For more than twenty years, Carolyn Burjoski was a beloved elementary teacher in Ontario. She helped countless children—especially newcomers and refugees—find their footing in a new country. But in January 2022, her career came to a sudden and shocking halt when she dared to raise concerns about age-inappropriate material in school libraries.

During a Waterloo Region District School Board meeting, Carolyn calmly began to read passages from sexual material available in her own elementary school library. Before she could finish, the chair cut her off and accused her of violating the Human Rights Code. Within days, Carolyn was stripped of the dignity she had earned over decades in the classroom. She was suspended, publicly smeared as “transphobic,” and the video evidence of her speech was removed from the school board’s website so the public could not compare what she actually said to the false narrative being crafted by the school board. (You can watch her 4-minute delegation here: https://www.bitchute.com/video/wdIQBQfhuw9B)

The board chair and others went further, isolating her from colleagues and students, defaming her in media interviews and framing her as a threat rather than what she was: a caring teacher trying to protect kids. Barred from contact with her students, robbed of her retirement celebration, and overwhelmed by the attacks, Carolyn was hospitalized for anxiety and began a long road to emotional recovery.

But she did not give up. Carolyn launched a defamation lawsuit against the school board and its chair. Twice now, Ontario courts have ruled in her favour, rejecting attempts to dismiss her case under anti-SLAPP laws. Judges confirmed what many saw all along: she never said anything hateful, and the chair’s public statements were untrue.

Carolyn’s legal battle is now in its 4th year, and her courageous persistence has lit a fire for free speech in Canadian education. Her story is a warning about how quickly dissent can be silenced—and an inspiration for those who refuse to bow to intimidation.