The Discipline Committee ordered that the teaching certificate of Gregory Lyall Truelove be suspended for engaging in professional and sexual misconduct. The misconduct involved multiple students, occurred over two years and took place in the classroom, outside of school and on social media.
During the time in question, Truelove was employed as a teacher by the Upper Canada District School Board.
Truelove, who was certified to teach in January 2004, attended the hearing on September 29-30, 2021, July 25, 28-29, 2022, September 28, 2022, November 17, 2022, and March 21, 2025. Truelove was represented by legal counsel at the start of the proceedings, but as of July 25, 2022, he proceeded self-represented.
Truelove’s misconduct included:
- Making repeated derogatory and offensive remarks to and about students, such as calling them “bums” and “idiots” and referring to one student as a baby, and telling them that they wouldn’t go anywhere in life.
- Posting inappropriate, sexualized and demeaning comments about women on Facebook. For example, regarding an advertisement for women’s underwear designed to prevent sexual assault, Truelove suggested that this product would only be effective for individuals who are “refrigerator size” and “marching wildebeests [sic]” and said, “Hoe’s gonna [sic] hoe”.
- In response to a comment about a dildo, Truelove commented: “what size do you usually take, same as your mom? Have a special on a double ender for you two”.
- Behaving unprofessionally when interacting with male students outside of school, including at a gas station where Truelove asked them if they were filling up the car with tampons. While inside the gas station, Truelove also asked the students if they were buying condoms and suggested that he should buy condoms for the class because he did not want a bunch of them (i.e., the students) running around in the future.
The Discipline Committee panel found Truelove guilty of professional misconduct and ordered that his Certificate of Qualification and Registration be suspended for five months and that he receive a reprimand.
In addition, he was directed to complete a course of instruction regarding classroom management and appropriate communication with an emphasis on student interactions and the use of social media.
In its written decision on finding, the Discipline Committee panel stated, “The public’s trust in the teaching profession is eroded when teachers abuse their position of trust and authority to bully students in class and to make inappropriate sexualized comments online. [Truelove]’s misconduct reflects poorly not only on himself but on the profession as a whole.”
