By Peter Moore
Trustee candidates for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) will not form a new Board of Trustees after the October 26 municipal election, according to the Ontario government’s appointed Supervisor, Robert Plamondon.
The Trustees elected in the October municipal elections “will have the same status as the suspended Trustees,” said Plamondon at a Lisgar Collegiate School Council meeting on June 2. He told parents that there is “no set timeline” for his appointment to end and that “Supervisors will be in place until the Minister says so.”
On June 27, 2025, Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra suspended the board’s Trustees one, a year before their term ended. He appointed chartered accountant Robert Plamondon as Supervisor to run the board, instead of the elected Trustees.
Despite the continued suspension of the school board, the Municipal Elections Act requires the City of Ottawa to run an election for it.
“Changes made by the Province have not affected the election of School Board Trustees in the City of Ottawa and we have not received communications from the Province or Mr. Plamondon,” said City Clerk, Caitlin Salter-MacDonald in a written statement.
Liberal Education critic John Fraser said he is concerned people will not run.
“I am concerned that people will be hesitant to put their name forward because of the uncertainty surrounding the supervision of the Board,” said Fraser. “Although the government’s most recent legislation has altered the Board’s governance and administration, there is an obligation that Trustees still have a mandate albeit diminished to govern once duly elected.”
Despite this uncertainty, candidates are still signing up to run for Trustee. There are 19 candidates so far, with at least one for each of the zones overseen by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). Zones 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10 have competing candidates. The deadline for candidates to file their nomination papers (or withdraw them) is 2 pm on August 21. Incumbent Zone 3 trustee Donna Blackburn is no longer running as a Trustee candidate; she filed papers to run as the councillor for Barrhaven West.
Incumbents Julia Fortey (Zone 2, Kanata), Jennifer Jennekens (Zone 7, Osgoode/Riverside South) submitted their nomination papers in May.
Newcomer candidates are:
- Dr. Alykhan Adbulla (Zone 1, Stittsville/West Carleton)
- Brenda Abramson and Kenneth Kangwu Xi (Zone 3, Barrhaven)
- Benoit Massé (Zone 4, Bay Kitchissippi)
- Suzanne Lyon, Lara Bremner, and Natasha Lynn Mott (Zone 5, College/Knoxdale-Merivale)
- Jennifer Moroziuk, Scott Walker and Chris Durrant (Zone 6, Rideau Vanier Rockcliffe)
- Sasha Clayton (Zone 7)
- Rick Bédard (Zone 8, Orléans East-South/Navan)
- Scott Dutrisac (Zone 9, Capital/Alta Vista)
- Shannon Boschy and Keelin Pringnitz (Zone 10, Somerset)
- Brendan Ray (Zone 11, River/Gloucester Southgate)
- Rick Whitley (Zone 12, West Innes/Beacon Hill/Cyrville)
None of the candidates who responded to The Leveller have received any notice that they might not be seated as a school board trustee if they are elected.
With new people running, “it’s kind of a clean slate,” said Suzanne Lyon, a former public servant. She said if she does win, she expects to be seated. “That’s my hope and my expectation. I don’t know why they would be running elections if they weren’t.”
Candidate Brendan Ray said he wants to rebuild a governance model that is both effective and responsive to the community. “My expectation is that there will be a transition back to elected governance,” he said. “I share concerns about the loss of local democratic oversight. I’ve put my name forward because I believe the community should have a strong voice in how its schools are governed, and I am running on the expectation that the election will help restore that role.”
Benoit Massé said he wants to bring his accounting and administration experience to the Trustees, whenever the transition happens. “I am realistic about the uncertainty surrounding the timeline of the Supervisor’s mandate and when authority will be returned to OCDSB trustees. I am prepared to assume the responsibilities of a trustee whenever that transition occurs—whether in the first year or the final year of the term.”
Lyon said she would like to see the board of trustees restored because school boards have a long history in Canada, saying they first formed in 1816. “They were the first democratically elected municipal officials.” The suspension of the school board was “regrettable and unfortunate,” she said, because conflict on school boards is nothing new. “The solution by the government was heavy-handed.”
Zone 10 candidate Shannon Boschy said he was glad the government suspended the school board. “I’m glad to see some action is being taken by the minister. It’s long overdue,” said Boschy. “We [the school board] made national and international news for all the wrong reasons.”
“At some point, unless the minister abolishes school boards, a board will be seated,” said Boschy. If that happens, he said he wanted to advocate for the removal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion provisions in the school board’s hiring practices because they are discriminatory. “There is a whole radical activist agenda that is being put on our children,” he said, so “there is momentum for me to speak out about these issues.”
The Leveller contacted Supervisor Robert Plamondon for further comment, but was referred to the Minister of Education for comment.
The Leveller contacted Minister of Education Paul Calandra but received no comment on whether candidates would be seated as Trustees or if his suspension of newly elected Trustees contradicted the Municipal Elections Act.
