Education minister looks to fire school trustee who he says didn’t pay for pricey Italy trip

Ontario’s Minister of Education is threatening to fire a Catholic board trustee after a pricey Italian trip. CTV’s Krista Simpson explains why.

Education Minister Paul Calandra said he is looking into firing a Catholic school trustee who he claims hasn’t paid back his portion of a hefty bill for a trip to Italy.

In July 2024, four trustees from the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board racked up a bill of nearly $190,000 when they flew to Italy to buy religious artwork for two new schools.

The Ministry of Education ordered a review of the school board, including the trip. The resulting report found Trustees Richard Petrella, Dan Dignard, William Chopp and Mark Watson spent money on luxury cars, high-end hotel stays and fancy dinners at a Michelin star restaurant.

All four trustees agreed to repay the expenses they incurred during the trip, with Petrella, Dignard and Chopp owing $12,666 while Watson was on the hook for $12,370.

Initially, it was expected it would take years for the trustees to pay back what was owed, but on April 23, Calandra ordered the amounts owing for the trustees’ travel expenses be repaid fully within 30 days.

Last week, Chopp said he had fully repaid his costs and so did two of his fellow trustees. He said he didn’t know if Watson had also done so.

‘I will fire him’

In an interview with NEWSTALK 1010 Thursday, Calandra confirmed three of the four trustees paid what they owed.

“I have a fourth trustee who has decided that he’s not going to pay it back. He’s paid 2,000 bucks of the [$12,000], and he’s decided, ‘hmm, that’s enough’,” Calandra said.

He said he doesn’t have the authority to do anything about it now but he is looking into changing that.

“I will be bringing forward legislation to vacate that trustee’s seat,” he said. “I will fire him.”

Calandra said he is cracking down on others who ‘take advantage’ of their position.

“I will do this to any other trustee who thinks that they can get away with spending people’s money in an inappropriate fashion, and take advantage of the fact that the ministry doesn’t have, or the minister doesn’t have the authority to do something about it. I’m done with it,” Calandra said.

Thursday afternoon the province announced it will be introducing new legislation to strengthen school board oversight.

According to a news release from the province, if passed, the Supporting Children and Students Act 2025, would strengthen government oversight, accountability and transparency in public school boards, postsecondary education and children’s aid societies.

The province said the legislation would take measures like setting out requirements for board expense policies and require school boards to post key individuals’ expenses on their public-facing website.

“I’m reviewing the governance of school boards over the summer. It won’t be passed until late in the summer/early fall session. I will be coming forward with recommendations later on this year with respect to governance across our school system,” Calandra said.

CTV News has reached out to Trustee Watson.

Minister’s letter

On Thursday night, Minister Calandra sent a letter to Trustee Mark Watson and the chair of the school board.

In it, he wrote, in part, “I have been informed that not only have you refused to repay your portion of expenses within 30 days, you have also ceased making regular payments from your trustee honorarium which you had previously agreed to make.”

“The improper expense claims you submitted were reimbursed to you from taxpayer funds. As the Minister of Education, I have a responsibility to ensure accountability for the use of public funds in our education system,” the letter continued.

Calandra’s letter accused Watson of choosing not to repay approximately $10,000 worth of luxury travel, accommodation and personal entertainment costs.

“Those are public funds which were meant to support student learning, not your personal indulgences. Your refusal to repay anything further is unacceptable,” the letter stated.

The entirety of the letter has been included below: