TorontoOntario’s New Democratic Party and advocates warned Tuesday that a new education bill would silence student voices, undermine trust and erode democracy.School boards could see a supervisor, rather than trustees, and police presence in schools if bill passesListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Ontario’s new education bill is headed to a final vote. Here’s why some are pushing backBill 33 is expected to go to a final vote at Queen’s Park and would grant Ontario’s education minister broad power to appoint a supervisor to take over school boards. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp breaks it down. Ontario’s New Democratic Party and advocates warned Tuesday that the province’s new education bill would silence student voices, undermine trust and erode democracy.Bill 33, The Supporting Children and Students Act, which is set to go to a final vote at Queen’s Park Wednesday, grants the education minister broad power to appoint a supervisor to take over school boards — a move that sidelines elected school board trustees. If passed, the bill would also require the implementation of school resource officer programs (SRO) where offered by local police services. The bill takes rights away from students, parents and community members, said NDP MPP Chandra Pasma (Ottawa West-Nepean).“The minister’s appointees are Conservative insiders with no qualifications in education, who are acting without transparency and are showing absolutely zero accountability to anyone except the minister,” she said in a Zoom meeting Tuesday.Pasma, who is also the Official Opposition critic for education, said students will pay the highest price if the bill is passed.“Students like these are the future of our province. It’s the government’s responsibility to fight for them, to protect them and to support them,” she said. “[The government is] essentially replacing local democracy with secrecy and partisan political control.”If passed, the bill would also require the implementation of school resource officer programs (SRO) where offered by local police services. (CBC)Minister of Education Paul Calandra introduced the bill after what he called financial mismanagement at school boards. He said financial investigations into the boards showed growing deficits and depletion of reserves.Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles said it’s clear the government is rushing the bill through.”The government has changed all the rules to make sure that there are very few tools that we have to be able to slow this down,” she said Tuesday. “There has been very little debate and there have been no committee hearings.” “This is not the first time this government has barreled through with some kind of legislation that nobody asked for and nobody wanted,” she said.The province currently has control of five school boards, including the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. ‘We are all at risk of losing a local voice’Ahnaaf Hassan, a student trustee for the TDSB, joined Pasma in her criticism of the government’s plans Tuesday. Students across the province have different needs, which one set supervisor would not be able to address properly, he said.“If Bill 33 passes, we are all at risk of losing a local voice, a voice silenced under the guise of financial mismanagement. Children would not receive the specific aids they need in their education,” he said.WATCH | Education minister singles out TCDSB chair:Education minister eyes axing trustee role, analyzes expenses Ontario’s education minister recently criticized a Toronto school board trustee’s expenses. As CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp explains, this comes as the province eyes eliminating the position of school board trustees entirely. If passed, the bill’s requirement for police presence within schools would start next school year.Policing Free Schools Ontario, a group advocating for the removal of police presence in educational spaces, opposed the bill at a news conference at Queen’s Park Tuesday.“Policing does not make educational spaces safer,” said Andrea Vasquez Jimenez, director and principal consultant of Policing Free Schools. “Bill 33 is a Ford government cash grab for unelected conservative insiders.”She accused Ford’s government of using the bill to distract from chronic underfunding of the school system. Around 40 per cent of the province’s school boards have been dealing with a $6.3-billion deficit since 2018, according to a July news release from the Fund Our Schools coalition, which is made up of parents, teachers and trustees.Calandra said at Queen’s Park Tuesday there will be no hesitation to step in when there are governance issues, even when school boards are running a surplus.“The ministry needs to have more authority to step into school boards that have gone off the rails,” he said. “I don’t think the minister should have to wait till the board is completely falling apart before he steps in.”If Progressive Conservative Members of Provincial Parliament use their majority to pass Bill 33, they will also require the implementation of School Resource Officer programs (SRO) where offered by local police services. (Sam Nar/CBC)Cyrielle Ngeleka, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario, which represents post-secondary students, said the government would rather centralize control than adequately fund education.“We reject the narrative that this bill is about transparency. We reject the narrative that this bill is about accountability. We understand this bill for exactly what it is, a top-down power [grab] disguised as reform,” she said.ABOUT THE AUTHORGabriela Silva Ponte has been with CBC Toronto Local News since January 2025, at first in an internship capacity and afterwards as an Editorial Assistant. Previously, she worked in Portuguese media, CBC Dragons’ Den and her university’s school newspaper and radio station. She graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Journalism and minors in Criminology and Politics. You can reach her at gabriela.silva.ponte@cbc.ca.With files from Lorenda Reddekopp
Ontario’s education bill replaces democracy with ‘partisan political control,’ NDP warns before final vote
