Hamilton MPP becomes 1st female Speaker of Ontario Legislature
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CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Eliminating trustees would leave schools 'at the whims of Toronto'
School trustees and education experts have criticized the Ontario education minister's suggestion that he could eliminate elected trustees, with the advocates arguing they provide critical accountability while the real issue is provincial underfunding of education. Paul Calandra told CBC he is considering doing away with school trustees as part of a review of the provincial governance model. Already he has appointed supervisors to take over five of Ontario's biggest school boards and put all 72 boards on notice to direct funds to classrooms. But school boards play an important role in allocating funding in accordance with the needs of local communities and speaking out when budgets are inadequate, according to Alan Campbell, president of the Canadian School Boards Association. "Local school boards are often the first voices to say, 'This provincial support is no longer adequate and here are some of the manifestations of those inadequacies,'" he told CBC. Eliminating elected trustees would reduce that local level of accountability, he said. "The people of Ontario need to understand that a removal of school boards is a removal of their voice when it comes to what the local public school looks like and how the local public school operates," he said. Campbell urged those people concerned by the minister's suggestion to respond "quickly and loudly." Lyra Evans, an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustee, said eliminating school boards would reduce faith in public education. "The main difference you're going to feel is when there are problems," she said. "It'll hurt people's ability to get answers about what's going on in schools." In April, Calanda announced that the province would appoint a supervisor to oversee the OCDSB after it projected a fifth straight year of financial deficits. Evans said when trustees were asked to slash spending due to austerity budgets, it led to acrimony, dysfunction and resignations. Centralizing administration would not fix this and would mean less local input into decision-making, she said. "You're just going to be at the whims of Toronto." 'At the mercy' of bureaucracy Other provinces have eliminated elected school boards as part of overhauls to their education systems, including in Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. After Nova Scotia eliminated school boards in 2018, enhanced parent councils to oversee schools never functioned as planned, according to Sachin Maharaj, an assistant professor of education at the University of Ottawa. Parents were too busy and didn't understand the system, he said. Instead, "schools just became less responsive to parents and community members." Without elected boards, the system becomes more bureaucratic, "and parents and community members and students are just more at the mercy of the different layers of that bureaucracy," he said. The Ontario government has exploited a few examples of financial mismanagement as a pretext for the takeover and then eventual elimination of school boards, Maharaj argued, noting that the majority of the 72 school boards do not face such accusations. "Most of the boards that are dealing with financial difficulties are dealing with them for largely reasons beyond their control," he said. "They don't control their own revenues." Ontario's education minister tells CBC News he would consider eliminating school board trustees in the province 21 hours ago 'A critical point in underfunding' Beth Mai, a trustee for the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB), said Calandra was blaming boards like hers for problems caused by the province not investing enough in education. The province assumed operations of TVDSB from trustees in April, alleging financial mismanagement at London's public school board. "They are capitalizing on current crises to justify the decisions that they are looking to make," she said. "The reality is that education has been underfunded and is now at a critical point in underfunding." Mai called for public pushback against eliminating school boards. "I would be shocked if trustees continue to exist after this municipal term unless there is significant communication from the public that they value local decision making," she said. The Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association said locally elected Catholic school trustees have a "long history of effective representation of parents and the Catholic community and dedicated service in support of the wellbeing of students."
