Why are Ontario Dentists Raising Concerns about Harmful Social Media Posts by One of the Directors of the Ontario Dental Association

First, what exactly is the Ontario Dental Association (ODA)? ODA is a voluntary professional association representing over 11,000 dentists in Ontario. It should not be confused with the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), which is the regulatory body that dentists are legally required to join in order to practice dentistry in Ontario. Although ODA is a voluntary association, over 90% of dentists in Ontario pay membership fees to access specialized insurance programs, services, and exclusive products to support their work. For example, dentists have to submit insurance claims to insurance companies through a specific software. The only organization that has that software is the ODA. No one else has it. And the only way to access this ODA software is if you are a member of the ODA. So the organization may be voluntary, but membership has become a requirement in order to run a business as a dentist in Ontario.

The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) also advocates on behalf of its membership on government policies that impact the practice of dentistry in Ontario. This advocacy is usually carried out by the directors that make up its Board of Directors.

One of these Board of Directors had been posting both personal and professional related content on his public social media account.  For example, on November 12, 2025, the ODA director in question posted a photo in his capacity as an ODA representative alongside Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament John Fraser, using hashtags such as #OntarioDentalAssociation and #ODAAdvocacy. 

However, on this same account he had also expressed his own or reshared others’ disparaging remarks about Muslims and Palestinians or just spread outright misinformation, such as a bizarre Dec 15, 2025 post claiming that Ahmed Al Ahmed, the hero who intervened to disarm one of the shooters in the Bondi Beach attack on Jewish Australians, was a Lebanese Maronite Christian and not a Syrian Muslim. 

You can review a series of this director's troubling social media posts online here.

The ODA members who organized this petition are concerned that these posts harm both the professional reputation of the ODA to the general public and also raise concerns about how the ODA Board of Directors can represent the interests of all ODA members, including those who come from the Palestinian and/or Muslim communities.

On February 6, 2025, in response to concerns raised by ODA Members, the ODA Board issued a statement, informing its membership that they would ask an independent committee to review this director’s social media posts and report back with recommendations to the ODA Board. They also informed the membership that the director had removed the social media posts that drew concern.

On March 8, 2025, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) shared a call to action, encouraging people to send a letter to the ODA demanding that they respond to these concerns with transparency and urgency, and calling for: 

• Immediate Clarity: Public disclosure of the committee’s mandate, composition, timeline, and the specific ODA bylaws being invoked. 
• External Oversight: The engagement of an objective, third-party reviewer to ensure the process is independent and free from internal bias. 
• Decisive Action: The prompt application of ODA bylaws concerning director accountability where professional and ethical standards have been breached. 

NCCM has also sent a letter to the ODA Board expressing concern with the Board’s response to members’ concerns stating “We are also troubled by ODA's response. While the Board has acknowledged concerns, it has deferred action to an unspecified 'independent committee,' without publicly disclosing the committee’s composition, mandate, applicable bylaws, or timeline for findings. This approach is not tenable given the gravity of the Director's posts or his refusal to commit to any level of accountability.”

On March 10 2025, the Board published an update on this review, explaining more about the composition of the independent task force conducting the review. The ODA Board stated in this update that, “An independent task force helps ensure that the issue is reviewed objectively, that all perspectives are considered, and that any decisions taken by the Board are informed, fair, and consistent with the association’s governance. To ensure independence, the task force consists of outside experts with relevant expertise. The task force does not include ODA members, volunteers, or staff, or contractors who are otherwise engaged by the ODA.”

It is not clear when the report by the independent task force will be submitted to the ODA Board and if or when they will share that review with their membership. 

For now, concerned members of the general public can learn more about the director’s social media posts in question online here

You may also send a letter to the ODA Board through NCCM online here