DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
DECISION, REASONS FOR DECISION AND ORDER
IN THE MATTER OF the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 and the Regulation (Ontario Regulation 437/97) thereunder;
AND IN THE MATTER OF a discipline proceeding against
Chantal Louise Villeneuve Mason, OCT, a member of the Ontario College of Teachers.
BETWEEN:
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
– and –
CHANTAL LOUISE VILLENEUVE MASON (REGISTRATION #612513)
PANEL: Tom Potter, Chair Claudia Patenaude-Daniels, OCT Stéphane Vallée, OCT
HEARD: June 12, 2019
Jason D. Bennett for Ontario College of Teachers Patricia D'Heureux of Cavalluzzo LLP, for Chantal Louise Villeneuve Mason Rebecca Durcan of Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc, Independent Legal Counsel
PUBLICATION BAN: Pursuant to subsection 32.1(3) of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, no person shall publish the identity of, or any information that could disclose the identity of, any person who is under 18 years old and is a witness in a hearing or is the subject of evidence in a hearing.
This matter came on for hearing before a panel of the Discipline Committee (the “Committee”) on June 12, 2019 at the Ontario College of Teachers (the “College”) at Toronto.
A Notice of Hearing dated November 26, 2018 (Exhibit 1) was served on Chantal Louise Villeneuve Mason (the “Member”), inviting her to participate in the scheduling of the hearing and specifying the allegations.
The Member was not in attendance for the hearing but had legal representation. The Committee was advised at the outset of the hearing that the parties had entered into an agreement with respect to the hearing.
THE ALLEGATIONS
The allegations against the Member in the Notice of Hearing are as follows:
IT IS ALLEGED that Chantal Louise Villeneuve Mason is guilty of professional misconduct as defined in the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 (the “Act”) in that:
(a) she failed to maintain the standards of the profession, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(5);
(b) she signed or issued, in her professional capacity, a document that she knew or ought to have known contained a false, improper or misleading statement, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(12);
(c) she failed to comply with the Education Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter E.2, and specifically subsection 264(1) thereof or the Regulations made under that Act, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(15);
(d) she committed acts that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(18); and
(e) she engaged in conduct unbecoming a member, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(19).
AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS
College Counsel presented the Committee with the parties’ Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea (Exhibit 2), which provides the following:
Chantal Louise Villeneuve Mason is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers (the “College”). Attached hereto and marked as Appendix “A” is a copy of the Ontario College of Teachers Registered Member Information with respect to the Member.
At all material times, the Member was employed by the Upper Canada District School Board (the “Board”) as a Grade 7/8 French Immersion teacher at Tagwi Intermediate School (the “School”) in Avonmore, Ontario.
Between September 3, 2015 and November 5, 2015, the Member submitted false benefit claims to the Board’s benefits provider for healthcare services purportedly received by the Member. The total amount claimed was $1,201.40. The Member received payment of $785.00 from the benefits provider, while a further $416.40 was fraudulently claimed, but not paid.
During the benefits provider’s investigation in spring 2016, the Member claimed that an unnamed friend who had been temporarily living with the Member had electronically filed the fraudulent claims from the Member’s home computer, without the Member’s knowledge.
During an interview with Board on September 20, 2016, the Member repeated this explanation, adding that the friend had also used the Member’s debit card to withdraw money from the Member’s bank account without her knowledge or consent. The Member advised that she did not report the matter to police and declined to provide her friend’s name to the Board.
After a recess in the interview, the Member admitted that she was solely responsible for submitting the false claims in question and that she had fabricated the story about her friend in order to avoid taking responsibility. The Member expressed her remorse over her conduct, citing personal mitigating circumstances.
The benefits provider recovered the amounts improperly paid to the Member by offsetting them against legitimate claims submitted by the Member, but which had not yet been processed. Consequently, the matter was not reported to police.
As a result, on February 14, 2017, the Board issued a letter of discipline to the Member. The Board suspended the Member for 10 days without pay and imposed restrictions on the Member’s handling of money at the School. Attached hereto and marked as Appendix “B” is a copy of the Board’s discipline letter dated February 14, 2017.
Guilty Plea
By this document,1 the Member admits the truth of the facts and appendices referred to in paragraphs 1-8 above (the “Admitted Facts”).
The Member hereby acknowledges that the Admitted Facts at paragraphs 3-6 constitute conduct which is professional misconduct and pleads guilty to the allegations of professional misconduct against her, being more particularly breaches of Ontario Regulation 437/97 subsections 1(5), 1(12), 1(15), 1(18) and 1(19).
By this document the Member states that:
(a) she understands fully the nature of the allegations against her;
(b) she understands that by signing this document she is consenting to the evidence as set out in the Admitted Facts being presented to the Discipline Committee;
(c) she understands that by pleading guilty to the allegations, she is waiving the right to require the College to prove the case against her and the right to have a hearing;
(d) she understands that the Discipline Committee’s decision and reasons shall be published on the College’s website, and that a summary of the Discipline Committee’s decision and reasons, including her name, shall be published in the official publication of the College;
(e) she understands that any agreement between her counsel and counsel for the College with respect to the penalty does not bind the Discipline Committee; and
(f) she understands and acknowledges that she is executing this Agreement voluntarily, unequivocally, and with the advice of legal counsel.
- In light of the Admitted Facts and circumstances and the plea of guilt, the College and the Member submit that the Discipline Committee find the Member guilty of professional misconduct.
