”

“While we respect the rights of our employees to express their opinions outside the workplace, it is essential that our employees uphold the core values of our organization, both professionally and personally. The nature of your social media post is damaging to the reputation of the school division and incompatible with our values and the culture we strive to maintain,” the letter read.

In response to The Epoch Times, Robertson said “privacy laws and regulations” prevented him from disclosing “specific details” about an employee’s work status or discipline.

“I assure you that the Good Spirit School Division follows a progressive discipline process designed to ensure fair and consistent treatment for all our staff. This process involves several steps, including coaching and counselling, written warnings, suspension, and, only in severe or persistent cases, termination. Each situation is evaluated on its own merits, and disciplinary action is always taken in consideration of the context and seriousness of the incident,” he wrote.

‘Called Out the School Division’

The letter to Meier also noted that she had “received written discipline regarding an incident of similar nature” in February 2022. Meier said she had posted an article about a graduate who had taken her own life, whose suicide note said that mandates related to COVID-19 were part of what led to her despair.

“I called out the school division and anyone who was pushing the vaccine mandates and masking mandates, etc., and I basically said, ‘Shame on all of you, this is a result of what you’re pushing,’” she said.

Maier is a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and is filing a grievance over her dismissal. She has children attending GSSD schools in Grades 12 and 3, and says she did not keep them home from school on June 1.

Maier, who is a mother, says she also has concerns about what is happening in some schools.

“They have a liberal agenda. They are cramming the pride movement down these kids’ throats,” she said.

“That goes against my Christian belief. That being said, I am going to accept everyone for who they are. I am that person who is going to be kind to you, no matter if you’re thinking you’re a cat on the floor, or whatever, I’m not going to be mean to you. But that stuff does not need to be put in schools.”

‘A Target on Your Back’

Nadine Ness, founder and president of Unified Grassroots, a Saskatchewan citizen’s group, publicized Maier’s firing on Twitter.

“We are at that point where you get fired for sharing the news,” Ness wrote.

In an interview, Ness said educators not on board with critical race theory or gender politics find themselves increasingly marginalized.

“If you don’t follow the woke agenda you get a target put on your back, and we’re noticing that with a lot of workers in the education system in Saskatchewan. And not only that, a lot of workers in the education system have been perpetrators of targeting people for their personal beliefs,” she said.

Ness said her vocal defence of parental authority has met with opposition from some teachers. She said at least 450 teachers within Unified Grassroots “express concerns to [her] on a regular basis” over ideologies being perpetrated in schools.

“They’re trying to cancel those who don’t match the leftist politics within the school system,” Ness said.

“The school needs to be a place that is non-political, where ideology and agenda are being indoctrinated into our kids. We need to start focusing back on education and not politics.”

Maier said she was a well-liked EA and is unsure what she will do for a career if she can’t continue.

“I love these students. I love kids,” she said.

“I went out of my way to bring them doughnuts. I did so much with them. On recesses I played with the kids.  I was so involved with them. I took them for ice cream. I just went above and beyond. And some of my best friends are teachers there.”