Protests erupted on the front steps of Queen’s Park on Wednesday, as the government’s controversial education reforms passed their third reading on the way to officially becoming law.
After Question Period, Bill 33 cleared its final legislative hurdle, after the government truncated debate on it and bypassed the committee stage altogether.
The legislation will make it easier for Education Minister Paul Calandra to sideline trustees and appoint supervisors to take their place, something he has already done at five school boards.
Calandra said after the bill passed that his intent was to put “school boards back on track” through more direct intervention.
Before the current reforms, the minister required a financially-based recommendation to take over a school board or had to clear a far higher, multi-investigator report.
The bill would also give the minister power to direct school boards to publicly post expenses of trustees, the director of education and others, and would give the minister power over school names when boards open new schools or want to change an existing name.
Story continues below advertisement
As well, Ontario would require school boards to implement a school resource officer program if the local police service offers one.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
“Today is a very good day for students, it’s a very good day for parents, and it’s an exceptionally good day for teachers,” Calandra said.
Those changes have been labelled a “power grab” by opponents, who include some parents, sidelined trustees, opposition MPPs and education unions.
A coalition of education unions issued a joint statement Tuesday, blasting the legislation as a “hostile takeover” of local school boards.
More on Politics
More videos
“This legislation sidelines democratically elected local trustees — disempowering families, weakening transparency, and clearing the path for politically driven decisions that ignore student needs and community voices,” the statement said.
“It empowers ministry-appointed supervisors who often have no background in education, no ties to local communities, possibly no understanding of the mission of French-language schools, and no commitment to equity or human rights.”
After the legislation passed on Wednesday, a large protest gathered on the front lawns of Queen’s Park.
Unlike other protests at the legislature, which stay on the lawns, it surged forward to the front steps, standing at the entrance to the building.
Trending Now
-
Canadians are set to get a nationwide emergency test alert within hours
-
Canadian Olympian-turned-alleged drug lord charged over witness killing
Shouts of “this is our house” and “shut it down” could be heard from the group, with several union flags flying overhead.
Story continues below advertisement
Speaking the day before the bill passed, however, Calandra said he was being open and honest about how he intended to use the fast-tracked bill.
“I’ve not shied away from that since taking this position,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “The ministry needs to have more authority to step into school boards that have gone off the rails.”
He pointed to the “fiasco” at the Near North District School Board, where a ministry review found a “deficit of leadership” from the director of education and a fractured relationship between the administration and trustees, who themselves are divided and largely lack experience and knowledge of good governance.
Calandra said it would be “one of the first boards” he looked after Bill 33 receives Royal Assent and becomes law.
He said he didn’t have an immediate list of plans but suggested he would make serious use of his new powers.
“I don’t have anything absolutely imminent, but as I said, there are a number of ones that I’ve been looking at,” he said.
“This bill will allow me, even in those situations where (the) board is in a financially good spot but where governance has fallen apart, it will allow me to step in to put it back on track.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
