April 28, 2025

The Upper Grand District School Board is pleased to announce that it has selected Patrick Case and Julie Lassonde, respected human rights leaders, to conduct a comprehensive third-party review of the Board’s application of human rights practices.

This review is part of the Board’s ongoing commitment to fostering learning and working environments where students, staff, and community members are safe, valued and treated with dignity. It will identify systemic barriers with the goal of promoting human rights centered actions. The appointed reviewers bring extensive professional experience in advancing human rights and evaluating institutional policies.

“The appointments of Patrick Case and Julie Lassonde is an important step forward in our work to bring our new Human Rights policy to life in every school, every classroom and every  interaction,” said Peter Sovran, Director of Education. “Community engagement is central to our ongoing efforts to advance human rights, and we encourage members of the UGDSB community to provide their feedback during this independent review process,” added Ralf Mesenbrink, Chair of the Upper Grand District School Board.

A distinguished human rights lawyer, Patrick Case is a former Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ontario Government, with experience leading reviews of local school boards. A bilingual social justice lawyer, Julie Lassonde recently received the Laura Legge Award from the Law Society of Ontario for leadership within the legal profession, including in the areas of human rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, and intimate-partner violence.

“Every student and staff member has the right to feel safe, affirmed, and respected at school and in the workplace,” said Alicia Ralph, Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility Commissioner. “At UGDSB, our work is grounded in principles of the Ontario Human Rights Code, and we will continue to take proactive steps to address discrimination in all its forms in our schools.”

The review will begin in the coming weeks and include consultations with students, staff, parents, caregivers and other community stakeholders. Findings and recommendations will be made public upon completion.

Patrick Case

Patrick Case, LSM, LL.B. LL.M., was an Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ministry of Education and a former assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. Case has been chair of the board of Ontario's Human Rights Legal Support Centre and a long-time adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Case is the current director of the Osgoode Hall Law School Certificate Program in Human Rights Theory and Practice. Case is a past member of the board of Facing History and Ourselves.

From 1979 to 1985, Case was a school trustee with the former Toronto Board of Education, and from 1989 to 1999, he was an equity advisor with the same board. From 1999 to 2009, Case was the director of the Human Rights and Equity Office of the University of Guelph. From 2006 to 2010, he held an appointment as a Commissioner at the Ontario Human Rights Commission. He has been a trade unionist, a school trustee and a practitioner whose chief focus was serving women who were victims of male violence. Case has served as a staff lawyer in the family law division at Parkdale Community Legal Services. He is a past chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which was created as a part of the federal government's redress agreement with Japanese Canadians. He has been a co-chair of the equality rights panel of the Court Challenges Program of Canada. He was a member of the Minister of Education's TDSB Governance Advisory Panel in 2015 and one of two individuals appointed by the Minister of Education to review the governance and human rights compliance of the York Region District School Board. While at the Ministry of Education, Case provided guidance and leadership to a legislatively mandated review of the Peel District School Board. Most recently, Case conducted an investigation and wrote a report with recommendations for the Ministry of Education about student attendance at an Indigenous-led rally.

Julie Lassonde

Julie Lassonde (she/they) is a bilingual lawyer, a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Barreau du Québec, and an accredited mediator. She holds a joint Bachelor of Civil Law and Bachelor of Laws from McGill University, and a Master of Laws with interdisciplinary studies in visual arts from the University of Victoria. In 2024, she received the Law Society of Ontario Laura Legge Award, which recognizes her leadership within the profession.

Over the past few years, Me Lassonde has developed a business focused on social justice, in particular in the areas of harassment, discrimination and violence, including intimate-partner violence. Their work has spanned training, research, mediation and legal work, mainly in the public and non-profit sectors. They are a former part-time member of the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, and a current part-time commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. From 2023-2025, they were a member of the Trans, Nonbinary, Two Spirit and Intersex People Committee of FrancoQueer. They are a board member of the Law Commission of Ontario.