A Pincourt, Que., mother believes she is being discriminated against by her daughter’s school.
Lianne Watt isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 and Edgewater Elementary School says that means she can’t volunteer in her child’s classroom to take part in a special class activity on campus, starting Wednesday.
Watt said she spoke to the principal.
“I said I feel that this is 100 per cent discrimination. Everywhere else the mandate is being dropped,” she told Global News, pointing to the fact that on March 12, the province suspended the proof of vaccination pass which came into effect last September.
Watt also wonders why COVID-19 vaccination is required for volunteers and not teachers.
According to her she offered to take a COVID rapid test, but to no avail.
In a statement to Global News, Lester B. Pearson School Board, which oversees the school, wrote, “the school board considers that the measures that were put in place during the pandemic are still required to ensure the safety of its students and staff.
“The school board does not consider this measure to be discriminatory and is entirely justified by the current health situation.”
They added that they’ll monitor the epidemiological situation and change to the policy if necessary.
Human rights lawyer Julius Grey believes the school’s decision is justifiable.
“I don’t think participating in a home and school activity is a fundamental or basic right,” he argued.
“It’s not depriving her of food or lodging or health care or anything like that.”
Grey pointed out that the school has the right to limit the participation of parents in any activity.
“A school decision based on the fact that the virus is still there, that there are many people, that you want to avoid spreading it, is not an unreasonable one,” he opined.
Watt said she hasn’t decided if she’ll pursue the issue legally.
Quebec’s ministry of education did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.