The Waterloo Region District School Board is facing a legal challenge regarding its policy on land acknowledgements at school council meetings. The Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has filed the challenge on behalf of Geoffrey Horsman, a biochemistry professor and parent of three children in district schools.

Horsman’s concerns arose when the school council began opening its meetings with land acknowledgements without any prior vote or discussion on the matter. In the spring of 2025, he attempted to have the issue added to the agenda for discussion. However, the council chair declined his request and directed him to the school principal. On May 9, the principal informed Horsman that the board mandates land acknowledgements at all school council meetings and that the topic could not be debated.

The judicial review challenges the board's actions on three main grounds. First, it argues that mandating land acknowledgements forces Horsman to endure a statement that contradicts his belief in the inherent dignity and equality of all individuals. Second, it claims that prohibiting discussion on the topic suppresses his ability to raise or challenge the issue. Lastly, it contends that the board lacks statutory authority under the Ontario Education Act or Regulation 612/00 to dictate school council practices or enforce ideological statements.

This legal dispute follows a similar incident in September, when another parent, Cristina Bairos Fernandes, objected to the practice of starting parent involvement committee meetings with a land acknowledgement. The committee chair acknowledged her objection, but Scott Miller, the board’s director of education, intervened, stating, "I think we’ve been pretty clear as a district school board what we believe, our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, call to action. And that’s across the province." The committee ultimately voted to record the objection but did not include the director’s interference in the minutes.

Horsman was among a few parent-committee members who requested that the minutes reflect the director’s interference, rather than omitting it. This is not the first instance of a parent facing challenges for objecting to land acknowledgements. In April, Catherine Kronas, a parent from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, raised concerns about the imposition of political speech in government settings. She was suspended from attending council meetings but was later reinstated after legal intervention from the JCCF.

Constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir commented on Kronas’ situation, stating that her remarks "were a reasonable and measured expression of a viewpoint held by many Canadians." He further noted that the board’s decision to suspend her was an act of censorship that infringed on her right to freedom of expression. Both parents have expressed concerns that reciting land acknowledgements constitutes political speech and have questioned their appropriateness in government institutions.