Last week, the Ontario government introduced Bill 33, a sweeping piece of legislation that hands more control over education to the premier’s office at the direct expense of school boards, post-secondary institutions, and the communities that depend on them.
“Bill 33 is a power grab, and a dangerous one,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “This government is using isolated examples of financial mismanagement to justify sweeping changes to multiple levels of our public education system, instead of addressing the real issue—underfunding.”
If passed, Bill 33 would: make it easier for the province to take control of democratically elected local school boards; mandate School Resource Officers (i.e., police) in schools (even though such programs have previously been ended for their discriminatory and harmful impacts and do not offer the solutions needed to address increasing violence in schools); regulate which fees post-secondary students can pay (opening the door to defunding crucial student supports); and threaten access to education with new admissions policies at the province’s colleges and universities, among other measures.
“These moves represent an unwarranted expansion of provincial authority. Instead of fixing the funding crisis it created, the Ford government is seizing control and calling it reform,” said Hornick. “Our colleges, our schools, and our students deserve better.”
Public educational institutions are meant to be built on equitable access and student success, but Bill 33 will undercut these principles while failing to address the systemic issues that face Ontario’s education system.
“The mandated placement of SROs outlined in this bill does nothing to support the students and staff that are dealing with unprecedented levels of violence in Ontario schools,” said Kelly Martin, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 330, representing workers at Simcoe County District School Board. “We need solutions that give children access to the wrap around supports that they need to thrive – like more education workers, smaller class sizes, increased mental health supports and special education supports that meet the needs of students.”
“It is unconscionable that this government is considering mandating police in schools when the Ontario Human Rights Commission and mountains of evidence have already found that a police presence not only introduces unnecessary surveillance but also significantly impacts the mental health and education of Indigenous, black and racialized kids,” said Hornick.
The legislation reaches into post-secondary education as well. Requiring colleges and universities to adopt rigid and restrictive admissions policies – defined by the province – ignores decades of work done to widen access for underrepresented groups. Stripping away access-focused admissions pathways threatens the socio-economic mobility of entire communities.
“They want to surveil and criminalize our kids from a young age and then make it even harder to access post-secondary education later on in their academic careers. Ontario’s future depends on an inclusive education system, not one that intentionally keeps people out,” said Hornick.
The province’s colleges system is already in crisis, receiving the lowest level of provincial funding per student in the country. Bill 33 threatens to further destabilize campuses by adding more ministerial oversight over ancillary fees that fund student-led services like mental health supports, food banks, and student career services.
“This legislation would not only strip students of their ability to democratically decide which of these services matter to them,” said Hornick. “It is clearly intended to defund these services in our colleges.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
