Dixon v. Nanaimo Ladysmith Public School Board 

Introduction

Bryony Dixon is a mother and everyday advocate of free expression in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Her children attend schools within the jurisdiction of the Nanaimo Ladysmith Public School Board.

The Incident

On September 2, 2025, Ms. Dixon posted the following on Facebook:

The murder incident referred to was the mass shooting on August 27, 2025, at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota that left two dead and 17 injured. All but two of the victims were children. The shooter self-identified as a transgender woman.

The T-shirt in the photograph shows the letters NDTA above a Pride flag. The letters stand for Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association.

Aftermath

The same day she posted, Ms. Dixon received an email from the Assistant Superintendent, instructing her to remove the “offensive post” and threatening her with an order under the School Act that would bar her from attending school property for the entire year.

Dixon responded by saying she would not remove the post, citing her right to freedom of speech under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On September 5, she received a further letter from the Superintendent, Robyn Gray, stating that the post “links violence in the United States with an identifiable photo of a member of our staff, thereby creating a risk of inciting violence against them.”

An exclusion order was issued against Ms. Dixon, instructing her not to come on the school premises again without prior approval from the superintendent, failing which the police could be called.

Ms. Dixon pulled her child immediately to commence homeschooling and contacted the FSUC, of which she is a member, for assistance.

FSUC’s Response and Actions

The FSUC is a mass-membership, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defence of free speech in Canada. The FSUC is providing funding for Ms. Dixon’s legal representation by FSUC’s Executive Director, Lisa Bildy, through her law firm, Libertas Law.

Ms. Bildy sent a letter to Superintendent Gray on September 19 advising that the decision to ban Ms. Dixon from the school over her online commentary was improper, contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and subject to appeal.

As a result of the FSUC’s intervention, on October 6, Superintendent Gray sent a letter to counsel advising that she had made the decision to revoke the order, effective immediately, and welcomed Ms. Dixon’s child back to school. However, the Superintendent stated that, while the Board respects the right to freedom of expression, she would continue to request that posts “seemingly targeted at specific district employees” be taken down.

No apology was issued by the school, as had been requested.

FSUC’s Ongoing Work with Public School Boards

The FSUC will continue to monitor increasing attempts by public schools to punish parents for their speech and will intervene where appropriate. On June 24, 2025, the FSUC sent a letter of concern on behalf of a parent to the Toronto District School Board after he was instructed to remove a post critical of his child’s school principal. And, on June 26, 2025, the FSUC again expressed concern to the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board over its censure of a parent who expressed her opposition to land acknowledgments at a school council meeting.