WATERLOO, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers have filed a legal challenge of the Waterloo Region District School Board’s (the Board) decision to mandate the reading of land acknowledgements at school council meetings and to prohibit any debate on the issue.

The application has been brought on behalf of Geoffrey Horsman, a biochemistry professor and member of the Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School Council (Council), and the father of three children attending district schools.

Mr. Horsman’s concerns began when the Council started opening its meetings with land acknowledgements despite the fact that no vote or debate had ever been held on the practice. In the spring of 2025, he sought to have the matter placed on the agenda for discussion. However, the Council Chair declined and referred him to the school principal.

On May 9, 2025, the principal informed Mr. Horsman that the Board requires land acknowledgements at all school council meetings and that the topic could not be debated. Subsequent correspondence with the Board’s System Administrator of Equity and Inclusive Education, Mr. Vinay Tiwari, confirmed that land acknowledgements would remain mandatory and that school councils were barred from discussing or questioning the practice.

In an email dated October 29, 2025, Mr. Tiwari wrote that “territorial acknowledgements will continue to be part of School Council and WRDSB gatherings,” and added that questioning the validity of equity-focused initiatives “risks undermining the dignity of members of our community.”

Mr. Horsman’s judicial review challenges the Board’s conduct on three grounds:

• Mandating land acknowledgements compels Mr. Horsman to sit through a statement that contradicts his belief in the inherent dignity and equality of all people, engaging Charter-protected freedom of conscience under section 2(a), which protects the right to hold and act on personal moral or conscientious beliefs;

• Prohibiting any discussion of land acknowledgements at school council meetings suppresses Mr. Horsman’s ability to raise or challenge the issue, engaging Charter-protected freedom of expression under section 2(b), which protects the right to express and debate ideas without government interference;

• The Board has no statutory power under the Education Act or Ontario Regulation 612/00 to dictate school council practices or impose ideological recitations, raising an administrative law error.

Constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir said, “School councils exist to give a voice to parents. It is unconstitutional for the Board to mandate ideological recitations and prohibit any debate to the contrary.”

Mr. Horsman said, “The Board is imposing its ideological statements on students and the community, who are essentially a captive audience.”

“The most egregious part is that parents are forbidden from even discussing the appropriateness of such statements at School Councils—one of the few official communication channels available for parent input,” he added.