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Amy McKay is being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in a legal challenge against the Ontario College of Teachers. Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms handout photo
A former Ottawa-area teacher is contesting an attempt by the Ontario College of Teachers to force her to surrender her teaching licence over her social media comments about gender issues.
Amy McKay, a former long-term occasional teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board in Ontario, was told by the regulatory body this spring that a complaint had been filed against her nearly two years earlier by her former school board. The college said she could either give up her teaching licence or face an investigation, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a non-profit legal organization representing McKay.
JCCF said in a release that the social media posts in question expressed concerns about “gender identity ideology, gender-affirming medical interventions, and women’s sex-based rights.” The Epoch Times was not able to independently verify the content of the posts.
McKay’s attorney, Hatim Kheir, sent a letter to the college this month to refuse the request to relinquish her licence. He said it violates her Charter right of expression.
“Many Canadians in all walks of life are subject to professional regulation,” he said in the Nov. 14 JCCF news release. “Canadians should not have to choose between their right to express deeply held views and the ability to be a member of a professional body.”
McKay went on leave from her position with the Ottawa-Carleton board in 2022 to start working toward a professional counselling degree. It was during this time that the board allegedly banned her from teaching in its schools because of a complaint about McKay’s social media posts, JCCF said.
McKay resigned from her job in the school district in the spring of 2023, but kept her provincial teaching licence.
The Justice Centre said McKay was not aware the school board had filed a complaint against her with the teachers’ college until this year. The college contacted McKay on May 13 to tell her the school board had filed a complaint for investigation on June 27, 2023.
The college declined to comment on the case, and attempts to reach the school board for comment were unsuccessful as of publication time.
McKay now works as a registered psychotherapist and says that defending rights is a “non-partisan act of civic responsibility.”
“In a diverse and multicultural country, everyone’s rights must be considered and all are important. Attempting to silence, intimidate, or punish anyone for speaking about their experiences and their rights is wrong,” she said in the JCCF press release.
