Ontario Just Centralized Education Power. Here Is What Everyone Is Getting Wrong

An Old Guardian Editorial

Sources cited throughout

Bill 33 did not just “pass.” It detonated.

Overnight, Ontario shifted from a system built on local representation and community oversight to one where the Minister of Education has sweeping authority to take over school boards, override trustees, silence committees, and impose structural changes with minimal debate.

If this feels coordinated, fast, and deliberately opaque, that is because it is.

And everyone from teachers to parents to human rights bodies is raising the alarm. The problem is, most people are hearing the noise but not the signal. Let’s break this down.

1. The Teachers’ Unions: The Centralization Alarm

Statement:

ETFO says Bill 33 consolidates power at the provincial level and does nothing to support students.

Source: ETFO Media Release, October 2025

https://www.etfo.ca/news-publications/media-releases/ontarios-education-unions-united-against-bill-33

Translation:

Teachers see exactly what just happened. The bill does not improve classrooms, staffing, or funding. It hands the Minister tools to seize control whenever a board becomes politically inconvenient or financially noncompliant.

2. Ontario Human Rights Commission: The Equity Alarm

Statement:

The OHRC warns Bill 33 risks undermining equity work and places new obligations on boards involving police programs in schools.

Source: OHRC Recommendations on Bill 33

https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/news-center/ohrc-makes-recommendations-regarding-bill-33

Translation:

When the OHRC flags a government bill, you pay attention. They are worried about rights, safety, and discriminatory outcomes. Bill 33 hands power to a Minister whose office has already supervised boards that dismantled equity teams.

This is not theoretical. It is already happening.

3. Student Organizations: The Democratic Alarm

Statement:

CFS-Ontario says the bill threatens student life and sets a dangerous national precedent.

Source: GlobeNewswire, October 2025

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/10/17/3168730/0/en/Students-and-Workers-Reject-Bill-33-Hands-Off-Our-Education.html

Translation:

Students understand that you cannot claim to support them while gutting the very structures meant to listen to them. Bill 33 makes local feedback optional. It replaces consultation with command.

4. Parent Advocacy Groups: The Transparency Alarm

Statement:

Parent groups warn Bill 33 allows the province to override boards without meaningful oversight or recourse.

Source: Catholic Register, 2025

https://www.catholicregister.org/item/2326-parents-fear-powers-of-ontario-education-bill

Translation:

Parents see the writing on the wall. They are being moved out of the decision-making loop in favour of a centralized political authority that can replace trustees with unelected supervisors at will.

And parents are right to be suspicious. The TDSB and TCDSB now operate behind closed doors under supervision.

5. Labour Councils: The Worker Rights Alarm

Statement:

Durham Labour Council says Bill 33 silences communities and workers.

Source: Durham Labour Council Statement

https://durhamlabour.ca/bill-33-a-power-grab-that-silences-communities-and-workers/

Translation:

Education workers know what centralized power looks like. It means decisions that affect classrooms are made without input from people who actually work in them.

6. Canadian Media: The Fast-Track Alarm

Statement:

Global News and CBC report that the Ford government skipped public hearings and limited debate to accelerate Bill 33 into law.

Sources:

CBC: “Ontario avoids public hearings on bills”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-bill-33-debate-1.7346142

Global News: “Bill 33 passes third reading”

https://globalnews.ca/news/11531484/ontario-bill-33-passes-3rd-reading/

Translation:

Skipping committee hearings is not normal. It is something you do when the public would not support what you are doing.

The government knows that if Ontarians understood the scope of this bill, they would revolt.

So What Is Actually Happening?

Let’s stop pretending this is about “helping students.”

This is about:

1. Centralizing education control inside the Ministry.

Boards no longer operate as independent democratic bodies. They operate as satellites of Queen’s Park.

2. Removing local accountability.

Trustees cannot meaningfully advocate for families if they can be replaced at any time.

3. Managing political risk.

Supervision allows the Minister to silence boards that criticize funding cuts or expose system failures. We have seen this firsthand at the TDSB and TCDSB.

4. Controlling the narrative.

With trustees sidelined, the only publicly available story becomes the government’s story.

5. Pre-empting lawsuits, challenges, and public scrutiny.

If parents cannot escalate concerns to trustees, and if board meetings are gone, the system becomes harder to challenge.

That is the entire point.

Where Does This Leave Ontario?

Ontario now has:

• School boards without public meetings

• Trustees without authority

• Supervisors who cost $350,000 plus $40,000 in expenses over two years

• Teachers reporting collapsing supports

• Parents reporting abandoned students

• Equity teams being dismantled

• Call centres replacing advocates

• Out-of-area policies being enforced selectively with zero transparency

And all of this happened in under two years.

That is not mismanagement. That is strategy.

Final WordBill 33 is not the beginning of the end. It is the end of the beginning.

We just watched Ontario’s education system undergo a structural shift so large that most people have not yet understood what it means.

The only reason we know as much as we do is because a handful of trustees, parents, workers, and independent journalists refused to look away.

The Old Guardian will continue tracking every thread.

You are not imagining the suddenness. You are not imagining the silence. You are not imagining the power grab.

This is the story.

And now it is documented.