Paul Calandra

The Ford government passed legislation giving the Minister of Education power to force school boards to sell public land to private developers, then used manufactured financial crises to take over six school boards — handing control of an estimated $60 billion in public land to provincial-appointed supervisors with real estate backgrounds and no education experience.

As Minister of Education, Calandra ordered the provincial takeover of six school boards in 2025 and approved the June 2025 regulation allowing the province to directly control school board property sales. He appointed real estate and finance insiders — rather than educators — as supervisors, and has put all boards "on notice" regardless of their financial standing.

The Ford government stripped elected trustees of all authority at 8 of Ontario's largest school boards — covering 750,000 students — installing politically-connected supervisors and passing legislation that removed the courts as a check on ministerial power.

As Education Minister, Calandra personally directed all eight school board takeovers between April 2025 and March 2026, sponsored Bill 33 to expand and insulate ministerial takeover powers, and appointed all supervisors — including briefly serving as PDSB supervisor himself.

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is preparing legislation to abolish elected trustees across English public school boards — eliminating a century of local democratic governance — after spending a year seizing 8 of Ontario's largest boards under "public interest" powers his own government wrote into law.

As Minister of Education, Calandra sponsored Bill 33 (Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025), which expanded ministerial takeover powers and stripped school boards of their right to judicial review. He has placed 8 boards under provincial supervision and has promised legislation to eliminate elected English public school board trustees, stating they have "no constitutional or Charter guarantees." He confirmed in March 2026 that "significant change" to trustee governance is coming and that no notwithstanding clause would be needed.

The Ford government has tabled Bill 101 — the Putting Student Achievement First Act — replacing elected directors of education with CEOs requiring business credentials, gutting trustees' budget and bargaining powers, and mandating government-approved lesson plans in every classroom, while education unions warn it is a roadmap to corporate control of Ontario's public schools.

As Minister of Education, Calandra tabled Bill 101 (Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026) on April 13, 2026, abolishing the position of Director of Education and replacing it with a CEO requiring business credentials, capping trustees at 12 per board, removing trustees from collective bargaining, mandating government-approved classroom resources, and granting the minister new powers to restrict board political speech and override capital projects.

CityNews Queen's Park reporter Tina Yazdani was fired without explanation in April 2026 — days after a confrontational on-camera exchange with Education Minister Paul Calandra, and after at least two of her Ford government stories were quietly deleted from the Rogers-owned network's website in apparent violation of Rogers' own editorial standards.

As Ontario Minister of Education, Calandra had a confrontational on-camera exchange with Yazdani on March 25, 2026, telling her "Don't interrupt me" during her coverage of his memo to school boards. The story was removed from the CityNews website without explanation shortly after airing. Yazdani was terminated weeks later.

A leaked Ministry of Education ad script obtained by The Trillium shows actors playing parents criticizing teacher unions over sick days and doctor's notes, produced while five major education unions have suspended bargaining. Education Minister Paul Calandra defended the campaign; ETFO's president called it a taxpayer-funded smear campaign.

Education Minister who defended the planned ads, citing a responsibility to address "inconsistent attendance" and saying "we will not shy away from communicating directly with parents." The leaked script is labelled "Ministry of Education: Student Achievement First" and dated July 10, 2026. NDP critic Chandra Pasma separately blamed Calandra for "ragging the puck in bargaining."

Premier Doug Ford secretly handed 15 parcels of protected Greenbelt farmland to well-connected developers through a three-week backroom process — a windfall worth $8.3 billion to those developers — and only reversed it after the Auditor General publicly exposed the scheme.

As Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Calandra pledged in October 2023 that "the province will work with impacted municipalities to assist with related planning and staffing costs." A briefing note obtained by CBC through FOI — prepared for senior civil servants and for Calandra — records that just over five months later he gave civil servants a direction, on the basis of which "the ministry has not done any proactive outreach to municipalities to solicit cost submissions." The specifics of that direction are not disclosed in the released records. The note states "no decision has been made on reimbursement to these municipal costs."

Ontario now routes elementary teachers' $750 classroom supply allowance through a single Staples portal, which The Trillium reports is a $66 million program. Since it launched on Sept. 1, teachers have reported prices above what their boards paid before, orders stuck without shipping details, and some teachers have been told they cannot get full access until Oct. 9.

As Education Minister, his office announced the $750 Staples spending cards for teachers on August 13, 2026, and he acknowledged the Staples portal would have mistakes when it launched on September 1.