Where has good sense and logic ended up?
TORONTO – This is a country and a province in a constant state of growth and evolution. Unlike the experience of many of those captivated by the allure of life in Ontario and Canada, the history of this new home is relatively new. The provinces (as we know them today) and the country are as recently structured as 1949. And their rules of governance reflect the strains of discomfort its citizens exhibit in the midst of “diverse” co- residents whose demands for equality sometimes go “unrequited” – or so it might seem.
Recent efforts by Ontario to address some of the economic issues associated with the foundation stone of its socio-cultural (and professional-economic) values on which the country has relied to build its future – through Education – is under duress. But it is about “following the money” the consequences of its use, misuse or abuse.
The Ontario government has sought and received approval to suspend the powers of school trustees to impact on educational issues: money matters related to instruction and infrastructure. Teachers’ unions are not part of the equation.
Were it not for the rights of Catholic parents expressly guaranteed in the Constitution to their own schools – the so-called “denominational rights” – Trustees might not be part of the governance equation either. Tonight, at a special meeting of the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB), we will see why.
The DPCDSB counts approximately 279,000 Catholics within its borders (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon), of which 71,650 are students (40,389 of them in elementary schools). It is a big business generating almost one billion dollars annually according to Core Education Funding from the Ministry of Education for 2025-26, exclusively from the $13,164.00 each student generates for the system. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, this Board like others in Ontario is experiencing declining enrollment, therefore declining total revenues.
The same cannot be said for costs. Ministry of Education publications and the public notices of the Supervisor responsible for the DPCDSB explicitly underscore two areas where some serious negotiations point to cost reductions. These relate to Teacher benefits related to sick leave, Long Term Disability, the salary grid and replacement teachers. A second line item is the escalating transportation costs, projected in 2025-26 to reach $26,179,229 – an 11.7% increase from the previous year.
Trustees will have no say in either item. Teachers can try to negotiate benefits at the bargaining table. It does not matter. The senior staff, the Supervisor and the Ministry will make those decisions.
Parents, and Trustees can talk about denominational rights. According to the Minister, flying a flag other than the Canadian flag is a denominational right. Teachers have forced Trustees to hold a meeting to “reverse” a previous decision having nothing to do with salaries, benefits, instructional costs, qualifications of instructors or transportation … but to fly a flag.
In the pics below, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board – DPCDSB (pic from https://www.catholicregister.org/) and the Director Marianne Mazzorato (pic from Twitter X
@DirectorDPCDSB)
