TORONTO, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers will appear before the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) on Monday, December 8, 2025, for a consultation hearing in the case of Ontario teachers Matt and Nicole Alexander. The hearing will consider the Alexanders’ complaint that their union, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), failed in its duty of fair representation by refusing to advance their Charter-based grievances arising from their termination “for not celebrating and affirming LGBTQ issues.”
Because most government workers are unionized, employees like the Alexanders can only pursue their Charter rights — including freedom of conscience and religion under section 2(a) and freedom of expression under section 2(b) — through their union. When a union refuses to advance a grievance, the worker is effectively denied any route to argue that these constitutional rights were breached.
Matt and Nicole Alexander, long-serving teachers from Cobden, Ontario, dedicated more than two decades to supporting students in their community before abruptly facing suspensions in 2023.
Their ordeal began after their son, Josh Alexander, publicly questioned his own school’s policy of allowing biological males who identify as female to use girls’ washrooms. Although Josh attended a different school board, the controversy soon followed his parents. Mr. Alexander was suspended on April 17, 2023, in relation to social media posts made about him, even though he had no public social media accounts. Ms. Alexander was suspended on May 5, 2023, after she quietly placed a pride poster into a classroom cabinet when she found it taped to her kindergarten door without her consent. On October 26, 2023, the Renfrew County District School Board terminated both teachers.
The union declined to contest their termination and did not provide any reasons.
Constitutional lawyer Darren Leung said, “For unionized employees, the only way to access their Charter rights in relation to their employer is through the union. Matt and Nicole were ignored by their union in their hour of need, and we are hopeful that the Labour Relations Board will remedy this serious breach of the union’s duty of fair representation.”
Two legal actions are currently underway: a human rights complaint against the school board alleging discrimination based on religious belief, and the duty of fair representation complaint against ETFO, now advancing before the OLRB.
Lawyers funded by the Justice Centre will present full submissions at the December 8 hearing. The Board is expected to reserve its decision, with a ruling likely in early 2026.
