Canada: Teacher fired for saying he personally believes abortion is wrong

“I find abortion to be wrong, but the law is often different from our personal opinions.”

According to Canada’s National Post, that statement was enough to get a teacher fired from Fraser Academy, a private school in Vancouver, last month.

Conservative columnist Christie Blatchford reported corresponding with the man, who asked that his name be withheld. He contended that while teaching a 12th grade law class, he gave several examples in which an individual’s moral beliefs might conflict with the law.

After revealing his thoughts on abortion, a student declared she felt triggered and fled the classroom. She later demanded an apology and complained to administrators after the teacher refused. “When I didn’t show contrition,” he said, “I was summoned upstairs and grilled by two administrators who told me my job was on the line.” The teacher agreed to offer an apology, but as Blatchford described, it wasn’t well received:

He apologized specifically to her, but then made what was apparently a fatal error: He said he liked her, that she was a bright and engaging student, and said he’d told her father just that at a recent parent-teacher night.

She stormed out of the class in tears, and he was again castigated by his superiors, this time for having been “too personal” in his apologia.

On Nov. 30… [h]e was told he “could no longer continue in the classroom,” and was offered a short-term medical disability top-up for employment insurance. He was then escorted down the hall and off the premises.

He repeatedly asked what he’d done wrong or if there was an allegation of misconduct. “The answer I got back was that I was recognized as an outstanding teacher, but student ‘safety’ was the school’s primary concern.”

Postmedia (the National Post’s parent company) has since published a follow-up report.