By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
It was another full week at Queen’s Park. I’ll give you a few highlights before getting into the meat and potatoes—an omnibus bill rammed through the House including the removal of speed cameras, the Premier calling the law on fixed election dates “fake,” and a renewed call by some of my colleagues and me for this government to look at the evidence as it relates to Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing. I spent two days on Finance Committee looking over the forecasted expenditures of both the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade as well as the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
Where I was really able to make our voices heard was during debate of Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025. You may recall I wrote about it a few weeks ago, but the finer details warrant a revisit. The legislation was written under the guise of improving oversight, transparency, and the overall effectiveness of the system, but there remain in this bill significant concerns about the balance of oversight and institutional autonomy. Bill 33 will remove the voice of students, parents, and educators in Ontario as it aims to eliminate school board trustees. Local issues will go unnoticed as centralized decision-making will be encouraged from Queen’s Park.
During debate I told colleagues I fear local traditions like Young Canada Day (YCD) at the Norfolk County Fair will be jeopardized. We have had YCD threatened by administration in Brantford a number of times and it has always been our local trustees who have saved it.
I also mentioned being contacted by post-secondary school students who were ringing alarm bells because the bill grants the government power to decide which ancillary fees are ‘required’ and which are not. Such a change could severely cut essential services upon which students rely like mental health supports, crisis response teams, food banks, and transportation. I emphatically reminded the Minister these were not the government’s monies, these are the funds of students and parents who pay tuition.
Under fire, the Minister of Education, Paul Calandra, attempted to change the channel and linked a trip to Italy by local school board trustees to the debate. I rhetorically asked the Minister which legislation we were debating—Bill 33 or Bill 57, the bill that vacates the Haldimand seat at the Brant Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board. The Minister was disingenuous as he knew full well—I was the MPP to rise in the Legislature last November calling on the government to pick up the phone and ask the trustees to step down. I have since penned letters asking Minister Calandra to act on behalf of taxpayers.
Calandra was deflecting from the real issues as critics know the bill is a smoke screen for the larger issue of chronic underfunding. Education is being underfunded by $6.4 billion because this government refuses to keep up with inflation. We see aging buildings, education inequities especially in rural areas like ours, larger class sizes, and less support staff. Teachers and staff are facing burnout like never before, affecting retention and overall education quality.
Bill 33, in short, goes after the low-hanging fruit, and does nothing to help Ontario classrooms. I encourage you to head to Bobbi Ann Brady on YouTube and watch the exchange between the Minister and me. How do families and those navigating a broken education system trust the Minister who stands in the House and tells mistruths?
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk