15 months ago, @fordnation called an election 17 months early. He needed a mandate to deal with Trump! How’s that going? Without the early call, Ontario would be headed to the polls in 6 weeks and none of his secret agenda would in play. No Bill 33 No retroactive FOI changes No Bill 101 No Billy Bishop Airport appropriation No jet purchases No new plans to fill in part of the Toronto waterfront to build a new convention centre No ‘Protect Ontario’ ads that the Auditor General determines are partisan in nature and not public service announcements These are major developments in which the Ontario electorate was not consulted. The Premier acts unilaterally and expects a parade. Premier Ford had an election campaign to share his plans, debate the pros/cons and give voters an opportunity to decide. #onpoli #onted

Ontarians want an option for a new Education Minister! Previous Ministers Thompson, Lecce, Smith nor Dunlop acted as if they invented education. Paul Calandra thinks he’s the second coming of Socrates or Plato.

At some point the media coverage needs to reflect how far out of touch this Minister and @fordnation education policy actually is. The original 4 boards under supervision were put there because of “financial mismanagement”. Bill 101 moved budget responsibilities to the new CEOs! There is absolutely no current justification for supervision. This attack on democracy continues to extend ministry centralization, while eliminating both transparency and accountability. @PaulCalandra and his merry band of patronage appointees have had total control for over 16 months. At what point does this Minister realize that he’s not up to the task? Candidates and voters in these 8 jurisdictions deserve to have the elected trustees sworn in the same day as ALL newly elected trustees. Bill 101 dramatically reduces trustee impact, the CEO’s option to veto trustee decisions and “not confirm” motions or decisions should be alarming. Let the public select their representatives and then allow them carry out their duties.

I think he got the idea from @fordnation His “Protect Ontario” ads are PC propaganda designed to praise the government. Despite the objections from Auditor General Shelley Spence, she found “There tends to be a little bit more government advertising right before an election,” I fondly remember the time when complaints from the Auditor General’s Office were taken seriously and resulted in change.

Advance polls are now open. However, in the 8 Ontario jurisdictions under education supervision, the trustee elections are very much up in the air. @PaulCalandra publicly stated in March that supervision could last as long as a decade, which would be more than 2 complete municipal terms. With no stated end to supervision in sight, there are very real questions as to whether or not the 8 winners in these 8 trustee elections will ever be sworn in or allowed to perform the vastly restricted roles their communities elected them to carry out. These 8 jurisdictions are responsible for almost 40% of Ontario’s students. Candidates, voters and families deserve to have a clear democratic process. Ontario should not have to settle for the @fordnation style of tyranny that has brought restricted freedom of information, restricted media access and now uncertainty that threatens our democratic processes! #onted #onpoli

This highlights the biggest downside of @PaulCalandra supervision of school boards. The loss of transparency and accountability leads directly to “behind closed door” decisions. The business of publicly funded school boards should be conducted in public, ensuring accountability! The local community celebrated the sale and plan to open a 2nd TCDSB secondary school in Etobicoke Centre. The community deserves updates on the progress and information about when and if their children will be able to utilize this public asset. Ontario children and families deserve better! #onted #onpoli

Now @PaulCalandra wants to stand up for the education system????? He spent the last 18 months trashing Ontario’s education sector, he created a crisis to justify Bills 33 & 101. He’s using taxpayer 💰💰 to undermine education workers. Ontario students & families deserve better! #onted