Conquest, Controversy, and Consolidation

In 1988, Richard Morin, a grade 9 teacher, was removed from a Prince Edward Island classroom for showing a BBC documentary critical of fundamentalist Christianity. Receiving “swift and unfavourable” pressure from parents, George MacDonald, the principal, deemed the lesson inappropriate for grade 9 students. ¹ Through the Teachers’ Federation, Morin questioned the decision, and five weeks later, a curriculum committee reviewed his lesson. The committee upheld the principal’s decision, ruling that the lesson was “questionable… with regard to the sensitivity of the topic.” ² Morin was placed on paid leave thereafter. After over a decade of battling the Board of Trustees, Morin was eventually vindicated through the Court of Appeal. Justice L. K. Webber, speaking for the majority, remarked it was clear that Principal MacDonald’s purpose was to “avoid controversy by prohibiting any possibly controversial content.” ³ “Surely,” Justice Webber commented, “teachers engaged in their profession of teaching can’t be found to have no right of free expression, while advertisers do have such a right, and even prostitutes carrying out their profession have such a right.” ⁴