Toronto Catholic school board chair ordered to return taxpayer purchased electronics
As Ontario’s Education Minister considers eliminating select school board trustee positions across the province, the government is zeroing in on the expenses of one elected official as a broader sign of school board dysfunction.
Shortly after the Ford government took over the Toronto Catholic District School board, the provincial supervisor delved into seven years’ worth of expenses of board chair Markus de Domenico, looking for potential discrepancies.
What the supervisor found – roughly $90,000 in expenses over the seven-year period – has been offered by the government, has an example of why trustees require additional scrutiny by Queen’s Park.
“It’s symptomatic of a larger problem in the system, that any dollar that is spent outside of the class is a dollar not going to help a student achieve,” Calandra told Global News. “Some of the things that we found have been obviously hugely surprising.”
Examples include the $15 spent on a milkshake, the purchase of five TV wallmounts and a payment of $145 for an Apple watch band.
Calandra, whose office asked for the interview to be conducted in de Dominico’s office at the TCDSB headquarters at Yonge and Sheppard, also pointed to the five television wall mounts and questioned where they went.
“I mean, you’re in his office, do you see five TVs hanging on the walls here? No, so what do you need five TV wall amounts?” Calandra said. “You don’t get in it to get rich, 100 percent, but you don’t get in and to also offset your lifestyle either.”
Calandra issued a letter to de Dominico with an itemized list of 61 items asking him to return $6,700 worth of items “purchased with taxpayers’ dollars.”
“Any of the resources that you used as a trustee in supervised boards, we want that back,” Calandra said. “Whether it’s iPads, chargers, phones, that should all be returned to us.”
For his part, de Dominico told Global News that “all expenses are vetted by staff” and suggested the government is deliberately targeting him.
“The ministry continues to personally attack me in order to silence me from doing what I have always done; speaking out for students, families, and our most vulnerable special education kids who have been so poorly served by the ministry,” de Dominico told Global News.
The TDCSB chair also added that he has already had conversations with the provincially appointed supervisor to return board-supplied electronics, will purchase a laptop from the board and is willing to return “whatever they feel is appropriate” in an effort to return the focus on special education funding.
While the ministry now looks at possibly curtailing the responsibilities of some trustees and eliminating other positions entirely, Calandra wouldn’t say how much the province could save as a result.
“I’m not looking to save anything. I’m looking to redirect,” the minister said. “If this is a part-time job, which it is supposed to be, then it should be treated as a part time job with a very focused mission and mandate.”
Calandra, meanwhile, is facing equal criticism over his own expenses a member of cabinet and provincial parliament.
A news release issued by the Toronto and York Region Labour Council on Thursday, quoting trustees, went after Calandra’s expenses, accusing him of hypocrisy.
“Minister Paul Calandra likely receives $40,000 a year for a constituency office and is expensing tens of thousands to taxpayers for food, hotels and events,” Rizzo said in a statement.
“My fellow trustees and I don’t have a constituency office — it’s the local Tim Horton’s. The cost of our offices is a coffee or a milkshake for a constituent. It’s unbelievably hypocritical to call $15 expense questionable when the Minister is spending thousands on strawberry pancakes and BBQs.”
The minister’s office said it was “laughable” to compare the expenses of part-time school board trustees to those of a minister, pointing out the pancake events and BBQs were free for anyone in the riding to attend and are designed to connect with residents.
The expense for a “Strawberry Festival Pancake Breakfast” refers to an event hosted by Calandra, the local mayor and two members of parliament, his office said.
The funds MPPs are allowed to claim are strictly governed and generally relate to accommodation near Queen’s Park during debates, hosting events to connect with constituents or travel to and from the legislature.
Last year, Calandra tallied $54,142 in office rent, according to staff and office expense disclosures.
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