(TORONTO, ON) – Education advocates are calling on Education Minister Paul Calandra to repay taxpayers for thousands of dollars in hotel, hospitality and travel expenses after fellow cabinet minister Stan Cho committed to reimbursing Ontarians for his own questionable expense claims.
The call comes as Calandra continues to lecture school boards about financial accountability, placing elected trustees under provincial supervision and demanding repayment for expenses as small as $1 for an iTunes song.
“If Stan Cho can admit taxpayers deserve their money back, Paul Calandra has no excuse,” said Sandra Huh, of the Toronto Education Advocacy Network. “Calandra has spent thousands on Toronto hotels despite living just outside the city, billed tax-payers tens of thousands for hospitality expenses, and flew overseas to an education conference—all while demanding absolute perfection from everyone else.”
Public expense disclosures show Calandra charged taxpayers more than $23,000 for a community BBQ in his riding, over $2,200 for strawberry pancakes, $5,700 dollars in Toronto hotel stays despite living a short 25-minute drive from Queen’s Park, and other hospitality expenses.
Yet Calandra has justified unprecedented provincial intervention into school boards over comparatively trivial expenses.
“If the Minister of Education used taxpayer dollars for unnecessary hotel stays or other expenses, he should repay taxpayers just as Minister Stan Cho has committed to doing,” said Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee, Maria Rizzo. “If there is money for hotels, steakhouses and parties, there should be money to protect a 50-year International Languages Program at TCDSB and provide air conditioning in crumbling schools. Taxpayers deserve better.”
The criticism echoes comments Calandra made last year when defending his own attendance at an international education conference while restricting trustees from attending similar events.
“The difference is, I’m the Minister of the Crown,” Calandra said at the time.
“That quote perfectly captures this government’s approach to accountability,” said Jenn Huang from the Fund Our Schools campaign. “One set of rules for cabinet ministers. Another for school trustees. And students are paying the price.”
Education organizations have consistently argued that the Ford government’s takeover of school boards has little to do with expense claims and everything to do with deflecting attention from years of cuts and underfunding.
Since 2018, Ontario’s public education system has been effectively underfunded by billions of dollars. Nearly 40 per cent of school boards are now operating with deficits, forcing cuts to teachers, education workers, special education supports, student programs and classroom resources while the province continues to appoint costly supervisors to oversee local boards.
“If Paul Calandra believes every taxpayer dollar matters, he should start by writing a cheque himself,” Huang said. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for luxury hotel stays and hospitality expenses from a Minister who demands that school boards account for every dollar.”
“Stan Cho has recognized that public office comes with accountability. It’s time Paul Calandra did the same.”
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Huang – Toronto & York Region Labour Council
[email protected]
416-886-4082