DECISION
Having considered the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea and the submissions of the parties, the Committee rendered an oral decision on June 12, 2019 finding that the Member engaged in acts of professional misconduct as alleged, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsections 1(5), 1(12), 1(15), 1(18) and 1(19).
REASONS FOR DECISION
The Member admitted the truth of the facts and exhibits referred to in paragraphs 1 to 8 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea and admitted the allegations of professional misconduct against her. She acknowledged and the Committee accepts that the Admitted Facts constitute conduct which is professional misconduct, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsections 1(5), 1(12), 1(15), 1(18) and 1(19).
Paragraphs 3-6 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea demonstrate that the Member failed to maintain the standards of the profession, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(5).
Paragraphs 3-6 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea demonstrate that the Member signed or issued, in her professional capacity, a document that she knew contained a false, improper or misleading statement, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(12).
Paragraphs 3-6 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea demonstrate that the Member failed to comply with the Education Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter E.2, and specifically subsection 264(1) thereof or the Regulations made under that Act, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(15).
Paragraphs 3-6 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea demonstrate that the Member committed acts that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(18).
Paragraphs 3-6 of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea demonstrate that the Member engaged in conduct unbecoming a member, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(19).
JOINT SUBMISSION ON PENALTY
Through a Joint Submission on Penalty (Exhibit 3), the parties jointly submitted that the appropriate penalty to be imposed in this matter would be that the Committee:
direct that the Member receive a reprimand from the Committee, and the fact of the reprimand is to be recorded on the Register of the Ontario College of Teachers (the “Register”);
direct the Registrar to impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on the Member’s Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the fact of such terms, conditions and limitations is to be recorded on the Register until such time as they are fulfilled:
(a) within 90 days of the date of the Decision, Reasons for Decision and Order of the Discipline Committee, the Member shall enrol in and successfully complete at her own expense, a course of instruction in ethical standards for the teaching profession. The course shall be pre-approved by the Registrar and be subject to the following conditions:
(i) the Member will provide to a course practitioner approved by the Registrar a copy of the Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea and Joint Submission on Penalty documents made exhibits at the hearing of this matter, and the Decision, Reasons for Decision and Order of the Discipline Committee; and
(ii) upon review of the documents noted at paragraph (i) above, the course practitioner will provide to the Registrar, for approval, a syllabus for the proposed course which specifically addresses the Discipline Committee's concerns regarding the Member's professional misconduct. The syllabus proposed by the course practitioner shall also specify the length of the course to be undertaken by the Member, and the assignments to be completed by the Member; and
(b) within 30 days of her completion of the course outlined in (a) above, the Member shall provide to the Registrar a written certificate from the course practitioner stating that the Member has successfully completed the course and reporting on the progress of the Member with respect to addressing the outlined goals of the course.
Although not addressed in the Joint Submission on Penalty, the parties jointly requested that the reprimand be delivered in writing.
PENALTY DECISION
In an oral decision rendered on June 12, 2019, the Committee accepted the Joint Submission on Penalty presented by the parties and made an order in accordance with its terms, as set out above. The reprimand will be delivered in writing.
REASONS FOR PENALTY DECISION
The Committee accepts the penalty jointly proposed by the parties. The Committee recognizes that, once it ensures that it has jurisdiction to make the order requested, the law confines the Committee’s role to determining whether the proposed penalty is so unreasonable that accepting it would bring the administration of the discipline process into disrepute or be otherwise contrary to the public interest. The Committee finds that the penalty proposed in the Joint Submission on Penalty is proportionate to the misconduct committed by the Member and is reasonable given the circumstances of this case. The penalty proposed by the parties is also within a reasonable range, based on the following analogous cases presented by College Counsel: Ontario College of Teachers v. Millson, 2018 ONOCT 18 and Ontario College of Teachers v. Cosentino-Galloro, 2019 ONOCT 4.
The Member’s initial denial of responsibility and fabrication of a false story, in conjunction with the fraudulent nature of the Member’s conduct, are aggravating factors in this case. The mitigating factors include the Member’s guilty plea, which saved the time and expense of a contested hearing, and the fact that she has no discipline history before this Committee and already received discipline from her Board. The Member expressed remorse for her actions, made restitution to the benefits provider and committed to not making the same mistake again. After weighing these factors, the Committee is satisfied that the proposed penalty is reasonable.
The Committee finds that the Member’s conduct warrants a reprimand by her peers. Members of the teaching profession hold a unique position of trust and authority, and they are expected to serve as positive role models. Through her unethical conduct, the Member demonstrated a lack of integrity that undermines the reputation of the teaching profession. The reprimand will allow the Committee to directly address its concerns with the Member and will serve as a specific deterrent. Recording the fact of the reprimand on the Register will serve as a general deterrent to other members of the profession.
The Committee finds that the course of instruction in ethical standards for the teaching profession will assist in the rehabilitation of the Member. The coursework will remind the Member of her obligations as a teacher and will help her to make better decisions in her future practice.
The Committee is satisfied that the penalty is appropriate in the circumstances and meets the principle of serving and protecting the public interest.
Date: June 12, 2019
Tom Potter
Chair, Discipline Panel
Claudia Patenaude-Daniels, OCT
Member, Discipline Panel
Stéphane Vallée, OCT
Member, Discipline Panel