Minister Calandra receives a warning: “hands off” Catholic Schools
TORONTO – Catholics were ready to write off the Ontario Catholic Trustees’ Association (OCSTA). The Corriere was among their number. When the Minister of Education, Paul Calandra, a product of the Catholic school system determined to seek Crown authority (Lieutenant Governor in Council) to vest all educational authority flowing from Section 93 of the Constitution Act 1982 in his person, the OCSTA was as silent as a church mouse.
Minister Calandra, like an avenging Angel, through his Supervising Commissioners in [eight] school Boards, shut down locally elected school boards – practically terminating the contractual relationship with parents, students and ratepayers – without warning.
The justification? Board leadership, not the locally elected trustees, the trained Superintendents who advise trustees on Board finances and curricula, did not meet the “standards” of competence he expected. For good measure, he did not think they could get along. In some cases, he was right on the second item.
On the financial competence matter, it should be noted that no financial decision by “the Board of Trustees” can be implemented without approval by the Ministry. It is a mystery how the Toronto Catholic Board could declare a $100 million surplus at the beginning of 2024, and by November of the same year reduce that surplus to a deficit of $40 million and beyond. But he did not trounce the Staff, he fired the trustees and scapegoated the International Languages Integrated Day Program (total cost: $7.5 million).
Yesterday, August 12, 2026, OCSTA submitted a proposal, signed by twenty representatives for Catholic education to the Provincial Regulatory Registry, expressing eight grave concerns (our word) on governance by the Minister’s actions. Further, it listed five prejudicial affects on Denominational Rights.
Corriere will elaborate in the next edition each of them.
