A retired Canadian principal has taken his life after relentless bullying by a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant hired by his district.
On Thursday, attorney Lisa Bildy took to Twitter to break the sad news that her client, 60-year-old Richard Bilkszto, a former principal with the Toronto District School Board had committed suicide.
“With sorrow, it is announced that Richard Bilkszto passed away suddenly last Thursday, July 13, 2023 at his home in Toronto. He was 60 years of age. He leaves behind his distraught mother, brother, nephews, niece and many dear family and friends whose lives he touched over the years,” Bildy wrote.
Bilkszto retired in 2019, but continued to do contract work for the school district. However, Bildy said that he “suffered an affront to [his] stellar reputation in the spring of 2021, causing him severe mental distress.”
“Unfortunately, the stress and effects of these incidents continued to plague Richard,” Bildy said. “Last week, he succumbed to this distress. His family and friends have been left reeling and wishing they could have had the chance to convince him that he was loved, respected, and needed here. May he rest in peace.”
With his family’s permission, I am very saddened to release this statement about the passing of my client, Richard Bilkszto. pic.twitter.com/mNzMAxkp5V
— Lisa Bildy (@LDBildy) July 20, 2023
The “affront” the Bildy referred to came at the hands of a DEI consultant hired by the district named Kike Ojo-Thompson, founder of the woke KOJO Institute, which helps institutions with DEI initiatives.
According to National Review, in one of the “equity sessions” hosted by Ojo-Thompson, Bilkszto challenged her claim that Canada was an institutionally racist country. Ojo-Thompson responded to Bilkszto by lambasting him for his whiteness.
Another DEI expert joined in, National Review reported, scolding Bilkszto with the line, “if you want to be an apologist for the U.S. or Canada, this is really not the forum for that.”
Following the session, the school board issued a statement commending Ojo-Thompson for modeling how to overcome “resistance” to DEI initiatives, and in later meetings, Ojo-Thompson continued to single out Bilkszto’s comments as a form of “resistance,” National Review reported.
Bilkszto later sued the school board, demanding an investigation into the consultant’s behavior, which the board refused. However, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, an Ontario insurance collective, did investigate and ruled that Ojo-Thompson’s conduct did constitute bullying, National Review reported.
Despite this, the strain of the constant bullying by the DEI consultants continued to plague Bilkszto.
In a statement, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, which Bilkszko was involved in, said, “Richard’s passing serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of community and supporting those around us who are courageous enough to stand firm in their beliefs.”
We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Richard Bilkszto.
Richard was involved in the early stages of establishing FAIR in Canada, and we are grateful to him for all of his efforts. He volunteered first with the Ontario Chapter and then took the lead in… pic.twitter.com/8rXnAdXIUr
— Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) (@fairforall_org) July 21, 2023
RIP, Richard Bilkszto, a Toronto Educator Who Stood up to Woke Bullying—and Paid the Price | Jonathan Kay https://t.co/2OOfQrWKJK
— Quillette (@Quillette) July 21, 2023
If any conservatives were still wondering why we need to fight back hard against these woke DEI initiatives, this tragedy should give them the answer.
Instead of trying to heal racism and division in our society, these initiatives do the exact opposite. They pit different groups against each other and only serve to aggravate racial antagonism in our society.
Their only aim seems to be to make certain groups of people hate themselves because of their skin color. This is nothing more than pure racism.
Conservatives should use this tragedy as motivation to fight back harder against these initiatives in order to prevent more potential victims from having to undergo the same horror that Richard Bilkszto faced.
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