FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
28 January 2026
QUEEN’S PARK – Today, MPP John Fraser, Ontario Liberal Interim Leader and Critic for Education, released the following statement regarding Minister Paul Calandra’s announcement that the Peel District School Board will go under supervision:
Schools belong to the families and communities they serve. Doug Ford and Paul Calandra believe all schools can be run from an office at Queen’ Park.
That’s wrong.
This government is using takeovers to deflect from the fact that schools aren’t safe places to learn. Class sizes are too big, special education has been starved, and we have a mental health crisis that’s not being addressed.
The Peel District School Board is Ontario’s second largest, and Minister Calandra’s decision to override democratically elected community representatives now impacts more than 616,000 students and their families – 670,000 including the York Catholic District School Board – who are already being shortchanged by this government.
How many more boards will be taken over before the minister admits his government’s failures? How are educators expected to plan for the short or long term when they don’t know which board this government will take over next?
It’s been almost eight years, and all Doug Ford and his gang have done is make a mess of our schools.