Winnipeg Free Press
9 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Landfill search for Indigenous women cost $18M, one-tenth of original estimate: Kinew
The successfully completed search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for two victims of a convicted serial killer cost $18 million — less than one-tenth of the original worst-case estimate, Premier Wab Kinew revealed Wednesday. A 2023 feasibility study estimated the effort to comb privately owned Prairie Green Landfill north of the city for the remains of the Indigenous women could take up to three years and cost up to $184 million. 'Most importantly, the landfill search was successful at returning Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris,' Kinew said outside his office at the legislature. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Wab Kinew, right, announced Wednesday the completed search of Prairie Green Landfill for two victims of a convicted serial killer cost $18 million. The search that began Dec. 2 turned up partial remains of both Indigenous women within a few months. Myran, 26, and Harris, 39, were murdered, along with two other Indigenous women between March and May 2022 by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. His trial heard he targeted the women at homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins. Two years ago, a federally funded, Indigenous-led feasibility study arrived at the $184-million figure and noted the possible presence of asbestos in the landfill. Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives seized on the possible cost and risks, making that a key plank in their 2023 election campaign, in which the party, led by then-premier Heather Stefanson, vowed to 'stand firm' against a search. During a televised debate before the election, Stefanson asked then-NDP opposition leader Kinew, 'Why are you willing to put $184 million and Manitoba workers at risk for a search without a guarantee?' Jon Lovlin, a spokesman for the PC caucus, said Stefanson, her interim replacement Wayne Ewasko and now-Leader Obby Khan have all apologized for the campaign 'and the harm it caused to the victims' families.' 'The government does what it says. I told the people of Manitoba I was going to search the landfill, that we would do so in a fiscally responsible way and we've delivered on that.'–Premier Wab Kinew Kinew said he made good on his campaign promise. 'The government does what it says. I told the people of Manitoba I was going to search the landfill, that we would do so in a fiscally responsible way and we've delivered on that,' he said Wednesday. 'That says something good about the province.' The federal and provincial governments each committed $20 million to the costs. Kinew said the effort included 'the Cadillac-version of health and safety for the workers' with trauma-informed mental-health supports. It involved approximately 45 searchers and required electrical infrastructure and construction of an access road at Prairie Green. He said that there is still more work to be done decommissioning the search site, potentially adding another $2 million to the final bill. The remaining work includes cleaning up the site and moving the metal search structure to the city-owned Brady Road landfill, where investigators believe the remains of Skibicki victim Ashlee Shingoose, 30, are located. Supplied Donna Bartlett, grandmother of slaying victim Marcedes Myran, at Prairie Green Landfill with premier Wab Kinew during a ceremony in June, 2024. 'We're still working on the Brady plan; I haven't really announced that in any detail yet,' said Kinew, who last week indicated a preliminary search of the facility had begun. Ground-penetrating radar tests were being conducted to narrow down an area, leading to a proper search that could happen later this year, Kinew said last week. The province is also making plans to search the Brady facility for the remains of Tanya Nepinak, who investigators believe was slain by a different serial killer. Police searched a small area of the landfill in an effort to find her in 2012 but concluded the effort after a week. Kinew said there are ongoing conversations with her family about resuming the search. The premier wasn't able to say how much the province is budgeting for the Brady landfill search, or if it can use any of the remaining $20 million pledged by the federal government toward it. At an unrelated event Wednesday, federal Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said she didn't know about the search but commended Kinew for committing to it. 'We haven't had a specific request that I'm aware of,' said Gull-Masty, a Cree MP from Quebec. 'You know, that is probably — as an Indigenous woman — one of the most challenging things to see; that you live in a country where the province has to seek for remains of Indigenous women in a landfill.' Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Files A 2023 feasibility study estimated the effort to search Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of the Indigenous women could take up to three years and cost up to $184 million. — With files from Nicole Buffie Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Ford hits out at Stelco owner, says he ‘doesn't give two hoots' about the workers
Ontario Premier Doug Ford went on a rant Wednesday against the head of the company that owns Hamilton-based steel company Stelco STLC-T, saying his support for U.S. tariffs shows he 'doesn't give two hoots' about those workers. Lourenco Goncalves, the president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, has spoken positively about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel, including doubling them from 25 to 50 per cent. 'This bold action strengthens the American steel industry and safeguards the livelihoods of our nation's steelworkers,' Goncalves said at a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute, which he chairs. Earlier this week, Goncalves also said in a press release that he applauded the U.S. Department of Commerce's move to expand the scope of steel and aluminum tariffs. At a press conference Wednesday, Ford said Stelco should find a new owner because the current one does not support its workers. 'I got a problem with that guy,' Ford said. 'He doesn't give two hoots about his workers at Stelco.' Canadian aluminum, steel products dealt biggest blow from U.S. duties in June, data show Stelco should get a new owner or maybe the province should buy them, Ford mused. 'I'm done with this guy signing letters saying, 'Yeah, bring all the steel down (to) the U.S., tariff the crap out of Canadians,'' Ford said. 'This is the owner. So remember that, Stelco workers, when your owner comes prancing through your place. He doesn't support you. I look forward to getting a phone call from him because he has my cell number. I'm going to blast him.' Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The premier was in Hamilton to announce $70-million worth of funding for training and employment services for workers in industries affected by U.S. tariffs. Ford said it's also important to make as many products in Ontario as possible, including steel rails and I-beams, for the various construction and transit projects underway in the province. 'The problem is we got too comfortable with our closest friend and ally, with the United States,' he said. 'No one in a million years would think a guy named President Trump would come along and start an economic war with his closest friend and ally, not to mention with the rest of the world. And the rest of the world goes back and kisses his behind all the time.'
