CCLA Condemns Ontario’s Growing Takeover of Local School Boards

Harini Sivalingam, Director of Equality at the the Canadian Civil Liberties Association delivered the following statement at a press conference on the growing number of school boards under Ministerial supervision in Ontario: 

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is deeply concerned by the Ontario government’s anti-democratic takeover of locally elected school boards.

With the recent move to push aside the elected Peel District School Board, seven boards* are now under direct provincial control.

The York Catholic District School Board has also been placed on notice, signalling that further takeovers—and further erosion of local democratic governance—may be imminent.

This sweeping consolidation of power strikes at the heart of local democracy.

By removing democratically elected trustees and replacing them with provincially appointed supervisors, the government has eliminated a critical layer of public accountability in public education.

Collectively, these boards serve more than seven hundred and eighteen thousand (718,000) students – nearly 35 per cent of Ontario’s publicly funded student population.

Decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of students and families are now being made without meaningful local representation.

Many of the affected boards serve some of the most racially diverse communities in the province.

Local school boards are one of the few democratic institutions where communities can directly shape education policy and ensure decisions reflect lived experiences.

Public education is a cornerstone of a democratic society.

Democratic accountability in education means ensuring that those most affected by decisions have a real and respected say in how they are made.

When governments sideline locally elected voices, they undermine democratic principles, destabilize education systems, and silence the communities schools are meant to serve.

These actions harm students’ learning environments and disrupt the working conditions of teachers, administrators, and education workers.

CCLA calls on the Ontario government to ensure that democratic governance is swiftly restored to affected school boards, and that the province meaningfully engages with the students, families, and communities whose voices have been excluded.

*Ontario has already assumed control of the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, Thames Valley District School Board, and Near North District School Board.

Watch the press conference here.

Press Conference Participants:

Carter Peiros, President, Ontario Student Trustees’ Association
Ahnaaf Hassan, Grade 12 student at RH King Academy TDSB Student Trustee
David Mastin, President, Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
Martha Hradowy, President, Ontario Secondary Teachers’ Federation
Harini Sivalingam, Director of Equality, Canadian Civil Liberties Association